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4 Dangers of Using Automatic Bill Pay

September 16, 2019 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

Many people love the convenience of having their bills paid automatically each month with no effort on their part. Like many, these people probably have about a million and one other things they’d rather be doing than taking time to pay their bills. However, there are 4 dangers of using automatic bill pay that people should consider carefully.

4 Dangers of Using Automatic Bill Pay

If you have already set up automatic bill pay or you’re considering doing so, first consider these potential pitfalls:

Vulnerable to Hackers

If you have your information stored in the company’s server, which you’ll have to do if you sign up for automatic pay, that information is vulnerable to hackers. The more places you have your information stored, the more vulnerable you are.

Vulnerable to Overcharges

Occasionally, the company that is collecting your money automatically will have a computer error and collect too much. Steve Hawkins shared with Kiplinger’s, “My sister’s auto-pay electric bill somehow got an extra zero added to it. It took her a week to get the money back in the account, and she still had to pay for the bounced checks out of her own pocket.”

Vulnerable to Overdrafts

If you live on a fairly tight budget, you may set yourself up for overdrafts if you use automatic bill pay. Variable bills such as electric, water, and gas may be more than you budgeted for.

For instance, our neighbor has all of her accounts on auto pay. One month, her water bill was $500 instead of the usual $80 per month. She had a water leak that she was not aware of, which was why her bill was so high. She did not have an extra $420 in her account to cover the difference, so she bounced payments to several other companies and had to pay overdraft fees.

Vulnerable to Continued Charges

Do you really want a company to have unlimited access to your checking account and routing numbers? They could pull money out of your account any time they want. (Of course, that is illegal, but that does not stop some companies.)

Dick Novack told Kiplinger’s, “My horror story is that a national company restarted debiting my account eight months after the contract was over. It took a change of my credit card number to get it to stop. Now I’m in court trying to get a year of debits back.”

Final Thoughts

True, electronic bill pay is convenient, which is why so many people use it. However, I never want to give a company unlimited access to my checking and routing number. Instead, I pay the bill online each month, initiating the payment myself so the company does not have unlimited access and my account information is not stored on their server.

While many people swear by automatic bill pay, avoiding it may be the smarter choice. There are just too many risks.

Do you use automatic bill pay? If so, have you had any trouble doing so? Do you monitor your account each month to make sure your being charged correctly? If you don’t use automatic bill pay, what are your main reasons for avoiding automatic bill pay?

5 Strategies to Make Food at Home If You Hate Cooking

August 23, 2019 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

For some, cooking is a joy and a way to relax after a long, hard day. For others, cooking is a daily task that must be done to save money and fuel their bodies. And then for others, cooking is one of the worst tasks they have to do and one they avoid as much as possible by eating out, picking up food, or getting an invite to someone else’s house who is doing the cooking.

If you’re in the latter group of people, you’re not alone. However, if you utilize these five strategies to make food at home when you hate cooking, you’ll find that you’ll save a considerable amount of money on your food budget, and you’ll likely be eating better.

Pick “Dump” Meals

Sure, the name is unappetizing, but “dump” refers to meals where you just put the food in the InstaPot or slow cooker and walk away. One example might be a few chicken breasts, black beans, corn, and salsa. Cook in the slow cooker for a few hours, shred the chicken, and serve over rice.

Pinterest and YouTube have plenty of dump meals; you could make several and put some in your freezer, making dinner prep even easier.

Use Premade Food

Most stores have some type of pre-made food you can use. Down the freezer aisle, you’ll find pre-made meals for a family that you just have to put in your slow cooker or cook on the stove; all of the ingredients that you need are in the bag.

Likewise, you can buy already chopped vegetables from the salad bar and rotisserie chicken that’s already been pulled from the bone to make meal time prep faster.

Premade salad bar ingredients for people who hate to cook.

Order a Meal Kit Delivery Service

There are many meal kit delivery services available such as Blue Apron, Green Chef, and HelloFresh, to name a few, each with their own specialty. In your kit, you’ll receive all of the ingredients you need for the meals as well as a card that tells you how to make the meal. With a meal kit delivery service, you avoid the headache of grocery shopping and get to try a new meal.

Make a Few Meals in Advance on Sunday

Another option for those who hate cooking is to make a few meals on Sunday. Then, when you come home on Monday, you don’t have to cook at all. Simply pull out the meal you already made and reheat it. While you do still have to cook with this option, you only have to cook one day, and then you get several days off when you eat the meals you cooked on Sunday.

Pick Easy Meals

No one says you have to have fancy dinners. Scrambled eggs, toast, and fruit can do just fine and require minimal cooking and clean up.

Easy meals for people who don't like to cook.

If you hate cooking, don’t feel the need to resort to eating out every night. Instead, try one of these five strategies to make food at home when you hate cooking.

If you hate cooking, what strategies do you use to still eat at home but limit the amount of time you have to cook?

How to Practice Self-Care When Paying Down Debt

July 2, 2019 By MelissaB 1 Comment

Dave Ramsey says that paying off debt is more of a sprint (especially when you’re gazelle intense), but if you have a lot of debt, the payoff journey may feel more like a marathon. If you keep your nose to the grindstone without a break, your physical and emotional health may suffer. Practicing self-care will help you not only remain in good health but also have the stamina to see your debt-free journey to the end. Here are some tips you may want to utilize to care for yourself while working hard on paying down debt:

Make Sure You Have a Fun Money Fund

I know, you may feel like all of your money should go on debt repayment, and, yes, almost all of it should. However, set aside a small amount for fun money for the month. When my husband and I were paying down debt, we each got $20 for the month. I used mine to buy treats at the grocery store that weren’t in my budget or we sometimes used the money to get a dessert at a restaurant together. This money should be yours to spend any way you see fit and to give you a little wiggle room in your budget so you don’t feel deprived.

Do Something Just for You Every Day

What do you enjoy doing? Some people enjoy spending time in their gardens, running, doing yoga–the choice is yours. When I was working three jobs in my 20s, I enjoyed nothing more than coming home after a 12 or 14-hour day and slipping into a bubble bath. That was the perfect way to destress and relax.

Start a Pinterest Dream Board

Do you have a major goal when your debt is paid off? Maybe you’ve always wanted to visit France, and that’s how you plan to celebrate being debt-free (after you’ve saved cash for the trip, of course). Why not start a Pinterest board of all the places you want to go and things you want to see? You can create this board for any dream you plan to realize when your money is no longer going toward debt. The best part about Pinterest is that you can make the board secret so only you see it.

Make Your Meals at Home

Let’s face it, paying off debt and working hard to make extra money can be stressful and exhausting. While you may be tempted to grab quick food, know that doing that regularly can have negative effects on your health. Take the time to make homemade food. You’ll feel better, be healthier, and have more energy.

Listen to an Audio Book

You may not have the free time to sit down and read a book, but when you’re driving to and from work, why not listen to an audiobook? It can be a fiction book you listen to just for fun, or it can be a non-fiction book that will help you in your career. Gazelle intensity is exhausting and stressful, so make sure you make time to relax and take care of yourself.

Don’t Take On Any New Debt

Lastly, whatever you do, avoid taking on any additional high-interest debt. Amanda, over at Our Debt Free Family has a very nice review of Click Cash Go, which is an exemplary high-interest debt marketplace to avoid. So, avoid any additional borrowing – that’s a huge part of self care.

What are some of your favorite ways to practice self-care?