Hello friends! It’s been about a week since I’ve blogged and I’ve missed it. Unfortunately for me, when freelancing gets busy I tend to forget about my blog. In all reality, I should put my blog first no matter what, since I hope to one day earn a full-time income from it. But since I don’t currently make much money blogging (I just made my first $100!), it’s easy to focus on the work that I’m getting paid to do and not blog instead of doing both, like I should be doing.
I took on a big project that involved writing 50 articles! I finished it in about 8 days, but between my regular freelance work and a few other miscellaneous side projects, I was swamped last week. It looks like this week will be a little more low-key, so plan on at least 2-3 posts from me 🙂
I blogged back in February about our extremely high utility bills since moving into our new rental home at the beginning of January. Our gas bill was $167 and our electric bill was $197 last month. So how did we do this month? Unfortunately…not well.
Gas: Our gas bill this month was higher than last month. It was $197 – yikes!! It’s still under our $200 “goal,” but I’m surprised it went up. February was extremely cold but that bill still stings a little. Luckily, warmer weather is on the horizon. Next winter, we plan on keeping our thermostat at 68 degrees instead of 70. Hopefully, our bodies will have adjusted a little bit to the colder climate and 68 won’t feel too bad.
Electric: Our electric bill this month was $117. I did say last month it was $197, so that seems like a big drop, but it’s actually not. We were charged a $25 activation fee and the cycle last month was for 40 days instead of 30. Subtracting that out, last month’s bill was closer to $125…this month was $117!!! Being completely honest, I expected MUCH lower. We used our dryer very minimally (I hung all our clothes to dry and then “fluffed” them for about 5 minutes in the dryer, whereas before I was drying clothes for over an hour in the dryer multiple times per week), we unplugged all appliances not in use, I didn’t watch TV in the mornings while working and we used the lights in the house minimally. Hmmmm…I guess it does just cost more to live in a larger home.
While I love this house, we’re realizing that a house this big just isn’t practical for the long-term. Our formal dining room has never been used, our formal living room isn’t even furnished and our guest bedroom has never been used (yet, anyways). If you eliminate those rooms, our house would be closer to 2500 square feet. When we go to buy a home, we’re going to look in the 2000-2500 square foot range.
I also figured by living in a big house we could simply just not furnish some of the rooms. While that’s true, as time goes on we have been slowly adding items to the home. Most recently has been the addition of three rugs. We got one for the formal dining room, one for the kitchen nook and one for the entryway. These three rugs are in addition to the two we purchased last month! When you spend so much time at home, you want the house to be cozy…and I’m realizing that you can’t simply live in a large home and never end up fully furnishing it. I can guarantee if we owned this home, all the rooms would be fully furnished within two years. You live and learn, right?
        
The photo on the left is the kitchen nook and the photo on the right is the formal dining.
In other news, I’m so SO happy warmer weather is on the horizon. We have been going on walks and to the park daily for a few days now, and it feels wonderful. It’s amazing what some fresh air and sunshine can do for your soul!
Hope everyone is having a nice weekend!!
photo credit: Flickr via Dave Dugdale
Jef says
atSend some warmer weather our way 😉 haha.. It’s actually quite nice still here in Sydney despite it being autumn or as you guys call it fall :)..
Awesome work on the 50 articles as well that’s epic!
Sarah Brooks says
atOh yes! I always forget our seasons are flipped 🙂 You guys are about to embark upon cold weather huh?!
Jef says
atYeah, that tripped me out a bit when I was in Canada for 4 months a few years ago as well 😉 ha..
Wouldn’t say it’ll be super cold but probably around 60 – 70 degrees Fahrenheit during the day. While I know that doesn’t sound cold were spoiled here down under haha
Melissa @ Sunburnt Saver says
atYay, so glad you’re posting again!! Also, I LOVE your formal dining room table!!! Those bench and table styles are my favorite!
Sarah Brooks says
atMine too!! Unfortunately we don’t ever use that room LOL! When we buy a home…I definitely do NOT want a formal dining and a kitchen nook. One dining area is plenty!!
Tarynkay says
atI started unplugging all appliances religiously after my then 18 month old dragged a dining room chair into the kitchen, climbed up, and started putting knives from the knife block into the microwave. I got rid of the knife block at that point as well… Anyhow, I really did not see any savings from unplugging things at all. I unplug them anyhow from a safety standpoint, but it doesn’t save any money that I can see.
Not using the dryer saved me the most money out of any utility bill lowering strategy I tried. But we had a dryer from the 1970s and it took 140 minutes to dry a load. I can save around $20 on the electric bill not using the dryer- though last time I figured out how much we saved not using it, we were using cloth diapers and thus doing a lot more laundry.
Lowering the heat helps a LOT. If you can turn it lower at night while you are in bed anyhow, that would help a lot as well. 60 at night is not bad at all with fleece Jammie’s for the kids and a nice down comforter for the grownups.
Sarah Brooks says
atWow 60 is cold!! I hope we can do that – I can imagine we would save a TON! Good to know about the appliances!! Our dryer also takes about 90 minutes to dry a cycle. It’s awful!! I haven’t used it at all and am thinking maybe it just didn’t reflect in our most recent bill. Hopefully the one for this month will be less than $100.
Kristin says
atI live in a LEED certified building, so luckily my electric bills are low! I’ll probably be in for a shock when I move out. I can’t even imagine having a gas bill too – yikes! I like your dining room table!
Sarah Brooks says
atThanks Kristin!! The formal dining room is my favorite in the house! But unfortunately we have never used it LOL!
MarieMakesCents says
atOh geez those seem high! Our gas goes up in the winter here in California (not as much as yours), and then it flips in the summer to a crazy water bill (living in a drought!). Other things you can try would be to check to see if there are any doorways and windows missing sealant. Our front door has a tiny gap at the bottom and you can totally feel the cold air coming in.
Sarah Brooks says
atOh great idea to check for cracks in the windows/doors!! I’ll have to do that! And yes – I hear you on the high electric bills in the summer! We used to live in AZ and our electric bill was normally $250-$300 in summer for our 1700 sq ft house. Not fun!!
Christina @ Embracing Simple says
atYay, you’re back! I missed your posts last week 🙂
We’ve been enjoying the warmer weather around here too, being able to take walks almost everyday has been so wonderful!
I’m loving your dining room – that table and bench with the chairs you paired with it is perfection!
Sarah Brooks says
atAww thanks!! I’m happy to be back to posting! I took on another big project haha but it shouldn’t be quite as time consuming as the 50 articles. I hope not, anyways!!
Jayleen @ How Do The Jones Do It says
atHoly Cow! 50 articles is a lot! We keep toying with the idea of a bigger house but not sure at this point. Our formal living room is used as a music room and the dining room has never seen a table. It is currently used as the gaming room.
I love your tables and rugs! It looks great!
Sarah Brooks says
atThat was a great idea to turn those two rooms into rooms you’ll actually use! I *might* turn our formal living into an office, but I’m not sure. I prefer to work on the couch haha!
Chela @SmashOdyssey says
atCongrats on the first $100! I know it was a lot of work but I bet it felt good 🙂