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....