Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Merry Christmas To Me 15 Days Early

I got a fantastic, wonderful, super, awesome surprise in the mail yesterday. Drumroll, please.......

It was my Electricity bill!

Why was I so happy about it, you wonder?

Well, way back in May, I decided to go on SRP's "Time of Use" plan. Basically, you get this special meter on your house that tracks what time of day you use electricity. Then you have "on peak" hours and "off peak" hours. There are only 8 "on peak" hours a day, 40 a week, but they are during the "busiest" times in your household. "On peak" electicity costs twice as much as the regular rate, but "off peak" is a quarter of the regular rate. So, if you can shift your heavy usage to the "off peak" times, you can really save some coin. It's taken me 4 summers to be able to do it.... Because the "on peak" times in the summer are noon to 8 p.m. The hottest time of the day. The time your A/C runs the most. But, I did it and I found a strategy that keeps my house cooler than I thought it would and I've been saving anywhere from $30-$80 a month on this new plan. Yes, it's awesome... and I'm happy.... and I'm proud of my new energy saving skillz!

So, back to my statement. We are also on the equal payment plan (a necessity in AZ... no one can afford the summer bill around here.) November is the month when they reevaluate my energy usage and adjust my bill accordingly for the upcoming year. For the last year we've been paying $277 a month (and that doesn't even include gas... just electricity). New payment amount starting in December... $202!!! That's right folks... $75 dollars a month back in my pocket. I feel like I just got a raise... between that and gas prices being at $1.67 ($50 to fill up my gas guzzler instead of $125.... Wahoo!!!!)

Life is good....

8 comments:

Sheri said...

I need to go on that plan. We are on the equal payment plan -I love it :) (well, as much as you can love bill paying)

Kayla, Nic, Paige, Ellie and Maddy said...

That is awsome! We have a plan sort of like that and I have been thinking about doing it, but have never got around to it. We instaled a solar attic fan this past summer and that seemed to help out a bit.
Im happy for you! I too have a gas guzzler, just filled it up for $36!!! Merry Christmas!!

Anonymous said...

a hearty congrats to you!

very cool no pun intended LOL

Craig said...

Good job! I am glad I didn't mess you up when I ran the dishwasher before 8 a couple of months ago. By the way, gas was $1.589 at Costco today!

Dad

Melissa said...

That is awesome!! I love saving money :)
We drove through Utah at Thanksgiving time. The lowest gas price we saw was $1.51... My brother, in Idaho, said gas was $1.47! I am hoping the prices keep falling here too... how would it be to pay less than $1.50 for gas??!

Annalise said...

$1.42 for gas in my neck of the woods today!! I don't envy your electric bill. I'm always trying to figure out ways to cut on utilities! (We lived without TV for a month, surely we could for good, right?!)

OurHappyFamily said...

Holy cow... I need to look into that! Now thats something to brag about!! Thanks for the info!

Anonymous said...

There are so many ways to cut back. You discovered a major one. Congrats! Do you have to do this peak watch all year long? Or just in the summer?
love Mom

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