Lost Bill

Travelling the roads the only practical way for me to keep the bills straight is to pay them on-line. Now some folks don't worry about that because they have no bills. Another way is to put everything on automatic payments.

If you've ever done any banking on-line you've most likely had offers to set up automatic bill pay. There are only a tiny handful of bills I'm comfortable paying automatically. They are small payments and never change from month to month. I don't like it, but I can live with it.

There are occasionally bills that slip through the cracks. Today I was notified by e-mail of a late bill from a building supply store. That dates back to when I was in Florida. I must have used the card to take advantage of the membership discount. The paper bill should have been forwarded to my in-laws place in TX. A lot of my snail mail was.

Normally we'd have mail sent to our next destination, but that's a bit of problem. Where we are staying in MO does not even have a mailing address. It's also a long drive into town to the post office. (remote or what?) Now my mail is piling up at my daughter's place in NH. That's fine. I'll deal with any stray bits of business when I get home.

However, the building supply store had my e-mail and let me know payment was overdue. It took some effort, but I was able to access my account on-line and pay the bill: $26 -big whoop. It's not a big bill, but not paying those little things can eventually show up on your credit rating.

Good thing I sprung for a mobile hotspot and can access the Internet. The store bill was no big deal either way, but I'm also paying things like my car insurance on-line, so it's good to be able to stay in touch.

Eventually I hope to simplify my financial life. Maybe I'll even forgo using store cards and pay cash. The discounts just aren't worth the hassle.

-Sixbears