So high high are your utility rates up there????

[ditchdj]

Last month was the worst for me. Last month we had about a week and a half of Michigan-type cold and 40-50 degree weather the rest of the time and our bill was 147 dollars (about 73 for natural gas heating and 44 dollars electric). Keep in mind that I turn the thermostat down to 64 degrees during the day when we're both working during the week and most things stay turned off. I'm glad we're having a mild winter because I hear that a 200 dollar gas bill for heating within a monthly period is by no means unheard of here.

[digilight]

All prices listed are souther california (coastal).

At our Condo sold about 3 years ago(All electric no gas) it ran between 80 and 110 a month for electric

At our Mobile home bought about 3 years ago. both electric and gas (stove/heater/waterheater are gas) we are sitting around 30-40 bucks a month a piece give or take 10 bucks or so.

My parents house (Same town, electric and gas as well) they run about 120 minimum a month for electric, not sure on the gas though. No one can figure out why the electric is so high. They do have AC but that was installed about 3 or 4 years ago and the electric has always been high.

My shop, about 180-220 a month for electric (no gas). This is running the AC, Heater, up to 6 computers and monitors, 3 copiers, a drill press, a electric paper cutter, laminator, printers, and lights as well as other normal office type things. It doesn't seem to be much of a change winter versus summer on the bill (our winters are fairly mild, 50f is usually our lowest daytime and that is considered cold), summers rairly get hot but the shop does with the equipment running.

[CanadaGirl]

I don't have to pay utilities at my current apartment! :D Just rent and then my phone/internet bill :D

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Try having a $157 electric bill (for last month.) That's coming due soon. And that's cheap for us here in January, as we're not running the electric heaters hardly (been over 60 degrees for highs/40's in the evenings.)

Gas? Last winter, we averaged about $200 a month. It's gone up more and we simply can't afford it this winter (hence the electric room heaters.)

Rent has gone up twice last year for us. Currently $465 a month (and that's still cheap compared to an average of around $800/month for a similar sized house.)

Cable - heh. Right now, we're paying $225/month (including internet.) It's going up $10 more starting February ($5.00 of that is the increase on RoadRunner.)

I'm seriously considering looking into satellite . . . .and calling Clearwire to get a quote for wireless broadband internet through them (Embarq is another one that advertises a lot in our area, but they don't service our area.)

It's just getting more and more expensive for us just to live.:(

[Knightmare]

I remember Michigan winters. We had a huge house up there.. my parents had $400 electric bills during the winters.

Here in FL, however, my bills are much lower. Now, in the "winter", it's warm enough so I don't have to have the heat on. It's 75 in my house right now.

BUT but but.... summers are a different story. To live in FL, YOU MUST HAVE AIR CONDITIONING!! Or you will melt. My electric bill climbs in June, hit the peak in August. Last August my bill was over $200. Eep! And it's a medium sized house. And that's with running the AC very lightly. Most of the time I had ceiling fans and no AC.
Florida Power and the other electric companies have a "hurricane tax" which they applied to every customer, and it wasn't cheap.

[blas]

This is my first winter alone and paying the heat bill, so I don't have anything to base or average the price off of......and my parents would never tell me how much their bill was, they'd just say "Quit turning the heat up!".

We have electric heat/AC in the apartment (which of course, electricity is NOT included, pfft), and when I first moved in this last summer, the bill was up in the 80s or 90s every month. Roomie said no more a/c, but I sure as hell didn't listen.

In mid September and through October, no heat or A/C was used, so it was literally down to 40some dollars a month.

November was $80 again......

This last month's was almost $100, but at the beginning of December, it was VERY cold and it's very possible I left the heat on too long or too high once or twice.

[TNT]

Cable - heh. Right now, we're paying $225/month (including internet.) It's going up $10 more starting February ($5.00 of that is the increase on RoadRunner.)


One of the reasons why I like working for the cable company...

My electric bill this month was $24.38. In the summer it goes over $75 because I have this clanky old air conditioner that belongs in either a museum or antique store.

The landlord plays for natural gas, which covers heat and hot water. She's trying to make me take over the gas bill, in return for a rent reduction. I'm opposed to it and will likely move if that happens (I already want to move, to it's not an idle threat).

I just realized how low my expenses are... so why don't I ever have any money?

[Misanthropical]

We paid more for utilities in our small, cramped, rat hole apt. in our last neighborhood then we do for our spacious three bedroom townhouse where we live now. In the same state.

Our last neighborhood was so bad that when we went away for two weeks and had everything shut off, we came back to a higher bill. When I called the power company about it, they told me to either pay it or get shut off.

I could run every appliance in our townhouse 24/7 and still pay less than we did in our old neighborhood.

We pay at MOST $100 a month here, at our last place that was the very smallest bill we ever had.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

One of the reasons why I like working for the cable company...

My electric bill this month was $24.38. In the summer it goes over $75 because I have this clanky old air conditioner that belongs in either a museum or antique store.

The landlord plays for natural gas, which covers heat and hot water. She's trying to make me take over the gas bill, in return for a rent reduction. I'm opposed to it and will likely move if that happens (I already want to move, to it's not an idle threat).

I just realized how low my expenses are... so why don't I ever have any money?

Try having a $275 bill for electric for one month. That was during the summer last year.

Can't win, don't try. At least we've settled what to do about the ever-rising cable bill:

Satellite is being installed Monday morning. Mom called and ordered it today, and we're going back to DSL.

DTV - $100/month (4 rooms, but we'll have the others wired so we can get the additional receivers we'll need later on)

DSL - $37.95/month (I can get my old equipment back, as I gave it to a friend who hasn't used it and went w/cable. I can get that back this coming week w/no problem.)

Bad part is: HellSouth (soon to be merged w/the big blue/white ball) has a 3 month backlog for turning on DSL service. The soonest we can get ours turned on is April 26th.

Didn't realize that many people were fleeing from the cable company:eek:

[TNT]

Didn't realize that many people were fleeing from the cable company:eek:

I see a fratching.com topic in the making... cable vs. satellite, DSL and FIOS.

The three month wait is puzzling. I wonder if it has anything to do with the merger? More likely, it's because the telcos are offering $14.95 768k DSL deals to woo customers from dial-up (which generally doesn't benefit the telco) to DSL. Alas, what it shows it that the average telco can't even compete with itself.