Gas Bill

I don't mean to do two posts in one day because I always feel that will make so I have nothing to say tomorrow.. but I think we all know I can never run out of things to say. Just wanted to share a funny thought with you before it leaves my brain completely.

Bills, money.. it all scares me. I love being in control of it so I know what's going on, but it scares me. Rob and I did a great job at saving money before we came here, so we really shouldn't be scared for the next little bit.. but still, scared just seems to be natural for me.

Not knowing what it takes to run a household, our first couple of days here, I was a lunatic. I felt like everything we did with this little apartment was sucking away our savings account. I tried to understand how gas and electric bills worked, but still, it completely confuses me. All I know is that lights should never be on when there is sunlight, laundry can only be done on weekends when its cheeper, and don't even think about charging your computer all day. It is just too risky.

I can't say that much has changed now because I am still convinced that these light sockets and plugs are just a sign of my savings melting before my eyes. We haven't received our electricity bill, so I will feel more comfortable with that when it does come, but this week our gas bill arrived in the mail..

With the negative degrees, I have had the heater up to about 65 during the day and I make Rob turn it down to 55 at night. I wish I could just turn it off but then our pipes would freeze and that would be a savings sucker for sure. I was anxious to open this gas bill just to see what the luxury of heat was doing to us. The amount wasn't bad. It was something I was expecting actually, just from talking to the last tenants about how much they paid with child. But thinking about them having a child and us not having one made me want to go purchase more socks or something because ours shouldn't be the same amount.

I went online today to pay this bill, so I had the bill in front of me and while the page was loading I was examining it a bit further..

Please look at that carefully. Do you notice the Account Initiation Fee of $14? So this whole time, with me running the heat and feeling guilty for it.. Granted, some of the month we weren't even here but the landlord had it set to 60 just to keep it warm for us. The entire thing has cost us $9.55. I cant even believe I was freaking out as much as I was. It is just so comforting to see this all on paper. When you don't know what to expect, you just start to expect the worst.

Of course, this doesn't mean we will start using our heater without guilt. Oh no no no, it will still stay the same temperatures. I just feel comforted now to know that $10 does go a long way when you are speaking in gas.