Cost Of Bills Finally Down!

[will_be_waiting]

Ok so I just wanted to share with you all in hopes that this could help others since most of us are on tight budgets based on our current situations...

For the past 8 months I have been struggling paying super high electric bills ranging from anywhere to 200.00 to 275.00. I finally said I had enough and called my electric company and asked what I could possibly do to get these bills down and the rep made some recommendations:

• Turn a.c off completly starting August (So I did).

• Unplug anything and everything electrical that is not being used and ONLY plug it in when you are using it including washer, dryer, t.v's, cell phone chargers, lamps, glade plug in's, etc. (So I did)

• If you have to use any form of lighting, use a medium sized lamp instead of your reg room light as it takes more energy. (So I did)

I did exactly this as she stated for a whole month straight and I get my Electric bill today and it was (drum roll please...)

$69.93!!! WoooWhooo!! I never thought i would see a 4 digit electric bill. Hope this can help others cuz it sure has helped me!!

[will_be_waiting]

* I should of also mentioned that I live in a 3bdrm, 3 bath, 2 story town home so its a pretty good size and a bill that low for it is awesome!

[Liz & Adam]

You go girl!!

Guess thats what I need to do, my bills have been 200+ also.
Now its winter time and the heat has to be on.

Yea never ends!

[will_be_waiting]

I was SO happy when I opened my electric bill lol. Usually I see it on the floor since I have a drop slot thru my front door and I'll just kick it around in anger lol. I told my husband that I know winter is right around the corner but that I was going to leave the heat off for as long as possible. I gotta keep these bills in check ugh.

[LeBeau]

WOW! Congratulations!
And for those not willing to make THAT much commitment to conserving power, I imagine doing any one or two of those things would make a good bit of difference. I'd also suggest investing in a few surge strips so that electronics like your computer, tv, printer, etc. can be easily cut off with the flip of one switch at bedtime or when you're leaving for work- the strip does drraw a tiny amount of parasitic power but nowhere near the amount drawn by electronic devices that are on standby...and if there's even one little bitty glowing light, it's not "off", it's "on standby".

One thing I did that cut my gas bill dramatically was to reduce the setting of my water heater just one click. When I want a bubble bath, I have to turn it back up for about 20 minutes before but otherwise, I've noticed no difference at all in showers, dishwashing and all the other hot water uses but it knocked at least 10 bucks a month off the bill.

We have not yet installed one in the new house but in Montana, we had a programmable thermostat that automatically turned the furnace down to 60 at 10 pm (when we were usually in bed), back up to 68 at 6am and then 66 at 9am... that made a big difference and having the heat kick back up in the morning meant that we never resented it or got out of bed in a cold room.

An electric mattress pad is wonderful and very cost effective... except on the coldest nights (below zero outside) we only used it to "preheat" the bed but it helped us leave the heat down.

[MissC'sWife2Be]

There are programs in each state for winter savings, and electricty programs to adjust your bill and lock you in on a set price. Which are government funded, and they calculate your budget and income, some qualify some don't but its worth a try right? Google electric or heating programs in your county/state

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