thoughts on partial adding funds monthly

[mimmo]

My wife and i renew on the same day  every 90 days and are on autopay.

I was thinking about adding funds every 30 days to lessen the dual renewal shock.

Just wondering if there was a consensus about adding funds or not as I recall it being said not to add funds before renewal as it could mess things up.... 

just looking to hear some thoughts. 

[Someone_here]

That is great, thanks 😃

[Acekiller]

i buy mine at the CT gas station

[pakmode]

This is a pretty good idea, especially if you can get CT gift cards at a discount. 

[Someone_here]

Where do they sell the vouchers? In Canadian Tire's stores or gas station? If they have them in the gas station that would mean even more discount via credit card rewards 😉

[Someone_here]

Never seen that before, I'll look for it, thanks!

[Acekiller]

Canadian tire gift cards are on sale for 10-15% off 4-6times a year at retailer such shoppers drug mart, Rexall, safeway/sobeys.  Load up when they go on sale, and then use the gift card at CT that sells PM vouchers.

[Someone_here]

@Acekiller
Sounds good, how does that work?

[mimmo]

Thanks all for the various opinions.  Love hearing feedback and seing how others do things.

[srlawren]

@mimmo yes there's nothing wrong with doing that, and some do.  If it's easier for you to manage that way, then by all means do so.  I'll point out a couple of potential caveats or downfalls though:

1) If you decide to leave PM at some point down the road, not only do you not get any refund for any unused time on your current plan, you also do not get any refund for any available funds in your account.  So, if you add funds on day 29 and again on day 59 and then your circumstances change on day 60, you'll lose all those extra funds you've built up, plus your last 30 days of service equivalent.  This may or may not be important to you but I thought I'd point it out.

2) Depending how you manage your finances, if you tend to run a balance on your registered credit card (i.e. you don't tend to pay it off in full every month), then it could end up costing you more in interest over time doing it this way.  If you don't pay off in full by the due date, you end up paying interest from the time of the purchase/charge, so having the funds charged to your cc earlier than they absolutely have to could cause you to incur more interest.  It's probably a small amount overall, but it could compound over time.  Just food for thought.

Personally I prefer to defer the payment until I absolutely have to.  That said, out of totally unjustified paranoia, I do always make a manual payment a couple of days before my renewal to ensure I have exactly the funds I need already in my account by the time the renewal happens.  I keep auto pay on as a failsafe and for the discount, but I proactively pay just on the off chance the auto pay should happen to fail.  Again, this is unwarranted paranoia but it keeps me happier.  🙂

[Acekiller]

I do a similar thing, except with Canadian tire GC which I purchase for like 10% off.

[Someone_here]

Also consider buying vouchers in gas station instead of just adding money from the selfserve... You get 1) possible extra credit card reward for gas, 2) gas station points reward, and 3) autopay reward!

[Samianauman]

I like keep loading some funds every month. Which helps and also have auto pay on for rewards.

[zhadj030]

I don't see a problem in doing that. Just keep your credit card registered and the difference of the balance will charge the credit card

[Samianauman · Accepted solution]

It's normal you can do that I am been doing that even now I have 52 dollars sitting on my account as long you have a credit card attached you will still get autopay rewards. Bit you do have a option to add partial funds to your account instead of making payments for 2 accounts around same time.
What I usually do i add 40 dollars per 30 days which actually helps alot. I think you should try that.