A Penny a Day Keeps the Bill Man Away

Today I was sitting at my computer watching the latest news videos posted . I found one that caught my eye immediately. "Man pays bill with pennies". Seems Robert Hancock of Carterville, Ill was tired of his electric bill constantly increasing and decided to protest by paying his entire $526.62 electric bill by sending in his payment with 52,662 pennies.

Hancock said that he was tired of the increase in his electric bill saying it has more than tripled from the same time last year. Hancock stated when he opened his bill he was shocked then mad and decided "don't get mad get even" it was at that point he decided to make a size-able withdrawal from his bank of exactly 52,662 pennies in which he had to take home in the back of his truck. Now that was 1053 1/2 rolls of pennies each box weighing 15 lbs making the entire load 315 lbs and Hancock wasn't gonna make it easy for the energy company he opened each and every roll of pennies and poured them in boxes its a good thing the postal company didn't charge by weight seems the entire cost of delivering the payment to Ameren Electric was $51.60 plus delivery confirmation. Hancock stated if he could just cause the electric company a little inconvenience its worth it plus if a others would do the same it would make the electric company think a little bit about their prices.

That is a great stand up and I have to give Hancock a serious pat on the back for that one. I was just sitting and talking to my husband about the high gas bills we had been getting lately from Atmos Energy a Texas based company. October 2006 $56.13, November 2003 $53.31, December $298.32, January 2007 267.80 and February 2007 $393.81. I think I might just be making a trip to the bank on this one.

We all know that by paying our bills in pennies isn't gonna hurt the big guys. They sit back in their lavish offices raking in the money but hey its all worth a try and just the fact that you made it inconvenient on someone I have to agree with Hancock, it at least make you feel good.