1 00:00:00,201 --> 00:00:02,549 Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Stacey Hyde and I'm back with another 2 00:00:02,629 --> 00:00:05,860 episode of Better Financial Health in 15 minutes or less. 3 00:00:05,860 --> 00:00:10,570 And what I want to talk about today is are you overpaying for 4 00:00:10,631 --> 00:00:11,311 convenience? 5 00:00:11,311 --> 00:00:16,527 Yes, it's easy to set stuff up on autopay, but then what 6 00:00:16,568 --> 00:00:20,542 happens and I will say, my number one personal beef with 7 00:00:20,582 --> 00:00:24,027 this is on my internet bill. 8 00:00:24,027 --> 00:00:28,900 So you set these up where they automatically deduct each month. 9 00:00:28,900 --> 00:00:33,591 They send you an email and then they usually send you the email 10 00:00:33,591 --> 00:00:35,963 the exact day that they're debiting your account. 11 00:00:35,963 --> 00:00:39,231 So you don't get much time to take action and if you don't 12 00:00:39,292 --> 00:00:43,226 take action it just goes through and for the most part that 13 00:00:43,287 --> 00:00:44,168 works out well. 14 00:00:44,871 --> 00:00:51,267 But what happens if they raise the rates and maybe Xfinity 15 00:00:51,307 --> 00:00:56,621 Comcast is kind of notorious for this you sign up with them, you 16 00:00:56,621 --> 00:01:01,097 have a one-year or two-year guaranteed rate and you get to 17 00:01:01,137 --> 00:01:03,709 the end of the rate and then all of a sudden what you were 18 00:01:03,749 --> 00:01:08,230 paying $50 for is now $90 a month and you're like whoa, what 19 00:01:08,230 --> 00:01:08,992 happened here? 20 00:01:08,992 --> 00:01:13,465 But then your life is busy and you forget to look at it, you 21 00:01:13,504 --> 00:01:18,221 forget to call and it continues on, and then next year they come 22 00:01:18,221 --> 00:01:19,224 and they raise it again. 23 00:01:19,224 --> 00:01:23,201 This can happen with your cell phone bills, although I will say 24 00:01:23,201 --> 00:01:23,963 cell phones. 25 00:01:23,963 --> 00:01:27,171 I personally have not had as much issue with that. 26 00:01:27,171 --> 00:01:30,284 In fact, our cell phone bill's actually gone down a little bit, 27 00:01:30,284 --> 00:01:32,927 but you certainly see it there. 28 00:01:32,927 --> 00:01:37,840 I know we recently signed up for a car wash membership and 29 00:01:37,900 --> 00:01:41,489 the intro was $10 a month for any of their washes. 30 00:01:41,489 --> 00:01:46,731 Well, so most people signed up for the highest level because it 31 00:01:46,731 --> 00:01:47,701 was the same price. 32 00:01:47,701 --> 00:01:50,489 But then what happens is, once they get to the end of that 33 00:01:50,530 --> 00:01:55,025 four-month promo, they're going to be paying $40 or $50 a month, 34 00:01:55,025 --> 00:01:59,254 and are they still using the car wash that often? 35 00:01:59,254 --> 00:02:00,784 And what are they getting? 36 00:02:00,784 --> 00:02:02,352 Do they actually need something lower? 37 00:02:02,352 --> 00:02:04,081 Do they even need a membership at all? 38 00:02:04,081 --> 00:02:08,474 Should they just pay for when they get their car washed once a 39 00:02:08,474 --> 00:02:11,205 month because they don't always want to go to that one? 40 00:02:11,205 --> 00:02:14,969 So those are some things that you really want to look at. 41 00:02:14,969 --> 00:02:17,247 Gym memberships can be the same way. 42 00:02:17,247 --> 00:02:20,764 You know you're signed up for it and if you're not going, 43 00:02:21,205 --> 00:02:22,169 what's happening there? 44 00:02:22,169 --> 00:02:27,147 So you really it can happen. 45 00:02:27,147 --> 00:02:30,144 You know we talk a lot about streaming services and, yes, 46 00:02:30,424 --> 00:02:34,111 netflix has had quite a few increases over the years, but 47 00:02:34,171 --> 00:02:38,652 it's not just those types of things that can get on auto pay. 48 00:02:38,652 --> 00:02:41,802 It's other things as well and you really want to pay attention 49 00:02:41,802 --> 00:02:41,802 . 50 00:02:42,364 --> 00:02:46,481 I think what I would recommend is, this weekend, sit down, 51 00:02:46,581 --> 00:02:50,156 spend 30 minutes and go through your credit card bills, your 52 00:02:50,216 --> 00:02:55,266 bank account statements, and see what is going on, what you're 53 00:02:55,287 --> 00:02:55,948 paying for. 54 00:02:55,948 --> 00:02:58,612 For example, I love my Sirius XM radio. 55 00:02:58,612 --> 00:03:02,911 I know I'm supposed to be cool and use Spotify, but I just like 56 00:03:02,911 --> 00:03:06,681 turning on my car and the music I like playing and not having 57 00:03:06,722 --> 00:03:07,764 to listen to commercials. 58 00:03:07,764 --> 00:03:12,419 But I've learned that I put a reminder on my calendar when my 59 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:17,770 contract's about to end the fixed rate and I call and cancel 60 00:03:17,770 --> 00:03:20,842 and they always give me the same rate I was paying. 61 00:03:20,861 --> 00:03:21,222 Before. 62 00:03:21,222 --> 00:03:23,848 The same thing happened to my New York Times subscription. 63 00:03:23,848 --> 00:03:26,441 I was going to cancel. 64 00:03:26,441 --> 00:03:28,245 They offered to leave at the same price. 65 00:03:28,245 --> 00:03:33,862 I stayed, but I have to be vigilant next year in order to 66 00:03:33,943 --> 00:03:35,105 keep it from going up. 67 00:03:35,105 --> 00:03:38,319 So it is convenient to have it automatically in there and you 68 00:03:38,340 --> 00:03:39,383 don't have to worry about it. 69 00:03:39,383 --> 00:03:44,042 But it also makes it easier for them to raise prices and so 70 00:03:44,081 --> 00:03:45,105 many people forget. 71 00:03:45,105 --> 00:03:49,181 So take it from me and I'm gonna take my own advice and 72 00:03:49,481 --> 00:03:53,788 reach out to Xfinity and get my internet bill lowered back down. 73 00:03:53,788 --> 00:03:59,027 So thanks for tuning in and if you drop a comment in our 74 00:03:59,068 --> 00:04:02,781 socials, let us know how much money you were able to save by 75 00:04:02,901 --> 00:04:04,407 renegotiating your contracts. 76 00:04:04,407 --> 00:04:05,705 Thanks for tuning in. 77 00:04:05,705 --> 00:04:08,462 This has been another episode of Better Financial Health, in 78 00:04:08,503 --> 00:04:09,647 15 minutes or less.