I pay as many bills as possible in person. The electric and water places won't take plastic at all. They will take checks and cash.

I use a credit union and use that to pay bills by mail. Most of our income is forced direct deposit, so there has to be a bank or credit union. Also, some of our bills are forced debit or credit card. I chose debit and don't charge a dime. The credit union is much better, as it's owned by us depositors. A bank wouldn't loan me a few thousand to replace the roof on my house years ago. I recently need to do a major remodel, and the credit union gave us all the money we need just on our signature with zero collateral.

There are some places, such as the drug store, that refuse cash, so I use a debit card there so it comes straight out of the checking account.

I will soon be completely debt free, including the car and house.