Have you ever glanced at a recurring monthly bill and thought it seemed just a tad higher than it used to?
Bill Creep is a thing, and it’s in the best interest of your wallet to learn how to protect against it.
My Story
I was balancing my checking account (yes, I still do that), when the amount withdrawn for our internet caught my attention.
The actual amount was significantly higher than the amount I budgeted for that expense.
A quick check confirmed that, yes indeed, the amount I was paying had slowly, but surely, been making a steady climb north.
In fact, the amount had been silently creeping up for months.
A call, and notice I don’t say a quick call, to the internet company resulted in a new, lower monthly payment.
Forty dollars lower to be exact.
That savings launched me on a mission.
Turns out I was the victim of some serious bill creep.
What is bill creep?
Bill creep is a gradual increase in regular monthly expenses.
The increase happens so slowly, and over such a long period of time, it often goes unnoticed.
Unchecked, it can wreak havoc on your budget and cause you to pay out hundreds of unnecessary dollars.
If you prefer to keep as much of your hard-earned dollars as possible, it’s critical to protect against bill creep.
Start by doing a thorough examination of all monthly recurring charges.
Review all bank and credit card statements and make a list of all charges that are related to services of any kind.
It’s important to include services for utilities.
Ensure that the amount you are paying is what you expect it to be.
Although auto pay is convenient, it also allows bill creep to occur without you being none the wiser.
If the charges are higher or different than you expect them to be, start investigating.
Investigating is a crucial step in protecting against bill creep.
Pull statements for every single service for which you are paying.
Examine the statements to see if you are paying for things which you no longer need or want.
It’s easy to initially add a service only to realize years later that it is no longer necessary.
This part of the exercise led me to realize that I was paying for four television receivers when we only use two.
The sad part is, we’ve only needed two receivers for several years.
Check the statements. Know the purpose of every charge for which you are paying.
Using the statements, compare utility usage from month to month.
Although you can’t typically negotiate lower rates for utilities, you can somewhat control the usage.
If the usage seems to be creeping up, figure out why.
Toilets leak. Water lines leak.
Believe it or not, neighbors can, and do, steal services from unsuspecting neighbors.
When examining utilities statements, compare usage, not the monthly payment.
This is especially true if you are on a budget plan. Budgets help keep monthly expenses consistent. However, they can mask an uptick in usage.
Check the statements monthly.
After you have thoroughly examined all your recurring monthly expenses, there is still more you can do to protect against bill creep.
Go back to your list and review each and every subscription and membership for which you are paying.
Ask yourself if the subscriptions and memberships for which you are paying are still relevant.
If there’s a monthly charge for something that you no longer, or very seldom use, it may be time to cancel the service outright.
If you pay for a gym membership that you no longer use, cancel the service.
If the subscription or membership is one which you actually use, but the cost has crept up over time, it’s time to find out why.
Often companies will reward long term customers with a lower monthly payment, but it’s up to the customer to ask.
Have you ever glanced at a recurring monthly bill and thought it looked a tad too high?
Remain vigilant and take the steps you need to take to protect yourself from the disappointment of bill creep!
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