2. We paid our highest electricity bill in this house ever at $530 for 2 months. This was due to way colder than normal temperatures and drying the kitchen and garage out with heat and fans when we had our roof water leak. I am very lucky that I was trying to conserve energy before all that happened and turned down the thermostat even lower than normal. They say lowering your heat by 1 degree can result in up to an 8% reduction in electricity costs if you heat that way. I am looking forward to lower electricity bills now for the rest of 2017. A friends daughter who just moved into a new home in November received a bill for $1700 so I guess I feel fortunate. I suggested they get an energy audit of their house as that is ridiculous.
3. Good news this week. With a Provincial election coming up our government has promised halving our medical premiums with the eventual goal of getting rid of them altogether. BC is the only Province in Canada where we still have to pay for basic medical coverage. Right now we pay $150 a month for two adults, the most anyone pays, exactly the same as someone who makes $10 million a year. Those high income earners will still pay but in our tax bracket we will see a 50% reduction. This change will be effective January 2018 and will save us $900 in the first year! Can you guess what I am going to spend that on? Travel of course!!
4. I had my monthly $1.49 day date with Mom today at a family-owned Island grocery store a couple blocks from our homes. On bargain today $1.49 for 5 lbs of nugget potatoes, 3 lbs of onions, a block of parmesan cheese, dog treats and sliced turkey breast from the deli. The deli meat was the big splurge but when you work from home and eat 99% of the time at home you need to splurge once in a while. $1.49 day is one of the biggest bargain hunting days of the month and one of the ways I try and stay on grocery budget.
I'll never say it won't snow again this year because it did, we ended up with 4 inches on the ground on Sunday and had to shovel both our driveway and Mom's. It's melting but I will be so happy to have Spring here. The first year we lived here at Easter we barbecued because it was so warm we were in shorts on the patio and left the turkey in the freezer for Thanksgiving. I'd be OK with one of those - BRING SPRING ON!
It is suppose to hit a crazy high here tomorrow of 74F plus another storm like Saturday's that spawned a tornado north of our town. Good times....lolz
ReplyDeleteI won't probably have a stroke if our electric bill was $1700, even for two months and not one. They must live in a cardboard wind tunnel. ;-)
I know, something is wrong there but the bill came right at the worst time - they had a baby this week, their 2nd kid. The good news is in Canada we don't pay extra for having babies, it is included in our healthcare (even basic) so there's a massive savings there!
DeleteYou did a great job staying near budget and so glad you were able to find decent priced cukes. I had been able to find them regularly this winter in the 50 cent range. They really do add a lot of crunch to our meals.
ReplyDeleteWith all the drying you had to do this winter your power bill was probably not terrible. Often I think we just have to suck certain expenses up and move on. Thankfully now you have everything repaired. And now you are going to get a bonus insurance reduction! That is great!
We have had no winter this year and now everything is blooming, so I guess spring is here.
I don't think I've ever seen 50 cent cukes in Canada, around a dollar is cheapest and even then at this time of year it is coming all the way from Mexico. In a couple of months our greenhouses gear up and I can get way more local produce
DeleteI did wonder how you could be so certain that you'd seen the back of the snow. It's not unknown for us to get it in May - like last year. Horrid stuff!
ReplyDeleteCucumbers are 3 for £1 here. I've been pickling them with vinegar, sea salt, mustard seeds, cloves and turmeric. Yum! x
Seriously last winter it snowed once!! 3 for a pound is a great price! Where do you get them from, Spain? Ours come from Mexico until June then we can buy locally grown ones.
DeleteI've no idea, they're off the market and unpackaged. I image it would be Spain. It won't be long before they're strawberries are out. x
DeleteI'd cry with a $1700 bill-feel that pain. I need to do some good organizing and March planning having lost two weekends, but like you, need to hold myself accountable. $900 I'm new travel to plan, exciting.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that bill was the most outrageous I've heard of. I know I have to wait a year but $900 is $900 or $1200 pretax!
DeleteI pay on the equal payment plan and the anniversary date is November, so I usally have no vills for December and January. Just got our hydro bill and it is $33 and gas bill is for $43. Cost of energy used for gas is $290 and billed to date is $130, so I will over pay during the summer but still will be in the black by November. Your hydro rate scares me. Loved $1.49 day while we were in Port Alberni. I hope we have seen the last of the snow as our doggies at this house get big snowballs on their feet and it is tough to rub off.
ReplyDeleteThe joy of a house versus condo. Mom's condo is about $130 for 2 months in this coolest period, 3 bed townhouse inbetween 2 others. Buddy get's like that too, likely due to his curly hair. The neighbors German shepherd runs in it and not a bit stays on his coat.
DeleteOurs is a 2000 sq ft townhouse long ranch style with in ground basement. We have only one connecting wall , master bedroom, ensuite and garage. The other three walls are exposed to the elements. If we bought a house we would not have strata fees but then we would have the expense of the heat. I will have to google about all other costs to see how we fare with taxes, house insurance, car insurance, and property taxes. Still Peter has always wanted to live on the island for a more quiet life. He really loved Port Alberni, very pretty walkings trails.
DeleteGreat post as always. I am so looking forward to that health care decrease. I only wish it was effective now. Gosh I don't even think of the cost of veggies here in Mexico although when I go home I know I will flinch and I certainly will not be buying avocados nor oranges.
ReplyDeleteOddly enough I don't think veggies are as expensive as last winter and there have been a lot of recent sales on avocadoes, I think Mexico wants to step up trade with us. The cucumber was Mexican. I am all for eating Mexican veggies, will support them as much as I can
DeletePlus I managed to buy 5 lbs of oranges for $4 bucks last week so we are still eating those. I only buy apples and oranges when they are less than $1 a pound.
DeleteOur electric bill doesn't reflect all our heat as we use an antique wood cookstove to heat our family room (so there is the cost of wood each year) and a free standing propane stove in the living room (cost of filling the propane tank yearly) and our electric heat pump that supplements heating for the house. I would hate to try and break it all out! Now you really have me thinking about it....
ReplyDeleteWe have an electric heat pump too which also acts as our air conditioner unit in the summer. We have a natural gas fireplace that is only on if we are cold in the living room but gas is cheap right now so we have used it more this winter when watching TV, I would love some wood heat but you need a place to put the wood as well as to buy/haul/stack/split it every year. We lived with 100% wood heat until I was about 15 years old in the interior of BC in log homes our family built ourselves.
DeleteIs there access to natural gas for heating in B.C.? A $1700 electric bill is crazy - there must be something wrong there. Like Sluggy I'd have a stroke!! And then I'd start burning wood instead!
ReplyDeleteLots of people burn wood here. Yes, some in main towns like us have natural gas, my fireplace, BBQ and hot water tank are on it. I have a heat pump that is extremely efficient as it draws heat from the atmosphere and same for cooling and provides us air conditioning. Part of the reason why ours is higher is we have a hot tub and are home almost all of the time. I am relentless on shutting off the lights etc but with the office and equipment we have it does take up a certain amount of energy. I monitor my electricity use daily (weird I know) now so can see if it spikes.
DeleteYou are really keeping track of the grocery bills. That is great. In Ontario, we are going to have a rate cut of power. Waiting to see if it makes any difference to the bill.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear your rates are going down! I hear so much bad stuff about Ontario power rates in the news here. Our rates are going up April 1 so really trying to keep it under control.
Delete