I use almost no cash. I find that I spend it without paying too much attention since I am bad with receipts. I make all purchased with credit cards that have various rewards.I always pay each card in full every month, have never had a single fee or interest in 10 years (got my first card at 16, am now 26 years old) I call the cards weekly to check balances or do this online so I know if I am within budget. It is nice to have a few weeks to make returns before the bill arrives if I change my mind about a a purchase. I have a gas credit card that gives me 5% back in gas cards which has been excellent when gas prices were super high. I get a $25 gas card in the mail about every 5-6 weeks now that prices are better. I have an American Express with rebates for groceries, restaurants, and travel through Costco. They send a check once a year. Also have a card for misc purchases that cashes in points for gift cards that I use for buying Christmas gifts. I have excellent credit. I pay all bills by mail/check bc I too like being responsible for my payments and having a paper trail. As soon as a bill comes in I make the payment within 1-2 days unless there is a reason to wait.

The only automatic withdrawal we have is from the bank for our monthly mortgage payment and I track this online before and after to ensure accuracy. I have never had to pay any bank fees. I work in accounts receivable and we process lots of 'automatic payments' and people who use online bill pay through their banks which basically just print out a check and mail it to us, which takes several business days, not immediate as many people think. The customers do not seem to have a good understanding on their bank's policies so the payments are often late, with incomplete info, without account numbers, or with incorrect addresses. Then the people call with no idea where they sent their payment and we have no control over what their bank did or didn't do. Since it is automatic they often send the wrong info month after month without even looking at their actual invoice. Technology seems to not always be a good thing. I like to know exactly what is happening with my money, especially in this economy.

I use both electronic and cash easier I try not to use the credit card if I do its a high interest fee and I only have it for emergancy purpose only nothing over 100.00 the electronic fee is small but both its cheaper for me to do this and don't need to much of it anyway since I quit smoking almost 2 years ago I used alot of electronic and the more I used it and the more fee slapped on so forget it use both ..

RBV:

The customers do not seem to have a good understanding on their bank's policies so the payments are often late, with incomplete info, without account numbers, or with incorrect addresses. Then the people call with no idea where they sent their payment and we have no control over what their bank did or didn't do.

I agree that there are some people who are disorganized when it comes to managing their bills. However banks, utility companies etc don't always use simple easy to understand language either. If you were to ask me where I sent my bills via USPS I couldn't tell you either. Where the bill gets sent to be processed is not necessarily the headquarters of the company. The only place the "send payment to" address appears is on the part of the bill that shows through the window on the envelope that gets sent back.

RBV:

I work in accounts receivable and we process lots of 'automatic payments' and people who use online bill pay through their banks which basically just print out a check and mail it to us, which takes several business days, not immediate as many people think.

Until you shared your insight here, I'll bet most of us assumed bill paying was "automatic" because thats what its called. If someone makes an "Automatic" payment, they assume its also instant. The average consumer doesn't know what the exact process is. To be fair, computerized banking, automatic payments and electronic transfers is still a fairly new method of bill payment especially to people over 50. While some people adapt to technology easily, the tech language and tasks update and change constantly. Those who don't understand the new methods will stick with what they know and feel comfortable with.

I strongly recommend people who use auto bill pay or make electronic payments through their banks ask a lot of questions and follow up to make sure what their bank tells them is accurate. Many customers who call do think that the electronic payments are immediate and not that the bank prints and mails a check. I sympathize with people who have been misinformed bc they may not even know that their payments are being delayed or arriving late. Numerous customers have also stated that their bank 'guarantees' payment will be made within 2 days. I am not sure if this is meant they will mail the check within the 2 days or what but we have not found this to be the case. I would say the best thing is to ask questions and then track these things on your bank statement or online banking or with the bill provider to verifiy when the payments arrive and are being posted. Then find what methos works best for you. :)

RBV:

I strongly recommend people who use auto bill pay or make electronic payments through their banks ask a lot of questions and follow up to make sure what their bank tells them is accurate.

Ditto - I'm glad you stated that because people sometimes fail to ask enough questions or ask the correct questions. The other thing that may be causing problems is that people may not be devoting enough time & attention to tracking their bills and budgets. Please feel free to share more of your banking insights - this has been very enlightening. : )

I bank at a credit union that has "bounce free" checking. You might want to check and see if your financial institution offers something similar. Basically if you go over, they pull the money from your savings account, and it doesn't bounce.
I'm pretty anal about keeping extra in there, but this is a great service.

If you do have a savings account with that bank and online banking, another thing would be to make it a habit to log on every night, or the night before you're going shopping, and see if you can transfer some from savings, to cover you, and then the night after you get home from shopping, see if you can transfer some back into savings. I've done that before.