My son goes to a parochial high school and we recently got a notice to sign him up for the next school year. The website & billing service that the school uses has pages questions at the start of the year for us to fill out in addition to the basic student name, address, and grade level.

The website also asks about billing preferences – do you want to pay lump sum, monthly, or in two equal payments? Since we are financially independent, paying up front isn’t a problem, but I do like to have the cost split between the two calendar years that the school year straddles.

After picking your billing cycle, you next pick how it should be paid – by credit/debit card or direct withdraw from your bank. When I picked credit/debit card (which I thought would be easiest for me), I noted that the statement said that a “3% convenience fee” would be added. I was certainly glad I saw it, because since his tuition is about $14K (when everything is added in), the fee would be more than $400!

Instead we did the direct bank withdraw option, which only involved typing in your routing & account number. I guess I collected $400 for that inconvenience – which took about 30 seconds extra of my time. It certainly got me thinking about where else I might be paying seemingly innocuous fees. Since this one was on a large purchase it would have made a big impact. How much do you scrutinize fees? Here is a link to an article that shows where many are hiding and what they can add up to in time … Most Outrageous Fees – Daily Money.

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