In my condo complex, we have a monthly amenities fee of $50 that covers the pool, the gym and the lobby maintenance. I’ve always set it up on autopay because of course, it’s easy, I don’t have to think about it, and it just disappears from my account. Very recently, though, I noticed the bank added a convenience fee for autopay. It used to be $1.50, now it’s $3.50, that's more than double of $1.50. I don't understand why they would add that.
Now I'm torn. On one hand, it’s not a huge amount in the grand scheme and autopay saves me the mental load of remembering to write a check but on the other hand, it feels wasteful to pay extra just for convenience, especially if I’m trying to cut costs wherever I can. I started thinking about little ways I could save elsewhere to justify small expenses, like maybe skipping that decorative water bubble wall I was casually browsing on Alibaba the other week. Honestly, I probably don’t need it anyway.
Has anyone else dealt with these small recurring charges and had to weigh convenience versus cost? Do you just accept it as the price of ease or do you go through the extra effort to save a couple dollars each month? I’m leaning toward keeping autopay for peace of mind but part of me wants to do the sensible thing and handle it manually.
Trying to decide if a small convenience is worth the extra cost
byu/Sobber07 inFrugal
Posted by Sobber07
4 Comments
I’d be looking around to see if I could find another bank that didn’t charge a fee for autopay.
You can have your bank mail billpay checks for free through your bank and also set it up reoccurring if you want.
Writing and sending a check *is* quite a hassle. Is that the only other option? For 3.50 I’d set an alarm on my phone and make a bank transfer or something.
Either way, I’d treat it like anu other expense – is it something I’m willing to pay for what I get?
But I have a real dislike of charges like that this is psychological more than financial. If the gym charge went from 50 to 53.50 I’d just shrug and pay it. But a 3.50 convenience charge feels different.
See if you can’t autopay directly from your bank, an ACH transfer instead of by credit card.