This is the kind of government thinking that drives me nuts. You have a crown corporation that exists to do one service - deliver mail. Their volumes have dropped and are continuing to drop.
Instead of just downsizing the business (and reducing service) to reflect reality, they are trying to get into new businesses to justify their existence.
I also think it's a personal issue: I've learned from past experience that the more I automate my finances, the less I pay attention to them, and things gradually slip out of control. It all has to do with me and my particular quirks, not with the system itself: I'm sure MoneyGal can automate as much as she likes and still maintain tight control, but through trial and lots of error I've discovered that doing almost everything manually works best for me. I use Quicken but don't download my transactions, I enter them by hand from receipts. I do have several bills and monthly donations paid automatically with my credit card, and a few paid automaticaly through my chequing account, but after having both my credit card and debit card hijacked several times over the past five years and having to deal with all the headaches of re-setting those monthly withdrawals I now prefer to pay most bills manually online as they come in. Maybe I take "set it and forget it" too literally...it's just too easy for me to stop paying attention to my daily transactions altogether, so I overcompensate by paying too much attention to them.
Well, to be frank, for about six months last year I was living on the road. I wanted to automate as much as possible because do you know how hard it can be to find an internet connection (never mind a FREE internet connection) at some random airport in the US Midwest, so you can pay your cellphone bill? (Or how much you do NOT want to attend to that after a day on the road?!)
Also - I get e-mail notifications of EVERY bill that is autopaid. I can place a stop on any bill which I am going to contest. The ONLY part that is automated is the payment. No payee is going into my account without my explicit permission and my foreknowledge of the amount that is to be autopaid.
I did think of one thing I love the mail for, though, apart from packages: magazines. I get maybe 5 or 6 different magazines. It's a total luxury. I love to lie in bed and flip through decor magazines. Yesterday I got both House Beautiful and Real Simple - a banner day for me (also because I was in a bike collision and I was able to lie in the bath, recuperating and reviewing a decor mag. Heaven!)
But the trick - as Brad has said - is to find what works for you, and then follow THAT system - mindful of the risks with any system (no autopay: random middle-of-the-night realization - "I forgot to pay the phone bill!" versus autopay: "I could be billed a large amount in error!").
Sudden industrial garbage can on road + me on bike = minor collision. Two people came and helped me off the road, I didn't rip any clothing (I still don't know how that's possible), and I only injured my hands mildly. Thanks for your well wishes, guys!
I funnel everything through my credit card, and review that. I can appreciate how it might be nice to automate some or most bills when you have 5 or 10 monthly bills to pay.
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