The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: Trying225 on February 09, 2014, 01:03:57 PM
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So I'm on the budget plan with all of my utilities. Since reading this blog, I've been implementing a lot of the ideas I found on this website to cut down on my utilities. I just got the gas bill back and my usage was down for this month which I was very happy about. However, since I'm on a payment plan, the cost didn't change. How long does it take for a payment plan's budget price to go down? I know they average out your usage, etc.
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So I'm on the budget plan with all of my utilities. Since reading this blog, I've been implementing a lot of the ideas I found on this website to cut down on my utilities. I just got the gas bill back and my usage was down for this month which I was very happy about. However, since I'm on a payment plan, the cost didn't change. How long does it take for a payment plan's budget price to go down? I know they average out your usage, etc.
I don't believe there's a single algorithm for doing this. Even if there is, I believe it'd take into account temperatures so it wouldn't be possible for us to know. I recommend making a spreadsheet of your utility costs so that you can just budget yourself based on multi-year averages.
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I'd been excited by the idea that if my utility usage went down, I would start seeing lower bills. But since I'm on a budget plan, I'm not sure when I'll see a difference, if ever. It's kindof disappointing.
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I'd suggest switching to an ordinary plan. As you get more mustachian, you'll see less fluctuation in your energy bills and lower costs. Also you'll have the money to cover slightly higher costs anyway.
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I used to have a budget plan for gas and electricity. The plans equalize every year if not a little more frequently, maybe at 9 or 10 months.
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If you compare yearly amounts, you'll definitely see a difference. But for keeping close track, switching to the regular plan is the way to go.
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Probably a yearly adjustment. You'll get a lower budget rate and possibly a credit to use up when the adjustment happens.
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Did you try calling your utility company to find out before asking us? Because we don't really know, we can just tell you what our utility companies do. ;-)
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I actually went shopping for a different power company today. Found a good deal that gives me an employee discount. It's a fixed rate so I want to see how it goes. I'm testing things out.