Today, I discovered our AOL billing information. Turns out we’ve been paying for dial-up via automatic bill paying that we thought we cancelled in 2000. $1,800 later, we called to cancel. Customer service congratulated us on being loyal members for over 13 years. FML -Jay ^[1]

I am a huge fan of automating my finances. My paycheck is direct-deposited. My savings are automatically transferred from my checking account to my savings account ^[3]. Almost every bill I receive regularly is set up as an automatic payment in my bank’s bill-pay system. I even have my debt snowball automated.

The only question left is whether it’s possible to automate too far. Can you automate past the point of benefit, straight into detriment? The primary benefit of automation ^[4]is knowing that you can’t forget a payment. The other benefit is freeing up your attention. You don’t have to give any focus to paying your bills, freeing you to worry about other things.

The problem with the second benefit is the same as the benefit. If you don’t give your bills any attention, how do you know if there is a problem? If something changes-an extra fee or a mis-keyed payment-you won’t notice because you haven’t been giving the bills any focus.

Sometimes, this means you are paying an extra fee ^[5] without noticing it. Sometimes, if your due date changes, it can mean late fees. Even if nothing goes wrong, you are missing the opportunity to review what you are paying to ensure your needs are being met as efficiently as possible.

What can you do about it? I put a reminder on my Life Calendar ^[6] to check my bills each month. I pick one bill each month and try to find a way to save money on it. I review the services to make sure they are what I need and if that doesn’t help, I call and ask for a lower price. If it’s a credit card, I ask for a lower interest rate. For the cable company, I ask if they will match whatever deal they have for new customers.

Every company can do something to keep a loyal customer happy. All you have to do is ask.

Do you automate anything? How do you keep track of it all?

^[7]

Related posts:

1. Automatic Everything ^[9] From the comments here. Edited a bit. In an effort to simplify my finances, I’ve automated every bill I have. For years, I resisted, fearing...
2. How to Live Happily Without a Budget ^[10] Last spring, we sat down and built our budget. We spent 9 months adding the non-monthly bills that we forgot about when we created the...
3. The 10-Step Saving Action Plan ^[11] Image via Wikipedia Getting started saving money is hard. It’s easy to get used to instant gratification and impulse purchases. Postponing material fulfillment takes...