Why To Check Your Bills (Or: Why Not To Check Your Bills)

A woman in Connecticut checked her old electricty bills in preparation for the sale of her house and found that she had been overcharged $35 each month for the past 25 years! After only a little bit of a fight, the power company reimbursed her $10,500. Amazing! Wonderful! We should all check our bills? EXCEPT: We should all not check our bills.

If this woman had checked her bills and discovered the error ten years ago, she would have had an extra $35 per month, yes. But because she didn’t check her bill, however, she ACCIDENTALLY, THROUGH NO FORESIGHT OF HER OWN has an extra $10,500 now! Which is better?!!? If you’d asked her 25 years ago, she would have said: $35 now (duh). BUT OBVIOUSLY if you ask her now, she would say: $10,500 now (duhhhhhhhhh).

“But if she’d just checked her bill, she could have put still saved $35 each month and put it in a high-yield savings account and earned interest on her — “ No. That would not have happened. She would not do that. No one would do that (Mike Dang might do that). She would have given herself permission to go a little crazier at the grocery store and buy the name brand cereal. Maybe she would have signed up for premium cable. Most likely she wouldn’t have noticed that extra $35 at all.

So: Don’t check your bills. Or, mostly don’t check your bills. Of course, in order for this to work as a savings plan you have to check your bill at some point to see if you’ve accidentally saved ten grand. Let’s trust our guts on when that should be. Deal.

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