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The cost of gas/fuel has a ripple effect that goes bone deep. The grain we feed the horses has gone up, as well as hay prices–in the last year hay has gone from $4 a bale to $5.50. And I’ve been going to the same farmer for over 10 years. He was only passing on the increase because he doesn’t really make much money selling the hay, and now with the price of diesel, and the fact that the hay is coming to NJ from upstate NY or central or western PA doesn’t help. Farmers that were growing grain for feed/food have gone over to growing for biofuels. While I agree in principle about the biofuel, I don’t agree on the idea of starving things in the process. I heard on the radio that some of the bulk stores are limiting people’s purchase of rice to like 1 20 lb bag–something I’ve never heard before.
As for the politicians giving a red rat’s A$$, my theory on politicians is they are like diapers: Both should be changed often, and usually for the same reason…..
pegasi1978 wrote:In the new housing they are starting billing and if you go over your allotment you have to pay. If you are lucky enough to be under your allotment you are supposed to get reimbursed, but I haven’t met anyone that lucky. Most people I know are having to pay out extra.
Is that only on base, or does it apply to most rental contracts? I’m just curious because that’s the standard system over here.
pegasi1978 wrote:Maebnus3 wrote:pegasi1978 wrote:This is one of the times I do appreciate living on base in older housing that does not have billing going on so I pay no utilities (but they take the ENTIRE allotment of nearly $1,000 for rent, power, water and trash).
In the new housing they are starting billing and if you go over your allotment you have to pay. If you are lucky enough to be under your allotment you are supposed to get reimbursed, but I haven’t met anyone that lucky. Most people I know are having to pay out extra.
Agreed! Though I’m in new housing, it’s overseas, so we’re not having to do the normal pay-the-rent business that new housing Stateside does. It’s niiice… though I’m hoping to move off base next January (once our one-year contract is over for this house), so will be back to paying rent & utilities. I’m afraid of what our electricity bill will be!
Sad thing is in my area if I were to live off post we would be making money as our other utilities (phone, internet, cable) would be covered by BAH/BAS.Hu? Phone, cable, and internet are not covered by BAH/BAS… or do you mean you would be getting enough to have some left over for those things?I have been overseas for too long. Im on post and they pay for everything. I am kinda glad housing in the states is starting to charge people for waste. There are folks that leave the A/C on all day while they are at work, and they dont turn off lights. I understand that its free, but that doesnt mean they need to waste it.
skigod377 wrote:pegasi1978 wrote:Maebnus3 wrote:pegasi1978 wrote:This is one of the times I do appreciate living on base in older housing that does not have billing going on so I pay no utilities (but they take the ENTIRE allotment of nearly $1,000 for rent, power, water and trash).
In the new housing they are starting billing and if you go over your allotment you have to pay. If you are lucky enough to be under your allotment you are supposed to get reimbursed, but I haven’t met anyone that lucky. Most people I know are having to pay out extra.
Agreed! Though I’m in new housing, it’s overseas, so we’re not having to do the normal pay-the-rent business that new housing Stateside does. It’s niiice… though I’m hoping to move off base next January (once our one-year contract is over for this house), so will be back to paying rent & utilities. I’m afraid of what our electricity bill will be!
Sad thing is in my area if I were to live off post we would be making money as our other utilities (phone, internet, cable) would be covered by BAH/BAS.Hu? Phone, cable, and internet are not covered by BAH/BAS… or do you mean you would be getting enough to have some left over for those things?I have been overseas for too long. Im on post and they pay for everything. I am kinda glad housing in the states is starting to charge people for waste. There are folks that leave the A/C on all day while they are at work, and they dont turn off lights. I understand that its free, but that doesnt mean they need to waste it.
What I meant was our rent would be low enought that we could pay for those bills out of the money given us for BAh/BAS rather than out of the rest of the money in his paycheck. Before we moved on base (I was about to give birth and he was about to deploy the first time so he wanted me closer to everything in case there was a problem) we were paying less than $500 for rent, meaning there was money left over for the other utilities.And I agree that it is good they are starting to charge people for waste they just picked a bad time to do the mock billing and then start the actual billing. They did the mock billing for a year when soldiers were deployed so people were using less utilities, establishing a lower baseline. Then they started the billing at the end of the 12 months when soldiers were home meaning people were using more than their established baseline. Needless to say, a lot of people are getting charged for it and they can’t help that there is now and extra body in the house. I think they should have done the mock billing for two years (then they get folks deployed and home) then started the billing.
Greater Basilisk wrote:pegasi1978 wrote:In the new housing they are starting billing and if you go over your allotment you have to pay. If you are lucky enough to be under your allotment you are supposed to get reimbursed, but I haven’t met anyone that lucky. Most people I know are having to pay out extra.
Is that only on base, or does it apply to most rental contracts? I’m just curious because that’s the standard system over here.
It’s been five years since I’ve dealt with commercial realty. At that time the only bills covered by my realty company was water (sewer) and garbage. Everything else we had to pay for ourselves. And that’s how it was in the apartment I had before I got married and the house I rented before that.
Ouch! 😯 😯 We’re really fortunate that I work at home, and Chris can walk to work every day, so we save a bunch there. Our electric (which includes our heat)…runs within a range of $110-150 per month I believe, and we have a three bedroom, two floor house. We do little things to help save electricity, like swapping all the light bulbs to the new flourescents. 🙂 every bit adds up.
pegasi1978 wrote:skigod377 wrote:pegasi1978 wrote:Maebnus3 wrote:pegasi1978 wrote:This is one of the times I do appreciate living on base in older housing that does not have billing going on so I pay no utilities (but they take the ENTIRE allotment of nearly $1,000 for rent, power, water and trash).
In the new housing they are starting billing and if you go over your allotment you have to pay. If you are lucky enough to be under your allotment you are supposed to get reimbursed, but I haven’t met anyone that lucky. Most people I know are having to pay out extra.
Agreed! Though I’m in new housing, it’s overseas, so we’re not having to do the normal pay-the-rent business that new housing Stateside does. It’s niiice… though I’m hoping to move off base next January (once our one-year contract is over for this house), so will be back to paying rent & utilities. I’m afraid of what our electricity bill will be!
Sad thing is in my area if I were to live off post we would be making money as our other utilities (phone, internet, cable) would be covered by BAH/BAS.Hu? Phone, cable, and internet are not covered by BAH/BAS… or do you mean you would be getting enough to have some left over for those things?I have been overseas for too long. Im on post and they pay for everything. I am kinda glad housing in the states is starting to charge people for waste. There are folks that leave the A/C on all day while they are at work, and they dont turn off lights. I understand that its free, but that doesnt mean they need to waste it.
What I meant was our rent would be low enought that we could pay for those bills out of the money given us for BAh/BAS rather than out of the rest of the money in his paycheck. Before we moved on base (I was about to give birth and he was about to deploy the first time so he wanted me closer to everything in case there was a problem) we were paying less than $500 for rent, meaning there was money left over for the other utilities.And I agree that it is good they are starting to charge people for waste they just picked a bad time to do the mock billing and then start the actual billing. They did the mock billing for a year when soldiers were deployed so people were using less utilities, establishing a lower baseline. Then they started the billing at the end of the 12 months when soldiers were home meaning people were using more than their established baseline. Needless to say, a lot of people are getting charged for it and they can’t help that there is now and extra body in the house. I think they should have done the mock billing for two years (then they get folks deployed and home) then started the billing.
Thats a great point. You would think they would have thought of that when doing this study. 😕
A few other things that can help utility bills are
1. Putting a few bricks in your toilet resavour to reduce water.
2. Plastic Drafty windows in the winter.
3. Make sure your atic is well insulated.
4. Use the dishwasher only when completely full.
5. Do only full loads of laundry and with cold water.
6. Use only cold water to wash your hands and turn the water off while your scrubbing your hands.
7. place all electronics on a power strip that you can turn completely off. They use power as long as they are plugged in, even if you’re not using them. and finally for the more desprete,
8. Take only showers, and only run the water while you get wet, and rinse. This saves water, and the electricity for the water heater.*Warning* There is a brief blast of cold water while the water heats back up. 😀Those are some good suggestions! I like the brick idea!
Also, turn off water when you brush your teeth!We have been under restricted water usage in SE FL and now because usage has gone way down and the water company (which happens to be the city of BB) is giving everybody a 10% increase in rates because their revenue is down isn’t that nice of them. The citizens do what is asked of them and that is how they reward us. Fortunately my water bill is only about $6.50 per month because I water the lawn from the lake and there is just Tristen (woof woof) and me full time and my b/f part of the year.
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