Foo - The psychology of paying bills

What the hell is it with bills. You get it and you know its coming but you still think "AWWW shucks!". I typically pay it that day which then leaves me with a very torn feeling.

On one hand i think "Ahhh, stress relieved"
On the other hand i think "Ahhh, that sucks...less money for me"


I'm sure as i age it'll feel more like "Stupid f'ing bill..."

I know my wife sets our major stuff up for automatic pay. No hassle at all.

What the hell is it with bills. You get it and you know its coming but you still think "AWWW shucks!". I typically pay it that day which then leaves me with a very torn feeling.

On one hand i think "Ahhh, stress relieved"
On the other hand i think "Ahhh, that sucks...less money for me"


I'm sure as i age it'll feel more like "Stupid f'ing bill..."

Pay them when due...you can at lease get a few pennies of interest by leaving the money in a money market or savings account until the bills have to be paid.

I know my wife sets our major stuff up for automatic pay. No hassle at all.

Well, automatic pay is no hassle until you need to withhold payment to make the company do something.

I enjoy paying bills,lets me know we still have a robust economy and my spending habits are still up to par

Well, automatic pay is no hassle until you need to withhold payment to make the company do something.

I prefer to be involved in the bill payment process on at least a very minimal level. Keeps me aware of what i'm spending, where i'm spending it, how its getting paid for etc.

When you are as poor as my you need to keep track of every penny :(

I enjoy paying bills,lets me know we still have a robust economy and my spending habits are still up to par

I wish i could draw cartoons. You are a unique man.

I wish i could draw cartoons. You are a unique man.

LOl, quite sure the caricature would be outstanding

I don't say "Aww shucks". I say other things that I can't post here.

I don't say "Aww shucks". I say other things that I can't post here.

Trust me, me too. But you and your friends keep yelling at me for my language :lol:

Trust me, me too. But you and your friends keep yelling at me for my language :lol:

Just gotta keep with the flow, Timmy. ;)

I just know one thing. Since you've hooked up with the redhead, you seem to be quite happy. And that makes us happy too. She must be an awfully special gal. :)

Online pay has completely transformed bill payment. Saves tons on stamps and you know the exact date the bill paid.

But there is a lot less excuse of "But the check's in the mail.... it must be lost with the postal service!"

I just know one thing. Since you've hooked up with the redhead, you seem to be quite happy. And that makes us happy too. She must be an awfully special gal. :)

I know it appears that way, but just know this: I wouldn't have hooked up with the redhead had i not already been happy. Most of you don't know this, but because of finals i took about a 3 week break (via a 'self-imposed ban' carried out by Mr. Tom) from the forums. This lead me to my winter break which was a much needed break. I had begun to accept my situation and actually saw some very important positives in it such as the possibility of getting my MA @ Boulder (to to mention coming to the realization that i hadn't been happy with the former girl for a long time...). The prospect of being single and not tied down was nice. Then i was at a party where i reacquainted myself with "saucy" whom i knew from high school. The rest is history and though for a while i kept waking up with the thought of "what are you doing" they were immediately erased when she woke up and we talked.

Moving to Colorado is on hold, for now, which would have likely happened anyways but i am pretty content and with a lady whom relates with me in increasingly shocking ways.

Life is good, and my electric bill is paid. As is my rent, through may, now...does anyone want to sublease my apartment for June and July? I'll pay $400 of the rent for ya...ehh ehh?

Online pay has completely transformed bill payment. Saves tons on stamps and you know the exact date the bill paid.

But there is a lot less excuse of "But the check's in the mail.... it must be lost with the postal service!"

I cringe at sending payment through the mail. One slipup anywhere and you have to deal with the company not thinking you paid. What a PITA, now it's as easy as a few clicks and everyone is happy.

Can't say i've actually ever not been able to pay my bills online. Part of that whole "first generation with computers hooked up to the internet in schools" thing i guess.

Well, automatic pay is no hassle until you need to withhold payment to make the company do something.

Um, TXU will cut off my gas if I try to play hard ball with them. Ford would come take the car back, etc.

Um, TXU will cut off my gas if I try to play hard ball with them. Ford would come take the car back, etc.

Having grown up with parents who were both bad with money and never had too much of it, i can assure you that they aren't as hardball as you think they are.

I too greatly detest paying bills. :( However i funnel all my spending through a single credit card to make things easy to track. Nothing gets attached to my bank account for automatic deductions. If any money comes ot of my bank account it's because I manually requested that a payment or transfer be made.

I too greatly detest paying bills. :( However i funnel all my spending through a single credit card to make things easy to track. Nothing gets attached to my bank account to automatically deductions. If any money comes ot of my bank account it's because I manually requested that a payment or transfer be made.

I like that model actually and have recently been trying to follow it. Seems two-fold in that it can be good for your credit so long as you do it smart.

Yeap, the only things in recent history that didn't go through my CC were my car payments and student lonas. Now that both of those are out of the way i've only got one major payment a month. The good thing is that you easily know how much you spent per month. The bad thing is that you really really gotta make sure you pay in time otherwise the interest can become a problem if you're late...

I know it appears that way, but just know this: I wouldn't have hooked up with the redhead had i not already been happy. Most of you don't know this, but because of finals i took about a 3 week break (via a 'self-imposed ban' carried out by Mr. Tom) from the forums. This lead me to my winter break which was a much needed break. I had begun to accept my situation and actually saw some very important positives in it such as the possibility of getting my MA @ Boulder (to to mention coming to the realization that i hadn't been happy with the former girl for a long time...). The prospect of being single and not tied down was nice. Then i was at a party where i reacquainted myself with "saucy" whom i knew from high school. The rest is history and though for a while i kept waking up with the thought of "what are you doing" they were immediately erased when she woke up and we talked.

Moving to Colorado is on hold, for now, which would have likely happened anyways but i am pretty content and with a lady whom relates with me in increasingly shocking ways.

Life is good, and my electric bill is paid. As is my rent, through may, now...does anyone want to sublease my apartment for June and July? I'll pay $400 of the rent for ya...ehh ehh?

Glad you got over the hump, Timmy. Things are looking good for you! :)

I cringe at sending payment through the mail. One slipup anywhere and you have to deal with the company not thinking you paid. What a PITA, now it's as easy as a few clicks and everyone is happy.

Can't say i've actually ever not been able to pay my bills online. Part of that whole "first generation with computers hooked up to the internet in schools" thing i guess.

I've been paying bills electronically since about 1990 when CheckFree (which is the company behind many banks' online payment services) was available via Compuserve. Back then you had to pay for the privilege and convenience of paying electronically.

For the record, I've never had a problem with a sending a payment via snail mail. For electonic payments, the only problem I've ever had was with CSAA (California AAA), which twice (2005 and 2006) didn't know what to do with my check. I believe they were not set up to accept electronic payment, forcing the payment service to print and mail the check, but I was never credited. I know they got the first check because they issued a refund check to me (from the return address), because they couldn't tie me to my account number.

As to the thread topic, bill paying still sucks!

Having grown up with parents who were both bad with money and never had too much of it, i can assure you that they aren't as hardball as you think they are.

I am not as likeable as your parents.

I am not as likeable as your parents.

Depends on the time of the month...well, until that surgery anyways. :eek:

Depends on the time of the month...well, until that surgery anyways. :eek:

I have midol and have put that off for a few months.

Yeap, the only things in recent history that didn't go through my CC were my car payments and student lonas. Now that both of those are out of the way i've only got one major payment a month. The good thing is that you easily know how much you spent per month. The bad thing is that you really really gotta make sure you pay in time otherwise the interest can become a problem if you're late...

This is what I do. Everything except my mortgage goes on my Capital One card and it is paid off each month. Don't pay interest and earn about two free flights per year.

I try to have as few regular bills as possible.

Rent, electric, landline phone bill are the only monthly bills. Oh, and credit cards if we use them and pay off every month. The US Bank Visa can be paid in person at the local US Bank. They don't mind if I bring my bike right up to the teller window with me. Car insurance payments (every 6 months) taken to the local agent, usually by bike.
No cable TV, free dial-up internet through my college, have a Tracfone cell phone for occasional brief calls.
Pay cash for groceries, etc.

Haven't you guys seen Office Space? The guy says [paraphrased] "I aint gonna work anymore".

"What, how are you gonna pay the bills?"

"Well I dont like paying bills much either, I'm just gonna stop paying bills."