It’s really interesting to me, how only ten, maybe fifteen years ago I longed for the complex, perceived “fun” things in life. Taking on additional responsibilities (credit cards, car payments student loans) just seemed like life. And to a certain extent it is – although the older I get, the more I realize just how optional those things really are.
This process – debt reduction in particular, has caused me to consider, and even value simplicity in my life. On the “No Credit Needed” podcast, the host described the idea that he worries now, so he doesn’t have to worry. He talked about having his bills paid up, or in advance for a month in preparation for the birth of his daughter (CONGRATULATIONS, NCN!!!) – so that when she does arrive, he can focus on her – and not worry about bills. WOW.
I don’t have children, but I can relate. I remember a couple of years ago we had a pretty big event happen in my family; it was painful and traumatic. I became fairly depressed for about a month, and lost interest in – well, paying my bills or keeping up with them among other things. Now depression isn’t something I struggle with on an on-going basis – but when it did hit, I felt pretty disoriented.
Here’s the interesting thing – I eventually came back around, and when I looked at my bills and decided to catch up, I was caught up already. You see, I had set up my bill payments through my bank. My bank can receive bills from almost all my accounts, and I had set up automatic payments to be sent on the due date for those. For the bills that don’t have eBill capability, I have scheduled the right amount to be sent (which is pretty much only rent). And since my employer automatically deposits my paycheck, well, I hadn’t realized just how much my finances were on auto pilot. As long as money was in my account, my bills were paid.
I had expected to have to catch up with late payments – but everything had happened exactly on time, and for the right amount. Had I realized this, I probably could have focused on my family needs a little more – and worry less about my finances. Actually in retrospect the right thing probably would have been to pay attention and not let life’s events keep me from managing my finances. But that it worked out as well as it did is a testament to the simplicity of paying bills this way.
Now I make it a personal and unbreakable policy NOT to allow any company to deduct a payment from my checking account automatically. I want control – I’m more than happy to set up payments through my bank, where I have control – but I will NOT allow another company the right to dip into my checking account. By doing it this way I can change the amount, date, or even cancel a payment if I need to. In other words, I am in complete control.
As an aside, several years ago I had an interesting conversation with a salesperson at a gym:
Salesperson: Now, just give me your checking account information and we’ll deduct payments automatically through your checking account.
Me: Whoa! I was not aware I had to give you access to my checking account in order to sign up.
Salesperson: No, it’s okay – this way the bill is paid each month so you don’t have to worry about forgetting.
Me: I schedule payments to happen automatically on my bank’s web site. Besides, it’s a personal rule of mine, not to allow companies to take payments from my checking account automatically.
Salesperson (you won’t believe this): Well, you know rules were meant to be broken.
Me: What hours are you open?
Salesperson (a little surprised at my question): We open at 5:00am and close at 11:00pm.
Me: Would you mind if I came in at, say 2:00 in the morning to work out alone?
Salesperson: No, we couldn’t allow that.
Me: Why not?
Salesperson: You can only come in during business hours.
Me: So you’re saying it’s one of the company’s rules?
Salesperson (beginning to understand): Yes, I suppose so.
Me: And you won’t bend that rule for me?
Salesperson: I could ask, but I assure you the answer would be no.
Me: So I’m sure you understand when I tell you that my personal rule is never to allow a company access to my checking account. This, like your store hours, is a rule that is not meant to be broken.
The salesperson grumbled, but he did find the right forms, and he signed me up with traditional payments.
I’ve been told before that I’m a salesperson’s worst nightmare. Later on I saw that salesperson again, and he told me that he had called another salesperson at another location and told them what I had said.
At any rate, I like to keep control of my bills. So setting up automatic payments through your bank isn’t for everybody – but for me it works like a charm. In fact, in a way it allows me the freedom from worry. As long as I have an income. 
So over the past few months, I’ve been able to remove bills from the list of bills on my bank’s website – and the smaller that list becomes the better it feels. Simplicity feels great – and allows me to relax a little bit.
Every $12.99 counts!
March 28, 2008
So I decided that I didn’t need high definition cable TV service from Comcast while doing baby step 2, so I called and attempted to terminate my account. I have both cable Internet and cable TV service through Comcast, and truth be known, I only watch a couple of shows on a regular basis – “LOST” and “The Office” to be specific. If you go to http://www.abc.com, you can watch “LOST” on the Internet for free. You can also go to http://www.nbc.com and watch full episodes of “The Office” for free. Why do I need cable TV again?
So nothing else holding me back, I called Comcast to terminate my cable TV service. In good salesmanship fashion, Comcast convinced me to stay with “limited cable TV” because if I went down to only a single service (Internet) they would increase the cost of Internet access by about $13, and “limited cable TV” is also about $13. In other words, it’s a wash. It stinks of a game that I don’t want to play, but I fell for it. I suppose I was a little upset that by selecting only one of their services, they would charge me an additional $13/month. Still, I had more than cut my bill in half, and I need Internet access. This seemed to be reasonable, although I mentioned to the Comcast representative that I would be looking for less expensive Internet access in the coming months. (She mentioned that I would certainly find less expensive Internet access, but that she wanted me to know that Comcast is superior.)
Okay so sales pitch aside, I proceeded to return my cable box the following day. As I was returning the cable box, the representative behind the desk mentioned that I would be charged $12.99 for the technician to install a filter on their line. At first I didn’t pay much attention, but when I got back into my car and started driving I got to thinking about it. I’m not actually getting anything for that $12.99. What exactly IS it I’m paying for again?
So I called Comcast. They said that they charge their customers for installing a filter of some sort, which prevents me from getting channels I’m not paying for. It smelled fishy, and considering I felt a little upset at being told my Internet cost would increase if that was the only service I had with Comcast, I told them to just forget the whole thing – to just cancel my entire account, Internet and cable TV, and I would look for Internet access elsewhere.
Well, the customer service representative immediately waived the $12.99 fee, and reduced the cost of my Internet access to half what it would be – for 6 months.
It was enough to convince me to stay with them, but I’m going to use the next 6 months to find another Internet service provider – one that doesn’t play games like this with me.
Now Comcast has been good to me – I’m not aware of any billing problems I’ve had with them in the past, and their service has always been at least decent. I have had no complaints about them as a company in the past.
At this point, I do wish they would compete for customers on the basis of service, rather than this stupid game of charging more, the fewer services a customer decides to sign up for. It’s a game – period. If their service is a good value, they shouldn’t have to play such a game. Mobile phone carriers do the same thing – and it hurts consumers. First, it locks consumers into 2+ year contracts, and second it creates an environment that does not require companies to compete on the basis of service. If consumers weren’t stuck with a company, and had more ability to move between companies for competing services, then those companies would have more incentive to provide a better service for the cost.
So I’m now looking for Internet access – with a company that won’t play games, and who will provide me with a quality service that is worth the cost. No games, no hidden fees, just a fair trade of money for a service.
