utililty Bills

So, i finally got my first real electric bill... one that would include running a refrigerator and TV and cooking a bit with the oven. I had to say i actually smiled when i logged on looking for the bill to show up on-line. I smiled because it was only $21.03 (and i get to cut that in half with my roommate...) WAHOO!!!!!! So, you must ask how two college aged girls living in the OC can have such a low electric bill... we both agreed when we moved in to wash dishes by hand (since water is included in our rent) and not turn on the air conditioner. While we might start occasionally running the dish washer since the bill is so low, i'll probably continue to wash and air dry on my rack (which was the best $3.00 i ever spent at big lots).




So what does this little happiness mean for my budget??? it means I normally budget $100 bucks a month for utilities and my utilities only include electricity because: I choose not to have a land line because of my cell phone, I get internet at work so i haven't called to have it installed, water and waste removal are included in my rent, and I get cable for free.

Yes, cable is free because we have never called cox to ask them for any type of service. When you move, Cox needs to send out a representative to turn off your cable. This costs Cox money and they assume that most people will call and hook up service before they move in, or when they move in... So, Cox doesn't send someone out to turn it off. When you call to request Internet, phone, or cable, they shut off the other services you are not paying for, and "hook up" the ones you are paying for... well, my roommate and i decided when we moved in that we didn't need a landline or internet... and cable was going to be an option to look at once we started to see how much everything was going to realistically cost... I got bored and plugged in the TV the second day after we moved in... just to see if it would work... and presto chango wala!! it worked and hasn't stopped working... so no need to call Cox... i get it free!!!! at least for now...

So... realistically, i'm budgetting too much money for my utility bills... which means i'll take $50.00 a month instead of $100.00 and devote that to utilities and see how that works out with the budget next month. I'll keep it there for a few months to see if i can lower it even more realistically. [i want to budget enough to cover my roommate too because you can never been too careful when you rely on others to give you money for the bills, especially since its in my name. extra here goes to my "special day" fund anyways :) ] I'll take the $50.00 a month extra and allow it to be "extra bofa money" which means at the end of the month, essentially half will go to my future perfect smile, and half will go to paying off my car! I'm going to start this month by puting 50 more back into my bank of america account from my ing account.