It was only a few years ago when entering your credit card number online to buy something was risky.  Today, you enter more financial information with credit card, banking, utility, and other sensitive information.  Websites offer to store your credit card and all you have to do is login, select the product, and click Buy.

Saving your credit on file may seem conveinent, but that can become a hassle if you aren’t mindful of how easy it is to charge.  I don’t mean your own emotions of a spending spree.  A reoccuring monthly payment to a utility can turn into an overpriced refund check weeks later.  If you disconnect a service and they inform you of the final amount, they may not charge you the new amount, but rather the larger older amount.  You’ll have to wait weeks to get a refund via paper check.

For those rare occasions, a monthly biller could have issues with their billing system that could charge you two or more times the amount due.  They too may wait weeks before giving you your money back.   It doesn’t cost them anything, but can gain a chunk of interest if made a common business practice.

It may take discipline and extra time every month to pay the bills, but automatic payment doesn’t always pay for the time saved.  You may end up with more time on the phone than a year’s worth of time spent paying the bill manually.