This is why I only use automatic charging for things where I can reliably know the general magnitude in advance.
Automatic: subscriptions (to magazines, software, Patreons, etc.), my mobile phone (for which the flat rate usually covers my entire usage), my ISP (another flat rate).
They bill me then I pay them: utility bills, credit cards.
I don’t find it an inconvenience to make the manual payments. On the contrary, it is helpful to me to have this regular contact with what I am spending.
my mobile phone (for which the flat rate usually covers my entire usage),
Generally knowing the magnitude of mobile phone bills in advance and actually knowing the bill is quite difference. Sometimes mobile phone bills get into high amounts due to bogus rooming charges.
That depends on your deal. My roaming arrangement is capped at so many GB per week. If it looks like I’ll need more, I buy more as I need it. No bad surprises.
No bad surprises. A principle not only for money, but for life.
In the US, “postpaid” mobile phone bills where you use your phone and then get charged for your usage are the most common, but if you’re worried about surprise bills, you can do prepaid billing instead, in which case instead of being extended potentially-surprising amount of credit, the expensive thing you’re trying to do just doesn’t work. They also usually make it easy to add more money to your account in case you really do want to do something like expensive international roaming.
This is why I only use automatic charging for things where I can reliably know the general magnitude in advance.
Automatic: subscriptions (to magazines, software, Patreons, etc.), my mobile phone (for which the flat rate usually covers my entire usage), my ISP (another flat rate).
They bill me then I pay them: utility bills, credit cards.
I don’t find it an inconvenience to make the manual payments. On the contrary, it is helpful to me to have this regular contact with what I am spending.
Generally knowing the magnitude of mobile phone bills in advance and actually knowing the bill is quite difference. Sometimes mobile phone bills get into high amounts due to bogus rooming charges.
That depends on your deal. My roaming arrangement is capped at so many GB per week. If it looks like I’ll need more, I buy more as I need it. No bad surprises.
No bad surprises. A principle not only for money, but for life.
In the US, “postpaid” mobile phone bills where you use your phone and then get charged for your usage are the most common, but if you’re worried about surprise bills, you can do prepaid billing instead, in which case instead of being extended potentially-surprising amount of credit, the expensive thing you’re trying to do just doesn’t work. They also usually make it easy to add more money to your account in case you really do want to do something like expensive international roaming.