From a Check Free Customer
Warning: Long boring post, but a couple of folks have asked for
it, so here it is.
I've been a check-free user since 1994, and my use of the service
has gone through several stages. None of these are at all
esoteric. In fact, they should have been obvious from the
beginning, but to me they weren't.
I expect most on this thread understand how radically different a
product like the Checkfree payment service can make personal
financial transactions. I wonder, though, if it's well understood
just how far it can be pushed, even without electronic billing.
I also wonder if CKFR marketing is getting the story out
effectively.
0. The hook. Prior to signing up with CKFR, I shared an office
with a friend who was a checkfree user, and we discussed it from
time to time. I analyzed it and concluded that the service wasn't
economical. Including irregular and longer interval payments, I
averaged something like 12 payments per month at a cost to me of
about 35 cents, or $4.20. CKFR is 9.95. My friend told me
convenience was worth it. My answer: "Why would I do that? I
only write twelve checks a month. No big deal."
1. Anaylize bill paying patterns. Out of curiosity, I kept track
for a while and discovered that I spent a couple of hours or more
a month in the mechanical processes of bill paying. I don't
really know why this was, but I do know that I sat down normally
twice a month to pay bills, the away from the computer physical
paper pushing and check writing part, and it typically took an
hour, occasionally less but often more.
I still don't completely understand this, and I can't honestly
believe (as my wife puts it) most real people spend this much time
paying their bills, but in my case it's the way it was. (I did
spend time scribbling things like COMPETITION'S COMING on the
phone bill, but that's another story ...)
The upshot was that I decided to give CKFR a try. My wife's
comment: "What do you want to do that for? We only write twelve
checks a month. No big deal." But I did it anyhow.
2. Sign up. For a year or so I used Checkfree just like paper
checks. Typically I sat down twice a month, entered the bill
payments, and sent 'em off (electronic envelope licking). And it
WAS easier, faster too, just like my office mate said. Enter bill
payments in Quicken (which I had to do anyhow, and was NOT part of
my time analysis), click three times, done. Satisfied customer.
3. Pay bills when I get them. I been paid bills by paper check
twice a month because that was all I could face (and hate it like
everybody else). Less often won't get them paid on time.
Besides, I always like to hold my money every day possible
(interest 4.5% back then). And I'd been using Checkfree the same
way.
When you put a check in the mail, only God and the USPS have a say
when it arrives, but when you enter a checkfree transaction you
can say EXACTLY when you want it to be paid.
For some reason, it took me a long time to realize what this
meant.
I enter Quicken transactions every two or three days anyhow, so I
just started entering the bills as they came, and specifying
payments two, three, six weeks, out, whatever was necessary (my
insurance bills come two months in advance, for example).
And suddenly, no more bill paying sessions. Electric bill gets
done along with the restaurant tab and gas up the car. Get
insurance bill, enter payment for two months out, file, forget.
Oh yeah, got to send it--got a reminder when tried to exit.
Click, click, click. Now done.
4. Schedule predictable-amount bills. Yeah, I know, duh, since
Quicken has a schedule capability, which I already used for
mortgage, paycheck, couple of other things, why didn't I do that
from the first? Beats me, but I didn't.
Quicken will schedule an electronic transaction like any other, so
I set up fixed amount payments like Cable TV, trash collection,
newspaper. Don't even enter these bills anymore. Occasional
reminder there's a payment to send, click, click, click, done.
Get cable bill, file it.
5. Checkfree repeating payments, utility budget plans. Since
Checkfree will schedule repeating payments itself, as a next step
I set up predictable bills as Checkfree payments rather than
Quicken scheduled transactions. I also set up my utilites on
budget plans so I pay a level amount per month year round. Now I
don't even have to spend 3 clicks on these bills, bill comes,
glance at amount to verify last month's payment is this month's
amount due, file it.
Some bills don't have check-free schedules, such as my trash
collection (every two months), newpaper (every twelve weeks). I
divided the annual amount by twelve and pay them monthly. Nobody
turns down the payments. When one of these arrives now I grin and
file it.
Occasionally an amount changes, but it's easier to change a
checkfree repeating amount than it is to change a Quicken
scheduled transaction because future payments are changed (Quicken
doesn't change future posted payments, only those you post after
the change).
6. Regular and repeating payees. Some regular bills have blips
now and then. For instance, my quarterly home security monitor
has a fixed contract amount, but once a year there's a
pass-through charge for business property tax. For this kind I
set up both a repeating Checkfree payee and a separate regular
payee, and use the regular payee to pay the difference when
necessary. (Note, this involves using a slightly different name,
to distinguish the payees, but it only takes one character
difference, such as a period.)
7. Repeat payment for irregular-amount bills. Some bills vary
around but are still pretty regular. For instance, my phone bill
usually varies only a few dollars month to month. For this kind
of bill, I set up repeat Checkfree payments that slightly
(two-three dollars) overpay my typical high bill. Now I slowly
build up a credit at the phone company. If I use up the credit
and have a balance in an exceptional month, I use a regular payee
to pay the difference. If I pay a difference two or three months
in a row, I up the scheduled payment. If the credit builds up too
high, I lower it. These are occasional things, and more important,
there's NO DEADLINE, so I pick when and if I want to do it.
Not only does this pay the bills if I'm out of town, but even if I
come up short a few bucks, I've paid the bill, not skipped it.
I still have a couple of Quicken scheduled electronic transactions
rather than repeat payments, such as fire insurance. That's
annual and always varies a bit. I schedule it to post a couple of
months in advance. When the bill comes, the transaction's in the
register. I update the amount, send it, file it, done.
8. Account transfers. I used to split-deposit my paycheck into
checking and savings accounts, but changing the savings amount
(for instance after passing the Social Security limit) was a pain,
and I rarely did it. I tried getting everything deposited into
checking and doing an automatic account transfer to savings, but
modifying that turned out to be a bigger pain yet.
Then I tried a checkfree check to my bank "For Deposit to Savings
Account ...". Wasn't sure it would work, but it did, so I set up
a repeating payee of my own savings account and canceled the auto
transfer. Now I change the amount as easily and as often as I
want. Same thing with a brokerage account for investment money.
------
Well, now I'm down to just two bills per month (credit cards) that
aren't paid automatically or at least entered for me somehow.
These vary too much for my strategy to work (alway's pay 'em in
full), but I'm working on them<ggg>. If I go to London for a few
weeks, the bills are paid. If I get a raise (does happen
occasionally), my auto deposits are adjusted in a few clicks. Oh,
a few times a year I have to adjust an amount or send an extra
payment, more or less when I get around to it.
Now if I could just figure a way to automate regular DEPOSITS
without doing anything ... .<GGG> Anybody know the ticker symbol
for FreeMoney? |
