I received our electric bill in the mail and was a little shocked by the number. We paid $61 last month in electric and I thought that it would be about the same, or lower. This month is was $83. It has to be from putting the air conditioners in last month. We only used the downstairs air about five days so far but my husband seems to turn the air conditioner on in the bedroom almost every night, even when opening a window would cool it off. I've mentioned it to him but I won't nag, even though it is a shock to see how much it adds to the electric bill. There were only five or six nights that I found to be too hot/humid with the window open and did see the need for the air conditioner. Air conditioners do use a lot of electricity in the summer, which uses up a lot of your money. Using fans whenever possible to bring cool air in from outside (such as in the cooler evening or after a rain shower) can keep your house comfortable. When using the air conditioner, setting the thermostat higher will keep your house cooler by taking the humidity out but save money as it won't be running as much. A house does not have to be cold to be comfortable.
So what happens when a household has a thrifty partner and a not-so-thrifty partner? Our electric bill would be a lot lower if I was in charge of our electricity usage. We wouldn't make so many last minute runs to the store. We wouldn't throw snack cakes and chips into the cart at the grocery store.
Don't get me wrong, my husband is not a huge money waster. He doesn't go out and buy a fancy sports car or all the new electronic gadgets. His money wasters are just in the way of small luxuries in life. Which is why I don't complain or nag, even when he is doing something that I wouldn't do. We can afford these small things in life. It would be another matter if he was using the air conditioner every night and we couldn't afford the electric bill or was buying snacks at the store when we couldn't afford basic food.
I think we balance each other out nicely. I save in a lot of areas in our life but he makes me see that it is okay to spend money on things that we don't need, but rather want. Spending money on unnecessary but "fun" things is not wrong, unless one is putting themselves into debt for those things. So in our family our money personalities compliment each other. Other couples could have problems with their spouse's spending habits. What if both partners like to spend and never save any money for a rainy day or emergency account? What if one partner is thrifty but the other spends and hides their purchases from their spouse? What if both are so thrifty that they don't enjoy the little things in life because it may cost money? These extremes exist and in those cases a financial advisor may come in handy, or following a plan such as Dave Ramsey. It is important to thrive on your paycheck but also be responsible with your earnings.
With the $83.30 electric bill being paid we now have $300.54 left for the month.
How do your spouse and your money personalities compliment or affect your money matters?
$83.30.. boy I wish I had that, my lowest electric bill in PA (PECO energy) has been $148 and some change (just last month)and I have been here almost 23 years. In the summer it has run as high as $389 and change. With only 2 air conditioners used at night only. I heard on Good Morning America that Peco (now this was a few years ago) is the 3rd most expensive Electric company in the USA, with rates going up in 2011. I would LOVE an electric bill under $100, but I don't think it will happen. Just my thoughts on Electric bills.
ReplyDeleteThat is a cheap Electric Bill. Does your hot water heater, furnace, etc. run off of electricty, too? We pay around $150/month for our electricty but we also have everything in this house running on that. That does include having our A/C on much of the summer. But we also use fans and such to keep it from running a lot!
ReplyDeleteThe furnace, hot water heater, and stove are gas. Our dryer is electric. There have been times that I've been able to get the electric bill under $50 but they did raise the rates last year so I doubt I'll be able to lower it as much as I did last summer. I do know that electric costs tend to be more in the country...our electric bills were always more when we lived at the farm house and we never used more electricity.
ReplyDeleteWow, Anonymous, I can't image a $300+ eletric bill! It's amazing how different electric charges are in different states!
Window air conditioners are not cheap to use. If possible, get rid of them and get central air. The investment is well worth it. We run our air almost everyday during the summer and it really does not cost all that much. Truthfully, I would not care how much it cost because I hate the heat!!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous...most of the studies I have read have stated that window air conditioners are still cheaper to use than a whole house unit. Whole house units have to cool off the whole house, where the window units only need to cool one or two rooms off. We only use our air downstairs during the day and only use the ones upstairs at night.
ReplyDeleteBesides, with older houses sometimes the air won't work well upstairs anyway and then we would still need a window unit. It's not like I wouldn't like central air...would love not to have to put the window units in and take out every summer is not fun! But we just aren't ready to make that kind of investment when we only use the air conditioners a few weeks out of the year.
I've found that we're a good balance :) I'm good at saving dollars and pinching pennies but my husband is great at saving money on larger purchases. My savings are small and daily and add up while his are every 1-2 months but save us just as much. For instance, he found us a cheaper alternative when we had pipes redone in our yard and he saved money on a car window repair by finding the part online and having a coworker talk him through the repair. It's a nice balance because we can each help work toward our goals but we're not stepping on one another's toes!
ReplyDeleteStacy
Jumping in to reply to Anonymous #1 for a second as I'm also in PA... have you looked into the PA choice thing where you can switch providers? We're with Met-Ed and average about $90 a month. Don't know if you've looked or not, but it might be worth it to check. A friend switched to Direct Energy and is saving a ton (I don't know actual amount, but she said 50%). Anyway....
ReplyDeleteAs to the spouse thing... for us, we're also a good balance. If he goes to the store, more will be spent b/c he doesn't coupon and 'shop' as well as I do. But, like the previous poster, he'll find ways to save on other things that add up as well. :)
I have to agree that PECO energy is expensive. Thats all we had available at our last house. But unplugging things you're not using, keeping the TV off (energy HOG!), etc. makes a dramatic difference in your energy bill.
ReplyDeleteAnd my hubby is the WORST with money. I swear we need Dave Ramsey himself to slap some sense into hubby--the books didn't help him, though it gave me more fuel to keep trying! At least if I keep trying, we'll eventually get somewhere.