More reason to go digital
Even if you’re not on the road full time, going digital makes sense.
Just today I was convinced even more about the value of doing transactions over the Internet. For those of you who don’t know, or haven’t paid attention, the cost of a stamp is going up again for 2006. I’ll admit up front, I didn’t know. It’s not like I pay attention to the news (several hours a day on my XM, news searches in the morning, etc.).
So if you weren’t aware of the rate hike, now you are.
Each month companies that send me bills keep pushing me to automatically pay, or pay over the Internet. I do conduct some transactions over the net, and now I’m thinking hard about covering most transactions via the net. My service providers (phone, cell phone, utility companies) all offer incentives (10% off, $10 back, and so on) if I switch and pay electronically. I haven’t been offered any incentives to keep popping stamps on envelopes…..
For those on the road, conducting business electronically seems like the way to go. No worries about mail forwarding to make sure your insurance is paid up. Did your postal mail all make it to your current location? All that can be put aside, and instead you can log on, cover your obligations, and get back to enjoying your mobile life.
I just found out that the price of stamps are going up again. Now, I need to buy 2 cent stamps so I can use my 37 cent stamps. I still have 35 cent stamps left over from the last price hike.
Comment on December 31, 2005 @ 2:30 pm
Rich, for us full-timers there is no substitute for electronic banking and billing. Paper is the enemy. Moving around a lot guarantees you’ll have late bills if you wait for the paper to get forwarded. I bought a coil of 100 stamps last year. We used to use a coil every 3 months between personal and business bills. Now a coil lasts a year or more. I had to go buy 50 $0.02 stamps last week!
Comment on January 1, 2006 @ 3:37 pm
We started internet banking at Wells Fargo over 5 years ago. Twice a year I have to pay real estate taxes with a check and we used to have to pay the CA DMV by check because government has been extremely slow to grasp internet bill paying. For all other vendors and service providers, however, paying over the internet is fast, easy, and convenient. Now that Arnold is our governor, even the DMV has learned to modernize a bit. Gone is the so-called “convenience fee” for paying the DMV with anything other than a check. The “convenience fee” was a charge to the customer for the convenience of the government!!
Comment on January 2, 2006 @ 10:50 am