Cutting the Electric Bill - September Bill

Once again I failed to reduce my electric bill. I guess I found some comfort when my favorite meteorologist called the Summer of 2010 the second hottest on record. I did some digging around my financial archives to see if I set an unrealistic goal. I'm not ready to concede that I did - as long as the TV is on at night along with the A/C, I have room to improve. Truthfully, I have made only a small sacrifice in order to reach my goal of cutting my bill by 20%. That sacrifice feels like a major one: the thermostat is completely turned off during the day, and set to 80 or 81 degrees at night. Shouldn't this alone have helped?



First, a look back at how much I spent in prior years:

• 2006 average monthly electric bill: $62.92


• 2007 average monthly electric bill: $56.58


• 2008 average monthly electric bill: $97.75 (ouch... I had a roommate who used the A/C too much that summer!)


• 2009 average monthly electric bill: $36.33 (note: hot water converted to gas)


• 2010 average monthly electric bill: $38.50

My September, 2010 bills was for 448 kWh (14 per day) - a reduction from August but much higher than last year. In September 2009 I used 290 kWh (9 per day). To reach my goal I should have only used 232 kWh, about half of what I actually used.



I don't want to give up even though it's futile to think I will meet my 6 month goal. At least having this goal in my head keeps me aware of lights that are on or TVs that aren't in use. I may need to adjust my goal moving forward...