[mindy41065]

Ok I need to vent. My heat bill has gone up $40 a month and my electric bill $60 a month. So that means $100 more a month I need to come up with. How do people do it out there? My husbands pay has not gone up that much a month. Im trying to get a job but for what people want to pay will not even cover daycare costs. I came to the conclusion that you need to make at least $100,000 a year to survive in this world. I see people on this group with 3 or 4 kids how the heck do you do it? Any suggestions on how to make money? Thanks for any input

[KellyMigoya]

I live in Orange County California so make that at least $125,000 a year!

[DPline]

Oh my is right! Our last gas bill came and I about had a coronary. The heat got turned down and anyone who is cold can put on a sweater. Now if I can get everyone to stop leaving every light in the house on!

[ourdreamcametru]

We live in Nashville TN and our gas bill for heat is unreal! Last month it was almost $400 and that is with the temp set low and some new electric space heaters! I think hubby is going to pull the gas logs out of the fireplace we never get to use becouse of the cost and cap off the gas so we can burn wood! I'm thinking maybe we should move to something smaller, maybe a one bedroom apartment! LOL, not really but the cost is killing us! I don't work now but when we have needed extra money before I have gotten a couple of babies to keep. I charge $125 a week and try to get bed babies I only accept cash so I don't claim it. This has kept all three of my kids out of daycare and home with me thorugh the years.

[huganangel]

I totally understand! I am a single parent who is a public school teacher living in TAX-achusetts! My daycare alone is $1000 a month. I don't know how I'll do it over the long haul. I have a second mortgage and credit cards that are all maxed out. I'm thinking of selling my house in 8-10 years to finally pay off all of the debt. I'd love my daughter to have a sibling but I have no choice - it's either a sibling or food and shelter. I think a lot of people on this forum are financially better off than I am. It took me a while to realize that. I see houses and such that are much nicer than what I have in the pictures of families with many siblings. I've come to see myself as a relative minority when it comes to financial status. But, when push comes to shove, my daughter has been worth every penny. We are not the richest materialistically but we have a lot of love. We don't have a big family but we have big heart. Debt is now a natural part of my life. I will live simply and have yard sales, do tutoring, or whatever it takes to get by. My daughter will grow up knowing we are the salt of the earth. And finally, when I get stressed about the debt, I think about the fact that my financial difficulties are nothing compared to those of the women who face making an adoption plan because they cannot afford to raise their babies. Keep heart and know that, like the adoption, somehow it will all work out in the end.

[MatthewS]

When we were told this year that our gas bill was going to double (it costs us about $300/mth to heat) I said enough is enough. We used my bonus--which was going to be for a vacation--to buy a high efficiency wood stove insert for our fireplace. We bought a cord of wood split and cured for about $200. We turned our thermostat down to 60 degrees and started burning every night. Our family room stays a toasty 75 degrees. If you want to be in other parts of the house, put on a sweater or find a dog to cuddle--we have three. We all have heavy blankets and comforters for the beds at night.

So no vacation this winter, but the family room is awfully nice to be in!

[ourdreamcametru]

Huganangel, just wanted to add that I think you are right on target. As long as our kids have the love they need it doesn't matter what size house you live in or what size income you bring home. It's the small things that matter and I think it is great that you are able to make ends meet and give that sweet baby the thing that means the most, your love! I don't think it matter if you are single or married, both working or only one income, life is more expensive now and we are all just trying to make ends meet.

[Slatond10]

I have a very energy efficient home but even with that my gas was $157 and electric another $47. I am a single Mom and daycare and mortgage do me in each month, can't afford utilities to sky rocket. The budget is TIGHT now!!!

Had already turned the thermostat to 63 degree and have extra blankets on the beds. Definitely open to suggestions to save on Utilities or Budget better

[HileryS]

Just a thought: I have heard that electric space heaters are not a good way to replace heat. Your electric bill will go up and it is more cost effective to just turn up your furnace because your furnace is most likely a high efficiency furnance and space heaters are not.

Some money saving tips we have used: changing car insurance to liability only- changing deductible from 250 to $500.

We keep our furnance at 68 in the evenings. when we are home and 63 when we are gone or when we are sleeping.

We also insulated our side walls of our house. We are hoping this will help decrease our heating bill.

We are feeling the pangs as well. I am planning to stay home and I worry a lot about money.

Good luck-
hilery

[leaabc123]

Here, we have budget billing for utilities so you pay the same amount every month. At the end of a 12 month period, they check your account and if you still owe a balance, they refigure your budget payment to accomodate it.

Check with your utility companies to see if they offer something similar.

[kacmom1]

OK...this will make you all feel better! We live in MD in a big 100 year old house with oil heat. Because oil prices are so high and because I am a "cold-weather-sissy" (as my husband calls me), our heating bill this winter has been around $750 a month on oil and electricity. It's absolutely crazy!! We're heading to Florida in a month for a vacation....can't wait for the warm weather!!!!!

[lmvsmom]

Well, I'm not an expert by any means on finances. But we have a family of 7, a blended family, so that means that at any given time there are 4 -6 of us at home. As to how we do it, we're not white collar for sure. My DH works full time and I work part time. I'm picking up two Saturday's a month to pay the baby sitter. But at least I get to be home with my son most of each weekday.

We live by a budget. We spend every penny each month on paper before the month begins. We're not saving as much as I'd like, but we are reducing our debt little by little. Shop at stores that sell off brands, consignment stores for clothing, each out for lunch instead of dinner if you must, turn down the thermostat during the day when you're gone, get rid of your credit cards; pay only with cash or debit cards, etc.

This is probably much more than you wanted to know, but I'm feeling chatty!

P.S. My baby's room doesn't look anything like the pictures I see here, either! He shares a room with my 11 yo step-son for now.

[brinawynne]

I wanted to pass this along for those of you, like us, that may be interested. We need a new hot water heater and have needed it for a couple of months. It works, but it needs repair, so we've just waited until 2006 and taken really short showers! Anyway this year we get some new tax credits for energy efficient appliances. So for our new hot water heater, we'll get a credit of $300.00. We are hoping to wait a couple more weeks so we can take advantage of the 12 months, no interest, no pymts and pay it all off with our tax refund in Feb 2007.

http://www.energy.gov/taxbreaks.htm

[Bug-n-Bears-Mommy]

I process utility bills for a national food chain. I have to say, energy costs have gone up nation wide. I also have to process an analysis, and have seen this take effect since hurricane Katrina. Honestly, I don't knwo how that effects the rest of us, but the general managers at the units are coming out of their skins.

For example, in Nashville we were paying 1.05 per therm for natural gas. Now we are paying over 1.75 per therm.

Same thing is happening in California. We were paying about .70 per therm in the summer, and now it is almost 1.50.

I don't know if any other utility companies offer an equal pay program. You pay the same amount every month regardless of your usage. We have always done that with our natural gas. It is is nice to know what your bill is going to be every month. We did get a notice in December that said it would be going up $15 because of rising energy costs. BUT, when I see how hard our restrants have been hit, I breathe a little easier knowing I can crank the heat when we need it.

[HileryS]

Oh one more thing... our energy company does home energy audits for free. We had someone come to our house and they gave us suggestions on how to save money and make our house more energy efficient. We got new lightbulbs, new shower thingy and they gave us a rebate to pay for half of our insulation project (our side walls and basement walls).


Hilery