Your cellphone bill may now be another source of credit

Leave yours...

Well, you need to be careful with auto-pay. For example, I'd never do auto-pay with Comcast because they've overcharged me several times. And once that money's been paid to them it's that much harder to get back.

Online Banking Bill Pay.

Instead of setting up auto pay for each bill, why not have a central location for outgoing money? For example, I pay all my bills using my primary bank's bill pay service. That way, I have control over when I should schedule or send payments and for what amount. Therefore, if there is a problem with my bill, I would get that fixed before i sent over the payments.

i.e. Cell Phone bill: Verizon.

I check the amount that Verizon is charging me. If everything is ok, I set up an auto payment through my bank's online bill pay service. Same goes for rent, insurance, etc.

I hope this helps.

does anyone know if Sprint is doing the same thing? I've forgotten to pay my bill at least 2x in the past 3 years. Would that affect my credit rating?

I personally have never had a problem with Comcast's autopay. As a matter of fact they had been overcharging me for a few months, I called them about it and they immediately credited me the money.

...Always sign the checks yourself !

That's an age old piece of personal financial wisdom.

You must know where your money is going -- and it's unwise to completely trust another person or an 'automated' system with the authority to 'spend' your money.

Many people... rich and poor... have been severely burned by ignoring such financial basics.