How I Save With Keppel Electric And M1 Broadband Bundle Deal

Heartland Boy had previously written about how anyone would be able to save monies on their utilities bill simply from switching out of Singapore Power. As the Open Electricity Market was rolled out progressively in Singapore, he waited with bated breath until 1 May 2019 when his own BTO became eligible to buy electricity from a participating retailer. Given that he was moving out of his parents-in-law’s place into his own apartment, he was also sourcing for an Internet service provider at the same time. As the man of the household, he was tasked to recommend the most cost-effective solution to meet these twin needs. Find out how Heartland Boy managed to save with the Keppel Electric and M1 Broadband bundle deal.

Shop Around And Compare Online

To determine the right type of price plan, Heartland Boy first assessed his family’s electrical consumption patterns. He then proceeded to compare prices of the various plans from the electricity retailers online via Open Electricity Market’s main website. The offer from Keppel Electric intrigued him and he soon discovered that its fellow subsidiary, M1, is running a bundle promotion together. This suits his household needs just fine and he could kill 2 birds with 1 stone! After presenting his solution to Heartland Girl, who was inevitably impressed with the cost-effective proposal, they proceeded to sign up with M1 and Keppel Electric respectively.

M1 Home Fibre Broadband Plan

The Heartland Household signed up for a 1Gbps Fibre broadband service for about $39 per month on a 2-year contract. Based on reviews and feedback on forums, it suggests that the price itself is already one of the best. However, the deal got even sweeter because of the bundle deal with Keppel Electric. Diagram 2 is a summary of the total savings that Heartland Household enjoyed. Of course, they were cognisant that not all savings were specific to the twin bundle deal.

It is important to note that the 3-month waiver of the broadband fees was specifically tied to the Keppel Electric promotion. That came in the form of credits in their billing account which were subsequently used to deduct the future bills as shown in Diagram 3.

By some coincidence, the 4G mobile broadband (SurfValue) eventually came in handy when they hired a transfer maid. Not confident enough to entrust the domestic helper with the home WIFI yet, she can now use this mobile data to access the CCTV and monitor Olympia’s sleep if she chooses to.

Another form of savings came in the wireless router that came as a free gift. As they had previously purchased a home mesh WiFi system, the complimentary router became a redundant piece of equipment. Heartland Boy got rid of it quickly by selling it for $35 on Carousell. That also meant there was one less item when they moved house.

Keppel Electric DOT Price Plan

A couple of days after signing up for the fibre broadband plan at M1 retail shop, a customer service officer from Keppel Electric contacted Heartland Girl to follow up with the purchase of an electricity price plan. For the bundle deal to work, the Heartland household had to commit to a 2-year contract from Keppel Electric as well. As his household electricity consumption is relatively stable throughout the entire day, he opted for the Discount of Tariff (‘DOT’) type of plan. This gives him a guaranteed 22% discount off the prevailing tariff throughout the duration of the contract. This also explains why any household can save on their utility bills simply from switching out of Singapore Power to any of the electricity companies.

Keppel Electric’s DOT is a simple plan to understand- a discount is simply applied towards the prevailing tariff to arrive at the final bill as shown in Diagram 4. As a Singaporean, he also need not place any security deposit.

A quick check on Keppel Electric’s website will show that the same discount off the prevailing rate is also available online. This also meant that all the sweeteners from this bundle package came from M1. While Keppel Electric may not offer the cheapest Discount Off Tariff price plan, when viewed together with the savings from M1 home broadband, Heartland Boy was satisfied with the decision that he has made.

Request For Separate Bills

Given that both Heartland Girl and Heartland Boy were existing M1 subscribers (read how I saved over $300 a year when I switch to a m1 SIM-only mobile plan in this blogpost), the friendly customer service officer asked if the new broadband bill should be merged into Heartland Girl’s existing mobile plan bill. While the customer service officer was simply being thoughtful by proposing a less administratively cumbersome solution, Heartland Boy requested for separate bills instead.

That is because bill accounts are important tools in satisfying the activities required under some bank savings accounts. For instance, Heartland is earning the maximum 2.43% interest rate on his bank deposits under the UOB One Savings Account. Although he does not require an additional bill account at this juncture, it could come in handy when Heartland Girl eventually (hopefully inspire her towards) amass enough savings to necessitate the opening of a new savings account.

As an additional tip, never pay your utilities bills via cash or giro (if you do not need to) when making bill payments. You can easily earn 3% cashback/rebate on your recurring utilities bills if you charge them to your OCBC 365 Credit Card.

This sums up Heartland Boy’s experience in choosing his own electricity retailer and internet service provider. By taking advantage of the joint promotion of Keppel Electric and M1, he managed to save a significant amount on the household utilities bills that earned him another brownie point.

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