omg, i want to cry. our electric bill..

ertopp

WAS 448$ FOR ONE MONTH.

I honestly don't even want to tell Todd. And I don't have the slightest clue how we will ever be able to afford it.  I am hoping when I call on Monday and tell them that we are living off of one income and have a 9month old that they will help us to make payments or something.

To make my day even worse, Kylie has her 2nd tooth popping through. She went from 0 teeth to 2 teeth within a week! She is so cranky and being a total mommys girl today.  It's only 10degrees outside so we don't want to go anywhere, and Todd is working til tomorrow morning.

WAAAAHH.   I just want to sit here and cry my eyes out.

jaxmom1

OMG do you have electric heat?  Yikes!

MNgirl326

If you call them, they should be able to work with you.   I have found that if I am honest with them and continue to make payments, that when it goes down in the spring, I can usually catch up.

Another option, is to try and go on their "budget" plan where you pay the same about every month, no matter the weather.  You end up paying more in the summer, but it helps balance the winter months. 

ertopp

No, we use propane and we have a heat pump.  When we got the heat pump they said we may pay a little more in the winter but the summer savings would be HUGE. We have lived in this house since Oct. the bills so far have been anywhere from 40$-192$ which falls under our income budget of 200$ so we have been fine! So I think if I call they will help me.  We have been very good about paying our bill in full and early so far.

I don't think I am going to tell him until Monday after I call. His moms was 300$ for the month and he thought that was high. oooh my.

bobbyme

Unless you know the reason, I would question a bill that is twice as high as normal.

melissainabq

bobbyme:

Unless you know the reason, I would question a bill that is twice as high as normal.

 

That exactly. I work for the electric utility here, and it's not unheard of for a meter to be mis-read or something else to have gone wrong. Before just saying we can't afford to pay this, ask them to look into the reason the bill more than doubled. 

tessab2515

Ouch! I agree with the PP about the budget plan. GL

barnwife

ertopp:

No, we use propane and we have a heat pump.  When we got the heat pump they said we may pay a little more in the winter but the summer savings would be HUGE. We have lived in this house since Oct. the bills so far have been anywhere from 40$-192$ which falls under our income budget of 200$ so we have been fine! So I think if I call they will help me.  We have been very good about paying our bill in full and early so far.

I don't think I am going to tell him until Monday after I call. His moms was 300$ for the month and he thought that was high. oooh my.

Ummm....a heat pump is electric heat. Using propane heat may or may not be a better deal for you. What temperature are you keeping your house at? And where are you located?

FWIW, we live in a barn. In Wisconsin. And we have a heat pump, but we don't use it for heat. We have a wood boiler and solar panels. Our last electric bill was $80ish, and DH thinks that is high.

GL! If you need ideas for decreasing the aount of electricity you use, lmk!

LouRN09

Oh my!! MIL told us today that their gas and electric bill for the month was $688!!

Sarah_Fay

Ours was $320.  I feel your pain (somewhat).  Call the company Monday, they will work with you.  As long as you are making payments.  GL!  Try not to stress.

Marchmamma

broke pool pump and 8 month pregnant lady in july = $788 electric bill.

 I feel your pain.  Call the electric compnay, be honest and see if you can work a payment plan, then ask about a budget plan.  some months you may pay more that you use, but it will work out in the end.

Sweets2005

I just stopped by 6-9 to ask a question but wanted to reply to this and say that our electric company won't work with you BUT they won't turn electricty off in the winter which could buy you some time to pay it off. I'm sorry, that stinks! Our January bill is always crazy high because of DH's stupid Christmas lights! Call me a Grinch but I don't care! I now add that in to the Christmas budget!

angel2118

ours was about $350.... significantly higher... when we called they said that the new regulations caused rates to go up. awesome.

ertopp

I plan on asking why it was this high. But when MIL asked they said it was from the heat pump.  We live in PA where it has been HELLA cold! So, our heating guy said that the heat pump works when its 30degrees or higher and when its below that it will automatically kick on our furnace. The whole thing confuses me.  I know they will work with us because when our bill was 200$ they said they would. And they did mention the budget so I am going to ask more about that on Monday.

MrsDD2009

I don't know what company you have but I am in PA and I know with certain companies "rate caps" or something expired and bills were supposed to go up but what I read said the average bill shouldn't go up too much. I need to look at our electric bill now....

ETA: We are on a budget plan so maybe it won't have changed much.

kbaseman

bobbyme:

Unless you know the reason, I would question a bill that is twice as high as normal.

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