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Nearly a complete cynic...
Posted: Jan 16, 2013
Last night I checked out heating bill - before bed - not a good idea - $418! Our usage DOUBLED apparently from last year's time frame - 21 cubic feet (or whatever the unit is) and now this year 48. No, wait - 48 is more than double 21. I'm going to check the meter. I thought it might be around $300 - this does not bode well for the next 3 months, where I'll basically be paying for food and other necessities...AND the heating bill. That's it. I hope I don't need tires, car repair, etc.
It's true, I did splurge on 2 pairs of shoes, for about $30 total, AND a watercolor class - $45 - I was talking to a coworker, and she said in the winter, all she does is work, get groceries, come home, sleep, get up, do it again - it's not a good way to live, if you only have energy to go to work, no social life, nothing.
I haven't bought shoes for a while because I haven't had the ENERGY to go shopping for shoes. So I went hog wild and bought two pairs that were on sale (WORK shoes) for about $15 each. And a watercolor class! Can't I have some frickin enjoyment? I mean seriously, shoes and a watercolor class. On the entire scale of splurging, it ain't that much.
;
that is crazy - mine was only
[ In Reply To ..]197.23 for a 1600 sq foot home and that was gas and electric bill.
Wow, that's impressive! - wheres_my_job
[ In Reply To ..]I looked at the electric bill today when I got home - that's $198. I don't know why the bills are so high - and our usage is so much higher than last December's - I mean, I was an at-home MT at that time, so wouldn't that mean I was using more electricity?
Anyway, I'm impressed with your "tiny" gas/electric bill. Do you live in Florida or something :) - I'm in Michigan - although it hasn't been that cold!
To - wheres_my_job - mine was only
[ In Reply To ..]I live in Wisconsin. It has been warm here too, but I still keep the heat at 68. My electric portion was $76.11 and my gas was $121.12. We have boiler heat (gas) but everything else is electric, dryer, stove, etc. That was for the biling month through Christmas also, with outside lights and such. I feel so badly for you!
Wow, 121 dollars! I'd like to cry!!!! - wheres_my_job
[ In Reply To ..]We used to keep the heat down, to the point that I would wake up in the middle of the night, cold - the cold would wake me up, and I'd lie awake, waiting for the heat to come on.
Now, my mom is very thin, elderly, with low blood pressure and low body temperature, and so we keep the heat up higher (let me rephrase that, she keeps the heat up higher) to keep herself warm. Well I'm not going to turn it down and freeze my mom. Of course she has electric heater mattress pad, electric heating pads AND a space heater (oops, I think I just figured something out). I try to turn the heat down in the afternoon when it is really hot (I feel), but then I forget to turn it back up to 73...yes, 73. 73!!!!!!
Oh well. I'm very impressed with your $121 Wisconsin gas/electric bill. Thanks for sharing.
I feel your pain - me
[ In Reply To ..]Grocery shopping the other day, most of the things I typically buy, my staples, have gone up in price. My salary has not gone up. I haven't bought a new bra in 3 years. I spent $30 on a cross-stitch and feel guilty beyond all reason. I guess I could have bought a new bra with that. I would like to get out and socialize, but who has the money? I dread the cost of air conditioner come summer time. If something breaks, I'm screwed.
Maybe...cross stitch on a bra? :) - wheres_my_job
[ In Reply To ..]I think bread is way expensive, meat, forget it (my sister sent an Omaha Steaks box for Christmas - yeah, meat!), just everything is so expensive! When you walk out of a grocery store with 1 bag of just staples, nothing superexpensive, and it's $30-35...you didn't even BUY that much...it takes you 5 seconds to "unload the groceries" when you get home (ha, ha, ever notice how much faster it is to put groceries away, when food is so expensive?)
Anyway - I AM bound and determined to get out and socialize - if I DON'T, then my new non-MT will be just as self-destructive as my old MT job, if you know what I mean. I have so goals, some things I want to accomplish this year - today I wore a pair of my new shoes to work - I really DON'T like having a big stomach!!!!!! But other than that, it felt pretty good to be wearing pretty much the same clothes everyone else was, if you know what I mean (maybe I can't explain it). Hey, after the work clothes, then I can get some stuff I like to wear (imagine, IMAGINE - buying something to wear just 'cause you LIKE it, no utilitarian purpose! Imagine!).
Okay, I'll stop now. I know when summer rolls around, the A/C is going to cost a pretty penny once again. My, my, my.
Thanks for sharing your experiences, hopefully you'll get a chance to splurge on a bunch of bras, I know I want to.
Yes, it's a meter reading error - wheres_my_job
[ In Reply To ..]I went out and read the meter today, we're actually at 29 cubic feet natural gas, as opposed to 48...so about $275, quite a bit less! Still not sure why we're at 29 this year, when we were at 21 last year...is it the dryer? The furnace? Don't know.
Anyway, that's a relief. Thanks for the comments!
So, I assume you are using more fuel - HVAC wife
[ In Reply To ..]or did the cost go up? Our utility is trying to raise the rate here. If you used more, did you compare the heating degree days from last year to this year? (if it is not on your bill you can find that out on the net). Is the billing period roughly the same number of days? Ok, do you have less snow cover than usual (more cold will penetrate into the house). Have you checked your windows and doors for air leaks? Has the insulation in your house gotten wet and useless for some reason? Many energy companies are offering a service where they check a house for air leaks, insulation and furnace efficiency. Sometimes small changes can make a big difference. Change your funace filter? Is you thermostat running correctly (your furnace should not be starting and stopping excessively frequently) One house I know of had a huge cold spot in the living area. Hubby used an infrared camera and discovered that behind a picture there was a hole in the wall letting in cold air. Good luck.
Furnace filter is a possibility - wheres_my_job
[ In Reply To ..]I did check the year-to-year thing, that's how I discovered the big jump from last year. Although it's not that big of a jump, relatively speaking. I'm checking into some of the other things. But thanks for all your suggestions.
I would absolutely have a nervous break down if mine - was that much, bad enough...sm
[ In Reply To ..]my gas bill jumped from $32 one month to $162 the next month (yes we used a bit more heat at night during the cold spell, but really?. On top of that my electric bill went from $120 to 165, city went up by $20 or so, and health insurance went up 38. All while my income dropped.
The last thing I splurged on for myself was underwear and socks. Haven't bought an article of clothing in can't remember when, maybe 3 years ago, and I have no money to spent on classes for myself. Wish I had an artistic talent. Everyone in my family is (and were for the ones who have passed on) very artistically talented. We have paintings, needlepoint, quilts, crotched/tatting, pottery, drawings, and anything that could be made everyone in my family could do it. Mom even made her own wedding dress. But me? I can't even draw a decent stick figure. I once tried drawing a picture of a lady with a scarf on, didn't tell me husband what it was and asked him to guess. He thought it was a picture of....my thumb. HA HA HA. He asked why I put spots on my thumbnail. I said those are the ladies eyes. :-) I'm so not going to be his next pictionary partner. :-)
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