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"  In an effort to streamline my finances, I&amp;#039;ve been looking for a way to simplify paying my bills (because, unfortunately, not paying them isn&amp;#039;t an option). When I can, I like to use my credit card so that I can earn points. But when I can&amp;#039;t, I use my bank&amp;#039;s online billpay feature. While I could authorize individual payees to access my account and take the funds, or use software such as Quicken or an online bill aggregator like MyCheckFree, here&amp;#039;s why I prefer the bank route.  No sharing my checking account number (Obviously, the bank already has it.) While other payment options are almost certainly secure, it can&amp;#039;t hurt to limit access to my personal financial info as much as possible. No writing or mailing checks  If a payee doesn&amp;#039;t accept electronic payment, my bank will send out a check -- which, unlike a personal check, doesn&amp;#039;t display my checking account number -- for free. (Many, but not all, banks do this; ask.) No extra busy work In addition to not messing with mailing, I don&amp;#039;t have to set aside time to log into any number of different payees&amp;#039; sites (say, the electric company, my cell phone provider) -- a time-consuming process. Once I log into my bank account to check my balance (which I do before paying bills anyway), I&amp;#039;m just a few keyboard strokes away from being finished with a chore. No extra cost to me* Personal finance software is often excellent, combining the services of Mint.com (which I already use) with bill payment. But I&amp;#039;m looking to save money, and every little bit counts. *Be sure to check with your bank, as some charge a fee for billpay if you don&amp;#039;t maintain a minimum balance.   What have you found to be the most efficient way to handle your bills? Another benefit of online billpay: less paper clutter. Read about ways to reduce junkmail. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/institute/a23419/bank-online-billpay/>