Keep just barely enough money in your “auto-pay” account to cover the expected debits. If you don’t physically have the money accessible, the worst that can happen is a couple of Insufficient Funds fees (one from the bank, and one from your creditor), and you can then deal with the charges at your lesiure.
Check with your bank on this—some types of accounts will pay the authorized transfers, and the overdraft fee is in addition to interest-bearing debt you’ve incurred by not having funds to cover. This is very common if you have a credit card linked to the account. They call it “overdraft protection”, but it’s not necessarily the protection you want.
The only way to be actually sure is to autopay on a prepaid debit card, and fill it with the maximum amount you’re willing to pay. Or just don’t autopay, don’t link your accounts, and write old-school checks.
All that said, most utility and similar agreements are debts you’ve incurred BEFORE the autopay processes. Running up penalties and interest and trashing your credit report is going to happen whether you fail to pay the utility, or fail to pay your bank.
Keep just barely enough money in your “auto-pay” account to cover the expected debits. If you don’t physically have the money accessible, the worst that can happen is a couple of Insufficient Funds fees (one from the bank, and one from your creditor), and you can then deal with the charges at your lesiure.
Check with your bank on this—some types of accounts will pay the authorized transfers, and the overdraft fee is in addition to interest-bearing debt you’ve incurred by not having funds to cover. This is very common if you have a credit card linked to the account. They call it “overdraft protection”, but it’s not necessarily the protection you want.
The only way to be actually sure is to autopay on a prepaid debit card, and fill it with the maximum amount you’re willing to pay. Or just don’t autopay, don’t link your accounts, and write old-school checks.
All that said, most utility and similar agreements are debts you’ve incurred BEFORE the autopay processes. Running up penalties and interest and trashing your credit report is going to happen whether you fail to pay the utility, or fail to pay your bank.
This type of bank account is sometimes called a “controlled disbursement account” (e.g. https://www.wellsfargo.com/com/treasury-management/payables/controlled-disbursement-account). It’s often used by businesses. Other people have explained how to turn things into net 30 with a credit card.
Combined, you can maintain some control over the activity in your checking account.
Ahh—of course! Thanks!