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BuzzyBee 
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Joined: 31 October 2007
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 Topic: Pinpoint Power (Prepaid) - What the?
Posted: 11 December 2008 at 1:17pm |
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So have just found out our power will be with Contact and its a prepaid meter, no bond this way but you have to pay for the power before you get it (at a Post shop) and then guage how much you use and keep topping it up when you need it. Not sure if I'm OK with this ...I'd much prefer an automatic payment each month but apparently if I want to change to normal Power I'd have to go through several channels and get the OK with landlord/agent and then pay a few hundred to get it changed over, then the bond and then for the power.
Can someone on here tell me how it all works exactly and if it is just as economical (option wise) as the normal way to pay power ....kinda sucks not being able to choose my power company and what have you....but ah thats life!
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CuriousG
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Location: Raumati South
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Posted: 11 December 2008 at 1:29pm |
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We used to do this in Christchurch, we would top up how much we needed each week then swipe it through the meter.
I LOVED it. We could keep a very close eye on how much we were using. Plus, there were no line charges or anything. No suprises with big bills.
We used to use about $12 a week in power back then (many years ago now) but it also made you think about what was on at the time. The meter had the ability to tell you how much power you were using per hour in $$ value.
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lilfatty
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Location: Waitakere
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Posted: 11 December 2008 at 1:33pm |
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Steph it looks like you can still pay by AP a set amount each week/month.
This goes into your power account, and it can be accessed to purchase units.
Quite a novel idea really ..
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Mummy to Issy (3) and Elias (18 months)
I did it .. 41 kgs gone! From flab to fab in under a year  LFs weight blog
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surfergirl
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Location: Christchurch
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Posted: 11 December 2008 at 2:06pm |
We have it in our office (a converted rental flat) and it's great. The rate is the same as 'normal' and it's very easy to manage. It was put into this house as the previous tennant was terrible at paying her bills and had to have the power cut off. I think, for people who are not good budgeters or who have trouble estimating expenses, it's a great system.
In this house (two bedroom + sunroom) we use about $25 per week. It's a cold house, so the heaters are on often. W ehave the usual office stuff, computers, copiers etc going all day and all night, but we are only here from 8am-7pm...so I'm not sure if that helps.
I personally wouldn't go through all the dramas of getting it changed. Try it first before you spend money to change it. It just might work for you.
Edited by surfergirl
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McPloppy
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Posted: 11 December 2008 at 2:08pm |
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Remeber also with contact you can get flybuys...not really on topic but it all helps
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emz
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Posted: 11 December 2008 at 2:33pm |
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We used to have it when flatting and loved it. It meant that we could b*tch and moan to our flatmate about him using heaps of power on his little fan heater and so he contributed more lol
Also, because our flatties were terrible with paying bills, if the power cut out you didn't need to grovel to the company, you just drive down to the servo and topup. For 7 of us we spent $40 a week but we were in a grungy old flat.
I really like the idea and find it easier budgeting like that than getting a big power bill at the end of the month when you first start living on your own cos you really have no idea how much its going to cost you and you don't want to underestimate it.
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NeoshasMummy
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Location: Auckland
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Posted: 11 December 2008 at 4:13pm |
Yup we used it when we were flatting and it was great - instead of an AP for say $30 per week just top your card up $30 a week ( I doubt you would use that much especially in summer) it makes you much more aware of what you are using and you never have a bill. We found when we went back to normal power our bill was huge, im unsure why, I guess we just stopped worrying about how much we used 
It's not a problem now, but was definately a great idea when we first started out flatting!
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 Mrs Te Kani ❤️ Neosha 26/5/2007
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BuzzyBee
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Posted: 11 December 2008 at 4:21pm |
How much do you think (an estimate) Lucas & I would use per week for power? And water? The agent told me $5 for water pfft,she must think I only we only bath/shower once a week or something
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weegee
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Posted: 11 December 2008 at 4:39pm |
Don't know about the power, but I can help on the water. Costs for water supply vary considerably depending on which council you're under. According to the Franklin website, water's charged at at $1.95 per thousand litres every six months. We work on a demand of roughly 200 litres per person per day in the water supply business, so if you were to say 400 litres per day for you and Lucas (which I would say is conservative - you're likely to use less), that's 78 cents a day ($5.46 a week, or roughly $142 every six months).
ETA: if you look up per capita water use it'll probably give you a higher number, but that's because it's counting industrial and commercial water use as well - that 200 litres/person/day is residential demand only 
Edited by weegee
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lil_miss
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Posted: 11 December 2008 at 5:33pm |
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Water is actually quite cheap... usually you only pay outgoings too - our water bill here in Botany (which is probably a more expensive area for it) is like $50 every three months :)
The prepaid power is also excellent.. you get a warning when its getting low so you dont run out - but its great to have if you're on a budget :)
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NeoshasMummy
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Posted: 11 December 2008 at 6:15pm |
We don't have to pay for water here in Gisborne *does a dance* but when we were in Auckland, our water was around $150 every six months when it was DF and I flatting alone, we both showered twice a day and washed 3 times a week so I guess yours would even be a little less than that.
Power? I wouldn't think that you would use any more than $25... you would just have to see after your first week there
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Mrs Te Kani ❤️ Neosha 26/5/2007
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monkey33
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Posted: 11 December 2008 at 8:57pm |
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Wow our water is usually $140-$150 every 3 months (for just DH & I) we must use too much....!
I didn't realise that not all parts of NZ charged for water!
Edited by monkey33
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weegee
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Posted: 11 December 2008 at 9:27pm |
 monkey33 wrote:
I didn't realise that not all parts of NZ charged for water! |
The only reason some councils don't charge for water by volume is that they haven't installed the metering technology. They still charge for water, it's just a flat rate hidden in the general rates, so landlords can't pass the cost on to their tenants. Often you're charged more if you live in a smaller town, because they don't have economies of scale like the bigger cities.
There are lots of ways to reduce your water usage; check out the Sustainability NZ website if you're interested
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Kels
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Posted: 11 December 2008 at 10:32pm |
monkey33 wrote:
I didn't realise that not all parts of NZ charged for water! |
I never knew anyone paid for water in NZ until I went up to Akld back in Oct. We dont pay here in Welly.
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BuzzyBee
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Posted: 11 December 2008 at 10:45pm |
Maybe I'm moving to the wrong place then 
Hmmph so when people used to always say water is best because its free, that was just a lie! lol
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NeoshasMummy
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Posted: 12 December 2008 at 10:48am |
Yup!!! 
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Mrs Te Kani ❤️ Neosha 26/5/2007
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Pinpoint Power (Prepaid) - What the?
