Do you review your monthly bill statements...

[MRAHoffman]

for errors and/or to find ways to cut costs? About a year ago I decided to "simplify" my life by signing up for automatic payment for all my bills. Lately, I have realized that due to this, I have become complacent in reviewing my bills for errors and ways to cut costs and other than putting the amount in my checkbook, no longer really take an "active role" in my bills and have become concerned about how much $ I could be saving by really becoming active in the check writing (or even bank bill pay) process (for me, the more I am involved in the process, the more I pay attention to details) and have decided to go back to having the statements mailed to me and will begin writing checks again ( I figure, I work hard for this $, so they are literally going to have to "pry" the $ out of my hands Curious, how many of you actually review your monthly statements AND if you do automatic bill pay, do you find that in exchange for saving time, you may be compromising saving money? Also, I'm curious as to how many business' have found automatic payments to their advantage (I wonder how many OTHER people are complacent and don't review their statements and just "assume" everything is correct unless a REALLY flagrent payment were to come across, not to mention that people who don't review statements don't see the ever increasing # of frivolous fees that get added to the bill each month and question them) thus this is why they are encouraging automatic bill pay so that they can make more $...just wondering...THOUGHTS?

[The Muse]

As much as I can. All of my statements come in Danish, so I don't fully understand them, but I do my best.

I try to pay cash for most things and review my receipts because if I ever have to call customer service for anything, it's a nightmare because everything is in Danish!

Luckily, my company provides internet access and an iPhone, so I don't have to worry about hidden charges there. I don't have cable or a landline phone, so my bills are pretty straightforward, though the quarterly billing for electricity took some getting used to.

When I lived in the US, the cell & landline phone carriers were the worst offenders when it came to extra charges. I swear I was on the phone with them every month!

[NikoSan999]

I look them over if not every month then every other.
The business signed up for phone/internet a few months ago, not to long. I found they were charging for 2 modems and we didn't have 2...an extra $5.98 a month. This had gone on from the beginning. I've called I think 3 months in a row now. The first time the lady said they had went to a new billing system and she could only go back a month. The next month I can't remember but this last one she said yes, they could go back further and she'd take care of it. I said that was what the rest said. She said I will do it. When bill came in there were more credits so I'm considering it done.

Last month Century Link here at home (phone) I went over the bill and called to ask what the $4 (?) close...was for ...he went to the computer and said it's for ... can't remember the bull he came up with. He tried to give me the run around but ended saying he would take it off. He said, get this, he said it's only $4, such a small amount. I said yeah, well, it's my $4 and I want it back and if you take that same $4 times 2 million or more households that dosent' look at their bill it comes out to $8 million (? it's still early here) and that's not small but it's in Century Links pocket free money....can you say fraud....pissed him off.

I can remember when I had Chase credit card...after several years they had a charge on there one month for credit card protection that I didn't authorize. Called them...they sounded "surprised" that I wouldn't want this. NO, don't want it and I want it credited back. They did.

Yeah, I go over everything. Love to know how many billions the companies screw households out of a year by people NOT going over them...just send them the money without question.

[McD]

I use my bank's online bill pay to send my monthly payments for all of our bills except daycare. It's free, which beats paying for checks. I still look over our bills every month and question any odd items I may find.

The only company I have ever had do this was our gas/electric company--they added a $1.00 to the charity fund without my authorization. I will gladly give a $1.00 (or more) to charity, but I wasn't a fan of it being just tacked on my bill. And when I called to question how that had gotten on the bill in the first place, they told me that when I mailed in my payment I must have authorized it. I explained that I have never mailed them a physical check, so they needed a better answer. I got a lot of stuttering apologies and they removed it from the bill.

[imagine]

I still review my statements even those that are on auto pay.
I review my statement paper or electronic.

I don't see why one would think that auto pay would be any different from writing a check out or getting an electronic or or online statement would be any different than a paper one.

As for errors nope don't find them. Put if I have a question I call.

[Josephhgoins]

One of the battles I constantly face is doing things that I know to be frugal, that in reality are not. I am growing a container garden on my patio, but after I factor in soil and seeds, it would have been cheaper to buy the goods from the store not to mention easier.

When it comes to bills I am the same way. My bank does not charge for Bill pay service and neither do the companies that let me set up auto draft. To write a check and mail it I spend at least 50 cents for every payment (check + envelope+stamp). That means for me to break even I have to average finding 50 cents worth of errors on every bill.

With that said, I do of course make sure the bills stay within the budgeted amount i.e. if the phone bill is supposed to be 50 and its 60 I check into it, but if I have 50 budgeted and it is 50 I don't bother.

[zakity]

Our bills are all emailed to us. If the bill is what it is supposed to be, I don't always check. The phone and cell phone bills are always the same amount. If the bills are different than their regular amounts, I go look at them. Well, the cell phone bill I usually look at. I have been trying to decide if I want to change to a pay-as-you-go phone. The other bills change from month to month and I always check on them to see if it our usage or if it is a rate increase.

[Mom2-3]

We don't have many bills anymore (thank God!) but I do check them monthly. I'm always looking to save a dime

Last month our cable promotion was to expire. The bill would more than double, so I took in the cable boxes and said "no thank you". The cable company had a new promotion and I was able to get cable and internet for $35/month!

I also NEVER do auto payments. I like to know all the money is in the account and the bill is correct. Bill pay is free (for me) and takes seconds to do.

[shoiji]

I only have one bill that is payed automatically. The bill is always a standard rate. Most of my bills are a standard rate. Did try to use automatic bill pay with verizon but the company doing the billing had weird billing practices. Meaning sometimes I would be paying twice in one month. So I stopped that and use the slow mail. But I figure this way I have more control over my finances.

I did just look at my utility and cable bill yesterday. Utility bill said next month I would receive information no the fact that the electric cost would be reduced. They also gave their site to find the best way to conserve energy. The cable bill somehow got messed up and after speaking with two customer service reps had my bill reduced by $27. Yup, I was steaming mad when I first saw the bill. Fortunately they realized the errors and I will be credited the next month since a new bill could not be generated. So I will be paying the reduced amount this month and next month the regular amount.

I think it really does pay to look at your statements when they come in. If the bill is payed automatically doesn't the website let you see an electronic version of the bill summary?

[savvy_sniper]

I go over ALL bills with a fine tooth comb. In this day and age of computers and stolen identities, you have to watch out. I do NOT have anything set up to be paid automatically/recurring. I do go online and make one time payments. I feel more in control that way. I have also heard horror stories of credit card companies changing due dates and then automatic payments are late and then people getting zapped with late fees.

[xtena]

I too use the free bill pay service provided by my credit union. I set my HOA bill up as a recurring payment because it is the same montly amount. As for the rest, I review the bill, be it a pdf file or a paper received in the mail, and only when I am sure it is correct will I manually schedule the bill payment.

[TigerGirl1226]

Some of my bills (water, DH's car, auto and home insurance) are automatically drawn, but all those with the exception of water are the same amount each month. I do double check that they draw the correct amount.

The other bills are either bill-pays through our bank or I schedule them through the company's website. I am pretty vigilant about checking that the interest rates haven't changed (it happened with B of A in the past) and that I wasn't unjustly charged any additional fees.

[AliMac]

I always look over my statements and compare them to the previous month's just to see if there are any changes I need to worry about.

I don't do automatic bill pay because I just don't trust companies enough to give them full access to my bank account. What happens if they put in an extra zero when they withdraw the money and they end up over-drawing my account? I'd have to deal with an overdraft fee and getting a hold of customer service to get them to fix the error. Too much risk for me. I'll gladly pay 44 cents per bill just to make sure it's all kosher.

[McD]

I always look over my statements and compare them to the previous month's just to see if there are any changes I need to worry about.

I don't do automatic bill pay because I just don't trust companies enough to give them full access to my bank account. What happens if they put in an extra zero when they withdraw the money and they end up over-drawing my account? I'd have to deal with an overdraft fee and getting a hold of customer service to get them to fix the error. Too much risk for me. I'll gladly pay 44 cents per bill just to make sure it's all kosher.

If your bank offers online bill pay, you have to manually key in the amounts. My bank offers it for free. So I save a check and a stamp by telling my bank where, when to send my money.

[frugalwarrior2]

I monitor all bills. 2 weeks ago DH recieved a bill for surgery from his eye specialist. I flipped out and asked him about the surgery listed. The bill was $182. apllied to our deductible. Wait for it-She plucked 4 eye lashes to do the exam. No they weren't ingrown. Well we called and got it removed. This week another $200. from U of M hosp. I guess they must have thrown them out? Another call this week to the ins. company.

And watch everthing
C.U. teller today goofed the transaction and transferred $400. out of our acct. and put it in DS's acct. When i finally got her to "get it" she was rude.