XPost: nf.general 
 From: stanford@nf.sympatico.ca 
  
 "Randall Stevens"  wrote in message 
 news:K_EYf.55095$VV4.950969@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca... 
 > I'm no millionaire, hell I'm only a marginal "thousandaire", but never in 
 > my working life have I had less than $200 to my name. There's always 
 > enough in the bank to cover the bills. And of course, most banks offer 
 > overdraft protection. If, as you say, your bill is due on a Tuesday and 
 > you don't get paid until Friday, it's simply a matter of managing your 
 > money better, if even for only ONE week. 
 > 
 > Kind of like always keeping your car full, rather than pumping in $5 or 
 > $10 every bloody day. You still burn the same amount of gas, but for a 
 > one-time "investment" of a full tank of gas you're not constantly going to 
 > the pump. Look at your calendar, your pay schedule(s), and your monthly 
 > bills. Space all bills out evenly over the month, rather than paying all 
 > of them in one week.You should be able to pay all monthly bills via 
 > automatic deduction as long as you get a regular check. I realize if you 
 > work part-time and your checks vary from week to week it may be more 
 > difficult, but it works for me and thousands of other Newfoundlanders. 
 > 
 > Hope this helps, even if it doesn't answer the original post from this 
 > thread. 
 > 
 > 
 > "NoTimeLikeThePresent"  wrote in message 
 > news:f6EYf.55056$VV4.949882@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca... 
 >>I don't know about the rest of the people here but there are times when 
 >>there's just not enough money in my account to pay the light bill. If Nfld 
 >>Power deducts my light bill on Tuesday and I don't get paid until Friday 
 >>then I have to pay the bank $25. I'd rather do it the 'hard way' and pay 
 >>online than pay the bank another fee. 
 >> 
 >> Must be nice to have no worries about money. 
 >> 
 >> "Randall Stevens"  wrote in message 
 >> news:RADYf.55021$VV4.949616@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca... 
 >>> Can't you save time, money and frustration and simply pay by automatic 
 >>> monthly deduction? Same goes for phone, cable, etc. I can't believe the 
 >>> number of people who still insist on doing things the hard way! 
 >>> 
 >>> "Jim"  wrote in message 
 >>> news:quzYf.54831$VV4.944726@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca... 
 >>>>I walk up to Newfoundland Light and Power to pay my light bill. 
 >>>> I am turned away because, apparently, you can't pay your light and 
 >>>> power bill at the light and power company. 
 >>>> You CAN pay your light and power bill at the smoke shop at Dominion 
 >>>> though. 
 >>>> 
 >>>> Can someone smarter than me tell me WTF is that all about? 
 >>>> 
 >>> 
 >>> 
 Ok: Good points. Keep 'ahead of' your bills, eh? 
  
 Here's another idea. 
  
 Let's say you need $200 to cover your bills until next pay day, which is one 
 week away? 
  
 Go to the bank and arrange a Line of Credit (LOC). You can draw on the LOC 
 and put money back into it quickly and easily (almost immediately) at an 
 ATM, over the counter while you are in there paying your bills 'through the 
 bank', or over the internet using on-line banking. 
  
 If you have any kind of a credit rating at all the bank will charge you 
 about 7% LOC interest per year; that's only $7 per $100; if borrowed for a 
 'full year'. 
  
 If you borrow $100 for one week it will cost you about 14 cents. Two hundred 
 dollars borrowed for one week will cost you less than 30 cents; not even the 
 cost of a cup of coffee, right? Even if you are paid monthly borrowing two 
 hundred from an LOC, for one month will only cost about $1.20 in interest. 
 See also the 2% minimum. 
  
 Only use that LOC when you run short of funds to pay your immediate bills; 
 and PAY IT BACK the moment you get paid. 
  
 With an LOC you only pay interest on what you borrow and only for as long as 
 you borrow it. The only condition may be that you have to pay back a minimum 
 of 2% every month; which in this case would be $4 and since this is short 
 term borrowing you will have paid back the full amount of the LOC before the 
 2% becomes due anyway! 
  
 This will avoid late charges on your bills; places such as the Telco, Light 
 and Power etc may charge you 1.5% 'monthly'. That's a rate of 18% per year 
 even if you miss the payment date by only a day or two. They may charge you 
 that 1.5% for the whole month until their next statement date! If you do 
 that for a couple/three months your bill will build up by another 3 to 5 per 
 cent. If the bill is for $200, that's another $10! 
  
 It is surely better to borrow the bank's money and pay them much less than a 
 dollar in interest charges, in order to pay a bill on time and also avoid 
 those darn 'bank charges' for insufficient funds or spending over the 
 overdraft limit of your account? 
  
 A worst case must be when one tries to pay a bill; but there are not 
 sufficient funds in the account. Then you not only pay extra bank charges 
 but the bill also incur a 'late penalty' on the next billing statement. 
 Yuck! 
  
 Pensioners like this one have to keep a close eye on this; we don't have the 
 capacity to earn more than our pension brings in! So don't get older; get 
 smarter! 
  
 BTW: Been banking in Canada, with major institutions for some 50 years. More 
 recently I notice that at least one of the major ones is now including the 
 amount of any allowed overdraft in an item called "Funds available"! For 
 example lets' say, at a given moment I have $1700 in my chequing account. 
 The bank has 'given me' an overdraft allowance of, say $2500. The statement 
 will say "Funds available $4200". 
  
 What they fail to point out is that if I spend any of that O.D., either 
 deliberately or inadvertently, it will cost me interest at the rate of about 
 21% per year! And I'm a reputable customer who has an account with them 
 since 1956! 
  
 However found out, recently, that if one has an LOC in good standing it is 
 possible to 'link it' to ones chequing account, so that LOC borrowing will 
 cover certain preauthorized payments and cheques. It will not cover use of 
 say the debit card for 'purchases'. So if you decided to go this route make 
 sure to understand the process and conditions and ask questions. 
  
 And remember any purchase we make, or agree to make, whether it be the 
 monthly billing of one's electricity bill,  two pounds of carrots at the 
 supermarket, a used car from 'Honest Joe's Used Automobiles' or with a 
 carpenter to build a fence , is 'A contract to sell and buy'. It is 
 therefore subject to the rules and policies both the buyer and seller agree 
 to! Also to certain Canadian and/or provincial laws. 
  
 Caveat Emptor. Buyer beware! Good luck out there in Consumer-Land. 
  
 --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05 
  * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)