One of my other student loans doesn’t let you sign up savings accounts, however. So I just set it up to take from my less-used Bank of America checking account. Again, there’s only enough money in that account to cover the automatic transfers coming out of it. So no messed-up automatic payments can ever bankrupt me. Cause headache? Yes, but not prevent other bills from being paid.

If you still want to allow the process, I think the idea to open a dedicated account for this is brilliant.

“That’s the life I’d like to lead. It’s pretty much what I’ve always dreamed of”

That’s interesting. I’d hate that life. To each their own I guess.”

Wow, whether you’d like that life or not, someone asked TRENT what he dreams of, not you. Someone else pleasantly pointed out he’d have a hard time getting away with livestock on his property and that was a constructive comment. A slam such as yours only served to make you look like a negative person spewing more negativity.

I found the Flylady – her system truly changed my life – we’re not fastidious at all but the overwhelmingness of cleaning and organzing is GONE – and it’s amazing! I have three kids and destructopuppy and I can let people in my house when they knock on the door unexpectedly without flinching. Try flylady.net – it’s all free :O)

I started using the automatic withdrawal with the department of education just over three years ago. If I used the auto withdrawal, my rate went down a quarter percent, and if I made 36 consecutive on-time payments, my rate went down another full percent. Right now, I’m paying 3.5% on my loans. Half of my payment is now going to principle, and half to interest. I’ve never had a problem with the wrong amount being drawn.

I think Christine was asking about offering to pay collection agencies an amount less than what is owed in exchange for them removing the negative information from her credit report. The collection agencies are pretty desperate given the economic conditions. I would call them and give it a try. However, I would get it writing before I sent a dime to the collection agency (i.e: if I pay X dollars to settle Y account by Z date, the account will be reported as Paid as Agreed/Never late). Collection agencies tend to agree to anything over the phone to get you to send in a payment and then go back on their word once payment is received.

I read blogs by rss feed. I will not read a blog that I can’t access that way. If I can’t get the full post on Google Reader I will unsubscribe. So thank you Trent for the RSS feed, I do come to the site regularly because of it.

I do like the automatic (stamp-free) payments for things with stable amounts that I won’t want to cancel. But then my mortgage has never been removed twice in one month.

On their part, that is. Somehow I sometimes still manage to forget the deduction is coming. But that’s me.

Basically, you open up a separate account with only enough money to pay that bill. So, if they drain it by accident, it won’t really affect you. Kind of like Sarah T (comment #4) does.

I agree with your assessment, in part. If it’s a service where you may ever want to cancel the service (gym membership, video rental service, cell phone), I don’t recommend autopay. I’ve heard too many stories about companies not stopping billing after you’ve canceled your account. A friend of mine actually had to close a bank account in order to get Gold’s Gym to stop billing him two years after he canceled his membership.

I’ve talked enough, elsewhere, about the issues I have with the “You’re actually doing your kids a favor by stiffing their college fund!” argument, so I won’t go into that now. What I find really puzzling is that the other side of the question – what benefit is a child going to get out of having a tutor? – isn’t even addressed.

What benefit is a child who’s not struggling in her classes at school going to get out of a tutor? I suppose that if the child is sufficiently motivated and talented, the tutor could introduce her to material beyond or outside of the normal school curriculum. But so could a pile of books, and I’d think that they’d be a lot less expensive. In fact, I’d argue that the best thing you can give such a child is the opportunity to meet and socialize with other similarly motivated and talented children – and that’s the one thing you’re NOT getting when you pay for one-on-one tutorship.

You cannot pay someone to delete accurate information from your credit report. It is illegal. You can only have inaccurate information removed. Period.