I guess that title isn't very positive. I'd like to just stay positive with the bumps, but right now it feels like this house is just one big money sink. Every year we debate about which repairs we may or may not be able to make. Every year we go with the one(s) that are most pressing. This year that was, clearly, the roof. It should have been the roof, the water heater, and insulation, but hey, we got one of them done. Along with another bill that needs to be paid each month. And a new-to-me car, which we sorely needed, but also - another bill. Yesterday we got the oil bill. Before I tell you how much the bill was, I want you to know that we keep our house at 57 degrees. That is, 57 degrees when we are home and awake. 55 degrees when we are asleep. And 50 degrees when we go to work or will be away for more than a couple hours. We wear a lot of sweaters around here. We have the 3rd floor, the guest room, and the dressing room (can you say brrr?) closed off so that no heat needlessly escapes into unoccupied areas. We try to keep active when we are home so the chill doesn't set in. We keep blankets and extra sweaters on hand when we have guests. So with all of that, you'd think we'd be saving bucket-loads of money on our heating bill, right?
$907.81 That's right, for one month of heat - if you can call it that, cuz right now, and I sit here my nose is cold...
So you've heard about the recent cuts to the phone, etc, but with those oil prices and our paper-thin walls... I am looking into part-time work. Scoring tests, data analysis, other things that I can do from home or have a very flexible schedule/availability. One application out already. I'm hopeful.
What I want to know is how on earth are other people making it? We may have a money-sink for a house, but lots of people do. And we are both gainfully employed. Securely in the middle class, but in months like this (it's gonna be a long one, I can tell), it sure doesn't feel like it.
I'll try a make a more uplifting post tomorrow or later on.
OMG! Over $900/month, that is crazy! My parents live in ME. They put in a small woodstove last year and their heating bill is down from insanely high to $120 for oil this past month.
ReplyDeleteI think it's just rough out there, and it felt easier a few years ago to just put stuff on credit cards and not worry about it, but now the reality is just hard. I don't know if I just have an inflated sense of what middle class should mean (for us it mean renting, no car, vacations only to see family, minimal fun spending, always putting of dental work until next year), or if we're doing it wrong.
Right!?! When we bought the house we looked up the previous tenants oil use history - that was in 2007 - and at that point the oil company reported that it averaged about $1400/month (about a dollar less per gallon if I remember right), but we simply didn't believe it (um, fools.) because who actually uses that much oil except maybe frat boys - and yes, the previous tenants were frat boys, so... And you know what, if we were keeping it at 72 degrees as the self of my youth would have it, I wouldn't be complaining so much about that bill, but jeesh! We looked into adding a wood stove (and a pellet stove), but we'd have to do some fairly major home improvements in order for it to be installed correctly, so that's a no-go, but really, we just need insulation. Serious insulation. In years past, before Mozart, we did put the extra expenses - including about every other oil bill - on the credit card, but now we are making a concerted effort to NOT do that and to pay off those years of less than wise money management.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading! And commenting!
Probably a dumb question, but have you shopped around for a different heating oil vendor? We changed companies when our propane bill went above $5/gallon (wtf?)...and will do the same if it goes up beyond reason again! There's also a state website somewhere that has a lot of info on average statewide prices - your oil co. should be at least in that ballpark. Will try to find it for you!
ReplyDeleteLove, Cakemaster! :)
That is COMPLETELY insane for heat!!! I can tell you if we were paying that much for heat we would NOT be surviving. My husband is always complaining about heating costs and I think our gas bill last month was $75 - I'm thinking about showing him your post! I use the gas heat during the day (set on 69 or 70) and we set it on 67 at night BUT we use the wood stove every night and the heat doesn't come up until 5am or so. It makes a HUGE difference in our bill and it stinks that you don't really have that option. I guess this post is mostly to say that if we had to spend that kind of money to heat our house we would have nothing left. Also, that is FREEZING to be living in! I can totally see why you would feel down about all of this :-/ I'm hoping for a major warm up for you!
ReplyDeleteTHANK-YOU!! Your and Mary's reactions give me a little validation for the way I've been feeling. I also come from Minnesota, where when you are a renter, heat is included in rent. When I moved out here and had to pay up to $250/month for heat in our last apartment, I nearly choked when I first realized that we'd be paying that regularly. And, well, yeah - that looks like a really, REALLY good deal about now. So, anyways, you can tell your husband about our circumstances, and hopefully he can put things in perspective (our electric bill was $99 for last month with the heater in Mozart's room...).
DeleteHiya Cakemaster!,
ReplyDeleteI see you found me :D I am in the process of a local audit of companies who will deliver to us again, thanks to your suggestion. I did do a comparison last year and they were the best price in town. Their customer service also can't be beat (which we may need to depend on if that water heater really kicks it, as it is threatening to do), but if they are too high, we may have to reconsider. I checked out the state website and we are securely in the middle of averages, so that doesn't help much - I have a feeling that prices go by region, so I have to figure out what our region is going for...
Yes! I like your blog and may be inspired to start one of my own! :)
ReplyDeleteI just know with heating companies in this region, if you don't make them aware you know you're being overcharged, they will just continue in their nefarious price-gouging ways (not that your oil co. is necessarily doing this, but ours certainly was!). :-\ I agree your heating bill is astronomical - we keep ours on 55/58 and this winter it has been around $250-300 (a bargain compared to the $500-700 we used to pay).
Ok, onto other ideas: Is there any insulating you can do short of the blown-in? Like attic spaces/closets that may be stealing heat - The Bat is in the process of doing this with our dormer spaces and attic, and it does help some! He may be able to help you if you have any spaces like that (just need to staple in the right type of roll insulation).
Also weather-stripping around doors...our doors are terrible for heat loss and I'm thinking about making some "quilts" for them with leftover material (maybe put the wife to work with her sewing machine...or could use Grammie's!).
Can you change the type of fuel if you have to replace the boiler? Might be a good time for it!
We have an extra space heater that I will drop off to you today. It's supposed to be a super-efficient type and we're not using it.
Needless to say, I know exactly how ya feel about finances. Very hard sometimes not to let it get you down, but we are mighty! We'll make it. :)
So I did that audit and while they are not the least expensive in the area, they are not the most either - they are sitting securely in the middle. If we could afford to pay ahead and get a fixed price then we'd be golden, but how can one pay ahead when one can hardly pay?? We've got the weather stripping on our doors since our 2nd energy audit (that is a post unto itself), and draft guards to both outside doors. I've got a blanket over the storage door after I realized how much heat we were losing there (that is also to the dressing room that we have closed off from getting heat), and was actually thinking of making some sort of quilting for the other doors. Or even quilts for the walls - the problem is really that the walls and the roof have no insulation. None. Zilch. We were going to do the roofing/crawl space insulation when we did the roof with the same contractor, but didn't have enough money to do it together. If The Bat would like to take a look at any time to see about home insulation that could be done, he is, by all means, welcome to take a look! Goodness, I hope the boiler doesn't need replacing! Did I say that? It is the water heater that keeps springing a leak - making for the boiler shutting off at inopportune times. If we did need a new boiler, changing fuels, would certainly be something to look at. As it is, when we have to do the water heater we'll be looking at other means of heating the H2O. We will gladly welcome your extra space heater :D See you later, oh mighty one!
DeleteYour post got me thinking, and I wrote this about our situation:
ReplyDeletehttp://chronicladybug.blogspot.com/2013/01/snapshots-from-new-middle-class.html
I think I know many, many people who could write similar posts to ours! Thanks for sharing.
Delete