Bob Dylan said it best: “Times they are a changin’!” Today’s society is different from what it was like in the 1970’s and before, when the baby boomers were growing up and their parents before them were growing up. Take a moment and really think about this, there are so many more things to manage in our financial lives than there used to be. Back in the day of our parents, there was the mortgage, car payment (maybe – either you paid cash for your car or you walked or rode the bus because you lived down town and that was where your job was), house and maybe car insurance, electric bill, phone bill, maybe a water bill trash pickup bill, and what you were going to buy at the grocery store for food. Other than that there was little to manage financially.
Today, it is not so easy. Excluding food, and keeping up with the Jones regarding fashion trends, we have many bills to manage including: the mortgage or rent, car loan (s), house – life – health – auto – long term insurance, local and long distance home phone, cell phone (maybe more than one account in your home), cable bill, internet, water, electric, trash, day care, all the credit cards you might have, student loans, personal loans, home owners association dues, real estate taxes, and on, and on. It is no wonder so many folks have trouble keeping up with all of it and suffer from bad credit.
Paying Bills Online
Trying to find an easy way to keep track of your finances can be a nightmare. Ever heard of the internet? Do not overlook the net as being one of the best tools out there for keeping your family’s finances on track. The Internet makes it a whole lot easier to monitor and pay your bills, analyze your personal financial accounts and trends, search for loans, keep your checkbook balanced, and much more.
Not only can you access your personal financial information over a secure network directly from your home, it is also arguably more convenient to use the Internet to keep track of your personal finances than it is to use a simple checkbook or ledger. The Web allows you to collect recent account information and be aware of rate changes as they are happening. Almost anywhere where you can manage your financial affairs you can sign up for some type of notification newsletter or other feature to keep you up to date.
This means that instead of having to wrangle financial papers and drive all over the place taking care of your business, you can do it all from anyplace you can access the Net. Think of the time and money you save by managing your financial affairs this way. Gone are the days of having to use a stamp and get to the post office to slide that bill into the mail to get it postmarked just in time. No more writing checks or worrying about whether something got lost in the mail. The Internet has changed all of this.
This may seem like a no brainer for some of you, but there is no need to have to drive to the bank, or the closest ATM, to check on your account balances. You can take advantage of online banking services to have round-the-clock access to your accounts from just about anywhere. Banks have made it too easy to check balances, transfer funds from one account to another, and even pay all your bills online (assuming your bank's online banking portal allows it). You can even set up e-mail alerts to let you know when deposits post, checks clear, or payments are made to or from your accounts.
Let me say more about paying bills. I used to hate, I mean really hate, paying my bills. Sitting down at my kitchen table every month sometimes not even that frequent – yes you can imagine the trouble I got into to open all my bills and write checks out used to take me several hours. I always suffered through the process no matter how much money I had in the bank.
One day a friend of mine suggested that I start using the internet to pay my bills. I had never considered it, nor did I really understand how it worked. So I sat myself down one weekend and went to my bank’s web site to look and sure enough they had something called Bill Payer. Well, I have never looked back. Now, I pay everything online. I even send money to my mom once a month. I set her up just like I do a bill. She gets a check automatically and every month I get a little email notice that my mom has gotten her check from me. It is so easy. The other great thing about paying my bills online is that I never ever worry about my payment being late. I “set it and forget it”! What used to take me hours and put me in a bad mood now takes me about 10 minutes a month with a smile.
Another feature about paying my bills online is that my bank will tell me how much money I need to have in the bank over the next 30-60 days to make sure my bills are paid. This is great because I always know exactly what my money situation looks like. I love paying my bills online.
Imagine the freedom and confidence you’ll have when you no longer have to suffer over paying your bills. What would it be like for you to know that your credit will never suffer again from a missed payment? If any of this inspires you to get started with paying your bills online, then get started today. The minute you start is the last minute you’ll suffer.
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