Doubling your utility bill payments to accrue more credit

I was flicking through Money Magazine this morning and found an interesting little tip from a reader that wrote a letter in.

Although the tip isn’t exactly what I would call smart, it was a strategy to save money none the less – though this time in a rather odd way.

The saving tip that reader submitted was increasing your automatic utility bill payments to accrue credit on your future bills, a forced style of savings.

Basically the reader decided that her bills were a constant burden and when it came time to pay them she was always out of cash. So in order to fix this, decided that her next bill she would pay double, thus leaving a credit on the account for the future bill.

Doing this the reader very quickly ended up with large amounts of credit on future bills.

My take on this

Although this was an interesting technique to save money, I personally find it a bit silly. I don’t think I could trust the utility company with all that money.

Also, the money she gave them could have earnt interest in a high interest account rather then lining the pockets of the company owners.

What happens if you switch utility companies?

The reader said the companies would just mail her a cheque should she ever switch, which is good – but once again, why not just put the money in a term deposit or Raboplus account?

Have you got any interesting strategies like this?

We would love you to share them with us by dropping a comment, no matter how silly they are!

Related Posts

• When you’re behind on mobile phone bill payments

  We’ve all been surprised by a high phone bill at some point that left a gaping hole in our budgets. We try to service as much of the debt as possible and let an outstanding amount roll over to the next month. But then we’re slapped with overdue charges and the next month, we find [...]

• Reduce Your Electricity Bill Payments

  Want to save more money? Want to Save the Environment? Learn how to reduce your electricity bill payments through easy to follow Electricity Saving steps. I personally reduce my annual energy / electricity bill by over $500AUD per year through simple to follow Electricity Saving Tips.
  Step1
  Purchase a programmable thermostat. They are cheaper than you [...]

• How to reduce your mobile phone bill, easily!

  I have a problem with controlling my phone bill. It probably has something to do with how much I like having phone conversations, or how I hate being bored so I’ll call someone if I have more than thirty seconds to spare, or how I always have to have the last word on a text [...]

• Paying another bill – Your Savings Account

  Thats right! You should treat your savings account like any old bill.
  What does that mean?
  Well imagine if you could get yourself into the mindset that saving money was like paying a phone bill, it is not something you have the option of doing – you must do it! Genius!
  Regular Savings Plan
  So why not start a [...]

• Lower your electricity bill

  Lowering the electric bill is easy when following the simple tips in this article. Habits of leaving all the lights on in the house can cause the electric bill to sky rocket. Reduce the electric bill starting now with these tips:

  LIGHTING
  1. Turn off the lights. If no one is in the room, turn off the [...]