Alex M. asked in comments if I could tell her a little more about my electric bills since she lives in the area and will be moving soon. I had to write a check and go out and pay my property taxes today so now that that is taken care of, I have time to do so. So this is for you Alex.
She wanted to know if I thought our electric and natural gas bills are high here in the Buffalo area. I think they are for a few reasons. We have lots of generation plants here but I believe that a lot of the cheap power that is generated here is sent to other parts of the state. So we do not really benefit from that cheap power. Hence, rates are high. We also are one of the highest taxed states in the nation. If you look at your bills you will see that a good portion of the bill each month is taxes and surcharges. The county you live in and the state all get their cut.
Alex wanted to know about my utility bills. Before I give you those figures, I want to give you some statistics about my home. I have 2112 sq. ft. of actual living space. We also have 2112 sq. ft. of basement space. The heat is run into the basement but we keep the vents closed in the basement. And we have an attached two car garage which is unheated. We have 10 foot ceilings in all of our rooms except two. We have cathedral ceilings in our morning room and the exercise room. Our master bedroom has a 10 ft. ceiling but a huge tray ceiling which makes it higher in that area. It is more expensive to heat space with high ceilings than homes with lower ceilings. We also have a pretty open floor plan. All of these things have to be taken into account when you try to compare utility bills.
That said, our last bill was for $ 216.69 for 29 days. We used 656 KWH and 107 CCF's of natural gas. It has been a warm winter so the bill was $ 110. less than the same period last year. For the past 12 months, we have paid a total of $ 1994.25. The usage for this year has been 8670 KWH and 767 CCF's.
You all know well from reading my blog that I do whatever it takes to cut our usage every month whether it be the larger things or the little things. Can I cut more each month? Sure by really watching what I do.
When we had this house built, we did not allow the builder to put in the standard furnace or hot water tank or the standard appliances that were the norm. We were having an energy star home built but their guidelines are too low in my estimation. So DH and I contracted privately for the furnace, air conditioner and all of our appliances. Our gas furnace is the highest rated as far as energy savings that we could have installed by our heating contractor. We had tankless hot water put in. We purchased a top energy saving gas range with a regular or convection oven. Our Bosch dishwasher saves on energy and water. We purchased a used HE washer and dryer from our son and DIL. We bought energy saving central air conditioning. The builder put in energy star rated windows. Thanks goodness because our windows are huge. We had a humidifier installed on our furnace because humidified air feels warmer than non humidified. That way we can keep the heat lower during the day and at night than if we didn't have a humidifier. We purchased energy saving pleated shades on almost all of our windows. We have heavy blinds on the others.
I also watch our usage. I think about how long I keep the refrigerator or freezer doors open. I only go into the downstairs freezer once or twice a month to bring up what we need for meals. I try to keep my freezers full because full freezers cost less to operate. I think about whether I can cook my meal in the microwave or a small appliance rather than the oven because they consume less energy. When I cook on top of the stove I like to cover pots to keep the heat in. When I use the oven I rarely open the door and let the heat out. I use the light to check on how things are cooking. I will cook a few turkey breasts, chicken breasts, and other meats all at once to save on cooking twice or three times. I always air dry my dishes in the dishwasher. I only wash full loads in the dishwasher and washing machine. We use CCF's in our lights. There are many more things I do that you have seen in my money saving challenge post and that you will see in the future.
The bottom line is that there are always things you can do to lower your utility bills. You just must be always conscious of what you are doing and why. I have been doing it so long that it has become second nature for me. I guess I must be doing something right because when my neighbors talk about their utility bills, I seem to have lower ones than them. I can only judge by the fact that some of their homes are two stories and less square footage than I have. No one has built a home like mine yet so it is just a guess. I do know that we do pretty well considering we only have one neighbor next to us and we have no homes yet to really block us from the wind. We get a lot of wind since we are so close to two Great Lakes. We have no protection from it. When this phase of building and the next happen it will help having homes surrounding us to block that wind. But for now and the next few years we do not have that advantage.
Please feel free to leave a comment and let us know how you save money on your utility bills.
These are the things we did today to save money:
- Breakfast was bacon and eggs. We always feel better all day long when we start our day with protein instead of starch.
- I did one load of laundry in the HE washer using cold water and a detergent sample. The clothes are drying in the basement as I write this.
- I ran a very full dishwasher with 1/2 dishwashing tablet. The dishes are air drying.
- I got $11.00 in rebates in the mail today.
- On the way home from an appointment, we stopped at Rite Aid to pick up three prescriptions for DH. While I was there I picked up a bottle of glycerin( pictured) so that I can make liquid soap some day this week.
- We got our electric and natural gas bill for the month. It was $ 20. less than last month so little things you do, do pay off. I was happy with that because we had company over the holidays so extra cooking and showers, etc. It was also $110. less than the same period last year which I attribute mostly to lower heating costs. It has been a much warmer winter this year than last.
- I did our Federal Income Taxes yesterday and will be filing them today. I was very happy that we are getting a small refund instead of having to pay more than what we have already paid in.
- Today, I worked on our State Income Taxes. I hope to finish them tomorrow. We will not be so lucky with the State. We will have to pay.
- Lunch was roast beef with au jus sandwiches.
- Got two rebates totalling $ 9.00 ready to go in the mail tomorrow.
- Walked 2 miles on the treadmill for my exercise.
- Also s
topped at Bon Ton today on the way home from our appt. and found a beautiful long sleeved top that was 70% off. Then I noticed it had a small spot on it. I was pretty sure that I could get the spot out in the wash with some Oxi-Clean so I asked for the store to mark it down more. A manager agreed to mark it down another 10%. So I now own that top at 80% off. It never hurts to ask for a markdown when something isn't perfect. I have never been turned down when I ask.
- Made homemade black bean and rice burritos for dinner.
- Entertainment tonight will be a game of Scrabble.
That's it for today. It's been a very busy day and I am tired. So I am off to relax.
Please feel free to leave a comment and share with all of us what you did today to save some money.
I don't ask this very often but could you please take the time to vote each day until this contest ends on February 7th for our online friend, Didi D. in the Heinz and Ocean Spray Ultimate Recipe Challenge. You know her from this blog as Didicoffeegirl. She has been very helpful to all of us with her advice, especially her cooking recipes and comments that she leaves on this blog.
You can vote for her Sweet Savory Chicken Puff recipe which is currently #9 but hopefully with your help, that will change. So make sure when you vote each day that you look for the Sweet Savory Chicken Puff by Didi D. and vote on that one.
Didi is an award winning cook and you can find a lot of her recipes on
Just a Pinch . If hers don't come up, search for Didi's Kitchen. I will warn you though, get ready to salivate.
Thanks for your help and I will post my Money Saving Challenge later today.
I made the Ranch House Crockpot Pork Chops for dinner tonight. The sauce was outstanding. I cooked the sauce and the pork chops in the crockpot on low for the 6 hours the recipe called for. The pork chops were definitely overcooked. Next time I would try 4 hours on low and then check them with a meat thermometer to see if they are done. Or I might just bake all of it in the oven long enough to cook the pork chops and get the sauce nice and hot....say 30-45 minutes. I would definitely be checking the chops with the meat thermometer. That being said, the recipe is a keeper. I also believe this would be delicious made with boneless chicken breasts.
Please feel free to leave a comment and share what you cooked for dinner tonight.
I shopped for the few items I needed this week and I used up some coupons that were expiring. At Top's I got the following:
3 Chobani Yogurt - $1.49 each - Used 3 Free MQ's = All 3 Free
1 Spot Shot Carpet Stain Cleaner - $ 4.99 - Used a Free MQ = Free
1 Skinny Cow Candy - $ .99 - Used Free MQ = Free
2 - 4C Bread Crumbs - $1.33 for one and $ 1.34 = $ 2.67 - Used $ 1./2 MQ = $ 1.67 for Both
Total OOP was $ 1.67 + tax.
Next stop was Aldi's where I got:
1 Gallon of Milk - $ 2.25
1 Dozen Eggs - $ 1.45
Total OOP was $ 3.70.
And last stop was at Petsmart where I used a $ 5./10. store coupon and a $ 1.00 MQ to get 40 lbs. of cat litter for $ 8.99 + tax. We have a brand new Petsmart in my area so they keep sending me coupons in the mail. I just hope they keep coming and I can keep stocking up on cheap cat litter.
Here is my menu plan for the week:
Sunday - Chicken Pot Pies, Applesauce
Monday - Ranch House Crockpot Pork Chops with Parmesan Mashed Potatoes , Broccoli
Tuesday - Leftovers from Sunday and Monday
Wednesday - Black Bean and Rice Burritos with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, black olives and cheese
Thursday - Beer Battered Haddock Fillets, Easy Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots , Salad
Friday - Macaroni and Cheese, leftover carrots
Saturday - Leftover Macaroni and Cheese, Ham, Green Beans
Breakfasts are a choice of Apple & Spice Dutch Baby Pancakes , or waffles, eggs, bacon, oatmeal, fruit, English muffins with homemade peach jam, juice and coffee.
Lunches are a choice of turkey, ham ot tuna wraps, chicken soup, tossed salad, fruit salad, corned beef hash, hot dogs, or grilled cheese.
Please feel free to leave a comment and let us know what you are making this week.
Since so many people are asking for this recipe, I decided to post it. I have been making these for over 40 years. These were made with blueberry pie filling. I also have made them with cherry pie filling. They are so easy and look and taste so elegant.
Nabisco "Nilla" Cookies
16 oz. cream cheese ( at room temperature)
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 Tsp. vanilla
1 can of pie filling
Makes 1 dozen. Place cupcake papers in a cupcake pan. Put one "Nilla" cookie in the bottom of each cup, bottom side up. Combine remaining ingredients, stirring really well to incorporate the cream cheese into the mixture. Spoon into the baking cups until 3/4's full. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Then completely cool the cakes. Top each one with the pie filling. Then refrigerate and enjoy.
