Am I going to regret this? - Page 2

[Teenytoona]

I like it. It's far less stressful to me to be able to put an amount in the monthly budget than to guess and see we've gone over. I have it for our gas and our combo electric/sewer/water/trash bill. I've always done the budget option since I first learned of its existance. It's helpful to my peace of mind.

[bobandjess99]

We love it, and it always comes close to being even at the end of the year.

[enkmom]

We love it too, and have been doing it for almost 20 years. The most we have ever had to catch up was $80 - difficult, but not impossible. Most years we have had a credit, and on those lucky years we have had to pay a much smaller bill and once even no bill at all!

To offer another perspective though, my parents think budget billing is as stupid as extra withholding on income taxes. They don't want to give Ameren an interest-free loan, even a small one.

[_ktg_]

We calculate it ourselves and budget an amount for gas/electric each month (we took our total bills over a 12 month period/12), and that goes into a saving acct (to build interest on!) and we pull from the savings account when the bill arrives at the mid/end of the month.

Its nice & instead of playing catch up at any point, I know we're current on our bills plus building interest on our overages from the summer months in that account.

[triscuitsmom]

Originally Posted by mama_ani

I am on equal billing for both hydro and gas (gas for heat & hot water) and really like it. I like knowing the exact amount to come out each month. I find we use less than we pay so we usually end up with a free month or two at the end of the billing year.

I live in the same general area as mama_ani and our experience is the same as hers

[mama_ani]

Originally Posted by triscuitsmom

I live in the same general area as mama_ani and our experience is the same as hers

Same general area <as she throws a tomato through the window>

[triscuitsmom]

Originally Posted by mama_ani

Same general area <as she throws a tomato through the window>

[sunflower.mama]

Originally Posted by Ola_

Our gas and electric companies offer budget billing but we aren't signed up for it. I like that when we've been trying to use less heat/AC I can see the difference right away, and the smaller bill is a reward for our efforts.

Actually this is us too. I suppose I could do budget for electric but it never occured to me. Our swing is only +/- $40 so it's not a budget buster, and I do like to challange myself to keep it low.

[brennasmom]

We have done the budget plan for a couple years and I really like it.

[anomaly13]

Well thanks for sharing you success with budget billing. I am still going to be diligent at trying to reduce our electricity use and gas use this winter in hopes that after the review in the spring there is not a dramatic spike. I think I did the right thing as our bill is alwasy highest in the winter and winter is when DH's work slows a bit so with already being on a tight budget the slow down doesn't help. Although this winter is not supposed to be as slow as last, there are a big few jobs lined up already. Will let you all know what happens after the review in the spring. Stay warm but not too warm, lol (dh will turn the heat up to 80+ until it's way too hot for anyone, all this while he walks around the house in shorts and a tee shirt with me telling him to turn down the heat and put some dang clothes on, he loves the heat he is from the desert afterall)

[mi_amor]

We do this for our gas bill, and pay $118/month. It gets really cold in the winter, so I would be afraid of a $500 bill. They adjust the amount in April or May, so there wouldn't be a large difference to make up.

Usually my final bill is $55, because I owe less than they charge. If I was afraid of a giant bill at the end of the time period, I would maybe pay a bit extra ($20) each month to avoid getting stuck.

I'm not sure if others have already mentioned this, but we use a programmable thermostat that was $30 to keep our house a consistent temperature. Now being home all the time, I'm sure our bill will go up, but we used to turn it down during the day when no one was home, and at night.