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Pre-paying Bills Keeps a Tight Budget Under Control
Hello Cath and Crew,
We are back at our property after having spent eight months living in Melbourne with our daughter. It was great fun, a lot of work, but great fun.
I took over the house in every aspect of life: shopping, bills etc. With the ideas from Cheapskates we have managed well, beyond my wildest dreams, financially. In our circumstances it was nothing short of miraculous!
For eight months our household consisted of four adults and two children in a huge (rented) house.
To keep my budget under control $66.00 each week went to PRE-paying the bills:
• $30 Electricity - at the new high rate!
• $15 Gas
• $12 Phone
• $9 Water
Pre-paying the bills was the biggest step forward in managing the house for me. The money wasn't sitting somewhere accessible for something else it was gone, gone, gone. Five minutes in the Post Office and that was a huge concern off my mind. As you have always said Cath, it is the small amounts that we owe or spend that most times defeat us. When I look at those small amounts above they seem almost insignificant in the scheme of running a house against the insurance, costs of petrol etc. When the first electricity bill arrived, and I had thought we were being careful and responsible, it made me perspire (sweat), having come from a house of two to a house of six.
After a short time I was almost excited each time one of the above accounts arrived to see how close to the target the pre-paying was, usually within $10. Bliss!
As an aside, the staff at the local post office were very interested to the point where they would suggest extra receipts for each account and one for my file, we all had fun. Don't know that many people in a reasonably affluent suburb pre-paid their utility bills, but I think one of the Post Office staff is now!
Carol Ryan
We are back at our property after having spent eight months living in Melbourne with our daughter. It was great fun, a lot of work, but great fun.
I took over the house in every aspect of life: shopping, bills etc. With the ideas from Cheapskates we have managed well, beyond my wildest dreams, financially. In our circumstances it was nothing short of miraculous!
For eight months our household consisted of four adults and two children in a huge (rented) house.
To keep my budget under control $66.00 each week went to PRE-paying the bills:
• $30 Electricity - at the new high rate!
• $15 Gas
• $12 Phone
• $9 Water
Pre-paying the bills was the biggest step forward in managing the house for me. The money wasn't sitting somewhere accessible for something else it was gone, gone, gone. Five minutes in the Post Office and that was a huge concern off my mind. As you have always said Cath, it is the small amounts that we owe or spend that most times defeat us. When I look at those small amounts above they seem almost insignificant in the scheme of running a house against the insurance, costs of petrol etc. When the first electricity bill arrived, and I had thought we were being careful and responsible, it made me perspire (sweat), having come from a house of two to a house of six.
After a short time I was almost excited each time one of the above accounts arrived to see how close to the target the pre-paying was, usually within $10. Bliss!
As an aside, the staff at the local post office were very interested to the point where they would suggest extra receipts for each account and one for my file, we all had fun. Don't know that many people in a reasonably affluent suburb pre-paid their utility bills, but I think one of the Post Office staff is now!
Carol Ryan