Llama Money

Just like my 9th electric bill since buying my home was a record-setter, so is the tenth.  Record high, that is.  Total cost for gas and electricity for August 2008?  How about a whopping $244.40?  Yowza.  That tops the previous $221.36 record from last month.  Where did the extra cost come from?  Let’s see.

Natural Gas - Not unexpected

My natural gas usage increased by 140% - though my cost jumped by “just” 63%.  Normally I might be racking my brain trying to figure out the cause. However, we had my two sisters-in-law staying with us for almost a month.  Two teenage girls means lots and lots of hot water usage.  No surprise at all here.

Electricity - Unstoppable.

Another month passes, and I use more electricity than ever before.  My usage climbed another 13%.  Fortunately my cost climbed only 5% in the same time - due to some vagaries of electricity billing.  1,757 kWh sure seems like a lot of electricity for a family to use in one month.  But then again, big house + texas heat means lots and lots of A/C usage.

Overall

I had forecast $300 for my August bill, so in that light, I’m ahead of the game.  I figure we’ve peaked on energy usage for this year.  The next 2-3 months bills will be large, but shouldn’t top this one.  No more house guests, and eventually it will start to cool down.  Frankly, I can’t wait.

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