Oddly, as of right now, this month for the first time, there seems to be new websites to pay all my online bills for local utilities and they all have little annoying fees that were not there before. Water company, Sewer district, electric co, gas co, trash co, etc, etc. I paid my bills for years this way and now, for the first time, it's $4 to use the website for the exact same thing that had been free for years for each bill. It ends up being like $40 more per month. So that's like $480/year (Some are $2, some are $5..... it averages to like $4 or $3.95 or whatever). WTF? It's actually legit. I double checked and everything. They have every bill I've paid for years and years going back and my saved payment information for those bills....It has the website registered on my actual printed paper utility bill and the QR code on the paper bill statement. It references that they will be implementing new payment software....
It may actually be cheaper to send checks again, like real paper checks with stamps. A checkbook from the bank is slim to nil cost. A stamp is like 68 cents x 10 is $6.80.... x 12 months is $68.00/ year $81/year.... The websites for the water and other utilities still charges the fee even if you autopay....
So that'd be $480 - $81 = $399 /year I'd save by doing my bills by actual.... postal mail with checks.....
I don't get that we are in just a ridiculous timeline. I'm actually going to be writing physical checks and using envelopes and stamps through the mail rather than online bill pay aren't I? How is this possible? Why is this happening now...? There is no reason for this. They pushed online bill pay and going paperless for years. Now they just want extra money for it for no reason.... I'm somehow getting an actual paper checkbook aren't I? I'm going to be writing out actual physical paper checks again like my mom aren't I?
I ... don't... what...? Why? There was nothing, nothing wrong with the old system. It worked well. It was free. No one complained. It actually saved the local government utility companies money but just... more money because more money.... Here, just pay like almost $500 more per year ish for a service that was literally free last month and years before. I'm actually going to be writing physical paper checks out, aren't I? .... I'm just screaming internally at the regressiveness. Worse for the environment and people can't afford it with inflation like this now..... Wow.