DH and I were talking about finances yesterday, and the recession that's about to hit (if it hasn't already). I realized that the place where I'm really feeling it is with my electric and gas bills.
I know food has gone up, but it doesn't seem like I've taken such a hit there. I know gas has gone up, but my driving has gone down, so if anything, that's been a wash for me. But my electric and gas bills are through the roof!
I'm on a budget billing plan for both. Both electric and gas are now up over $200/month each. I haven't yet, but it's worth going through the exercise of comparing usage this year over last. My guess is that maybe usage has gone up a little, but not enough to justify the huge hike in payments.
So my goal for the week is to do that comparison, and reread the frugal books to come up with some ideas on how to keep those bills down. Changes won't go into effect until they reset my monthly payment in 6 months, but hopefully I can work toward a credit at that point. Ouch.
A guy at work was running a super bowl pool. I paid $20 for a box, and based on the score at the end of each quarter, you can win money (or not). One thing I like is that your numbers change with each quarter, so if you're stuck with numbers unlikely to hit (5s are always bad), at least you're only stuck for a quarter. I know this is right up there with the Lottery in terms of wasting money, but we're not fans of the Giants or Patriots, so it will certainly make watching the game more interesting.
I took a few frugal books out of the library. One is Jean Chatzky's Pay it Down on $10/day. Good advice, but most I've already taken advantage of. The other is about raising a family on less than 2 incomes. (I forget the exact name), but basically it's about how where you can cut to allow one half of the couple to cut back to part-time. I've read it before, and it's a good read. I want to reread it now to see if there's anything I missed the first time around.
Are you feeling it?
February 3rd, 2008 at 04:13 pm
February 3rd, 2008 at 04:24 pm 1202055875
February 3rd, 2008 at 04:25 pm 1202055904
February 3rd, 2008 at 05:42 pm 1202060576
We bought in for $1 a square end of game total for a $100 win. Will see today what our numbers are. No 5's please!
February 4th, 2008 at 03:45 am 1202096740
February 4th, 2008 at 04:26 am 1202099194