Handy things, debit orders: they free us from having to remember to pay companies at the right time and in the right amount — and the penalties should that not happen.

Off those amounts go on our chosen day of the month, and we know this because those payment confirmation SMSs go ping ping ping on our phone in a depressing but comforting chorus. Our creditors ask us to choose the day of the month we’d like them to electronically help themselves to what we owe them, and we choose one that aligns with when we get paid, naturally...