Myra Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 (edited) While looking over monthly budget, I got thinking about utility bills and wondering what they are for everyone else. Â I live in upstate New York and pay monthly: Â $90 for propane gas (for water heater and backup forced water/furnace heating) $40 towards wood (heat by wood stove so put this aside each month to save up to buy 4 cords of wood in the Fall) $90 electricity $25 town dump (take 2 trash bags there every Saturday) $0 - water as have own well $80 month for terrible and slow internet (have no option as only one carrier provides service in area) $115 - cellphone (no land line) Â SO what is everyone else paying/using? Â Just curious, Myra Edited July 23, 2016 by Myra 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Typically, before we moved, roundabout: Â Water $50 (includes trash pickup & sewer) Electricity $250 Internet $15 Cell phones $ridiculous amount (6 unlimited phones) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StaceyinLA Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 We pay:  Electricity - $160-200/month Water - $25-35/month  Garbage pickup is free in our area.  I don't usually consider my cell phone part of a utility bill because if I HAD to, I could function with a much more minimal plan. As it stands, we have our DirecTV, cell phone and internet (which is unlimited cell phone data because of where we live) wrapped up into one bill, AND it's for 6 devices (my kids still on my bill each pay their portion). Our total bill for that is $650.00. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Ours are somewhat similar to yours.  $200 for electricity (no gas) $0   water (also on well) $26  trash service $125  cable TV and 80gbpm internet with turbo boost $160  cell phone for 5 of us  (it would be more but DH's job subsidizes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RegGuheert Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 (edited) We live in northern VA (near WV) live in an nearly-all-electric house and pay monthly:  ~$10 for propane gas (cooktop only. I've never understood why it is so much) $5 towards wood (we have a pellet stove which we burn only when the temperatures are below about 10F) $11.40 electricity (All electricity an 8000 miles per year in our EV provided by our photovoltaic array. In other words, we have prepaid our electricity.) $0 town dump (take it there ourselves) $0 - water as have own well $80 month for terrible and slow internet (Same for local wireless internet. Not overly slow lately.) $162 - cellphone (seven lines with unlimited calling and 2.5 GB fast internet each. No land line.) $400 - Property and personal property taxes. (AFAIC, these are a utility that I cannot change!)  Edited July 23, 2016 by RegGuheert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Cellphone: $12 for me and dh's phone is paid by his employer  Internet: $80 for fast internet that also comes with basic cable and HBO  Electric: between $80 and $120 a month depending on if we use the AC or not  Water: $50 Sewage: $300 a year HOA: $63, provides lawn care weekly, trash and recycling pickup, community pool, community gym, and snow plowing  We don't have gas anything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemiSweet Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Central Maryland  $400 electricity and gas (almost half is taxes, but we just turned on our new solar so hoping to see a drop there) $0 garbage $35 water $195 cable/internet $130 phones 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zinnia Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 (edited) Electricity/gas equals around $280/month average. Â We heat with gas, as well as hot water and stove. Â Our AC is electric. Â That means higher electric in summer, higher gas in winter. Â We have four really big months (Dec/Jan, then July/Aug), and the rest are less. Â But it averages to $280 over a year. Â Water $80 Cell phones $65 (we use Ting for 2 phones) Internet (cable, but no TV) $70 Â We rent, so taxes are included in that, as well as garbage. Edited July 23, 2016 by Zinnia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RegGuheert Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Central Maryland  $400 electricity and gas (almost half is taxes, but we just turned on our new solar so hoping to see a drop there) $0 garbage $35 water $195 cable/internet $130 phones  Congratulations on getting solar! Do you have a link to your array? If not, how big is it? Here's ours: Guheert 12.75 kW photovoltaic array Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemiSweet Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Â Congratulations on getting solar! Do you have a link to your array? If not, how big is it? Here's ours: Guheert 12.75 kW photovoltaic array We don't have that, but we have 34 panels. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RegGuheert Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 We don't have that, but we have 34 panels.  Each panel today is more powerful than the ones I installed in 2010. Your 34 panels likely equate to about 9.5 kW, which is a very nice array!  Assuming your panels are well-pointed (depends on your roof), I will estimate that your array will produce about 13.5 MWh/year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bambam Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 (edited) Texas Electricity - $100-$350 depending upon season Gas - $20-$40 depending upon season Water $80-350 depending (MUD, so our water is very high for TX, probably slightly over 1 acre has sprinklers) Garbage - $21 Septic tank - maybe $600 every 4-5 years to have it emptied Phone/internet - $100 Cell phones (4) - $50 (2 are Republic Wireless, 2 are Tracfones that aren't used that often) Edited July 23, 2016 by Bambam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 (edited) While looking over monthly budget, I got thinking about utility bills and wondering what they are for everyone else.  I live in upstate New York and pay monthly:  $90 for propane gas (for water heater and backup forced water/furnace heating) $40 towards wood (heat by wood stove so put this aside each month to save up to buy 4 cords of wood in the Fall) $90 electricity $25 town dump (take 2 trash bags there every Saturday) $0 - water as have own well $80 month for terrible and slow internet (have no option as only one carrier provides service in area) $115 - cellphone (no land line)  SO what is everyone else paying/using?  Just curious, Myra   Our electricity (12 month average pay) is $205.  (We live in an area where we use heat and A/C heavily but our heat is liquid propane.) Wood heat - free  The boys cut everything.  We don't heat much by wood as we only have a fireplace but it's nice to keep the heat lower and use the fireplace in the evenings. LP gas is currently right around $1/gallon.  We use approximately 1600 gallons a year so that's about $130-$135/month Garbage pickup (rural) $27/mo   To drop off at the dump is $15/load $0 - water for well, but it will need a new pump soon. $60 for "unlimited" internet that disconnects about 20 times a week. (Usually you just have to reconnect, but I call them to fix it internally or come visit 1-2 times a week.) $240 - cell service $17 -land line $300/year to empty the septic.  We emptied at 18 months last time and it was too long for our size septic/family. Edited July 23, 2016 by BlsdMama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Electric $240 Water/sewer $80 Cell phones $150 Trash pickup $15 Internet $50 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellifera33 Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 We're in the PNW. We pay about $370 every two months for water/electric/garbage. Gas ranges from about $25/mo in the summer to $150/mo in the winter. Phones are $45 per month each for dh and me. Internet averages out to about $50 per month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 We are all-electric. Our trash is now rolled into our utility bill, but it is about $12.50/month. Â Land line + free long distance + dsl internet = $77/month (taxes keep going up on this) A/C, heat, water, sewer & now trash (see above) = $265/month Cell phone (1) = $10/month (Tracfone, non-smart phone, on annual plan) Â I would love to get solar panels, but based on my research, I want to wait another year or two before investing. They are still improving so quickly & the cost keeps going down. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 We just moved to this house three months ago, so some of these are estimates.  Gas -- We only use it for gas logs and haven't had them hooked up yet. Probably about $10/month (which I think is the minimum).  Electricity -- Should average around $200  Trash -- Weekly curbside pick up of trash and recyclables is covered by our taxes  Water -- Should average about $20  Internet and satellite TV -- $160ish  Cell phones -- $240 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in Appalachia Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 For us, it varies depending on the season.  Water is somewhere around $150 a month (water and sewage)  We use around 2 1/2 propane tanks a year, at about $800 to $900 a fill.  Electric, during the summer I think it runs close to $400, last month it went over that.  Cell phones,  a lot. We currently have 4 lines, though my oldest pays us for her line, and my dd18 is going to start paying, but we are also going to be adding 2 more lines.   I think trash is $12 a month.   Internet is $60, but it just bumped up and I can't remember to what.  We have ATT U verse  We have Direct tv, It is also around $90 a month.  When we move we will save a ton on utilities, but property taxes are way higher, so it will come out even.   Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiac Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 (edited) SoCal, single-family home  ESSENTIAL HOUSING UTILITIES Water: $50 ($70 if the damn sprinklers break again) Gas: $10-$70 (summer low, winter heating high) Electric: $50-$100 (increase is usually AC, hottest months are July-Oct) Internet: $60  LIFESTYLE-CHOICE UTILITIES Cell phones: $150 Online TV services: $20  Sewage and garbage pickup are bundled in property taxes. No landline. Edited July 23, 2016 by kubiac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retiredHSmom Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 (edited) I live in Northern VA, just outside Washington DC.  We have natural gas (basement and 1st floor) and electric (2nd floor) heat, electric AC, electric oven, gas water heater, gas stove, gas water heater  We pay  150/month (average for the last 12 months) electricity 66/month (average for the last 12 months) gas 54/month (average for the last 12 months) water and sewer  trash is included in our HOA dues as is snow removal  We have no cable and pay 76/month for very high speed internet We have VOIP for our home phone at 5/month  Our cell phone is crazy ($300) as we have 5 smartphones Edited July 23, 2016 by Tania Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 (edited) Midwest  $50/month gas (furnace only) $155/month electricity $100/month water, sewer, trash (trash/recycle hauls everything) $95/month landline and internet (reimbursed by employer) $115/month - 4 cell phones  no cable - $10 Netflix plus Amazon streaming included in Prime Edited July 23, 2016 by Pippen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 NC Â no cable---pay $27 for streaming video ($12 for Hulu, $10 Netflix, $5 Acorn TV) water/sewer--abt $50 cell phone (3 smartphones) --abt $130 Internet (cable modem)-- abt $49 gas (water heater and furnace) -- $30-$100 electric (a/c and general) --$70 - $180 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 I am in upstate NY so very similar. No cell phone or cable competition so our rates are very high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tita Gidge Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 I live in the Bible Belt.  Electric averages out to about $80/month over the year, depending how mild summer and winter are. Water averages out to $50/month. Our well broke last year and I haven't prioritized fixing it, but should. Trash and recycling are $14/month for twice weekly curb service. Sewer fees average out to $15/month. Gas averages out to about $10/month.  Internet with landline runs us $80/month - very high speed, no problems with multiple streaming devices. Cable TV runs us $90/month.  My cell phone is $55/month for AT&T unlimited everything, on a family plan with my brothers. I wouldn't pay for a smartphone. I only keep one because my ex-husband pays for it per our decree. I know people whose family cell phone bills are their largest monthly expense! My kids don't have cell phones because they don't want the expense of one at this point. And they know I sure as shiznit am not paying for it!  1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 (edited) Electricity: around $180-200 in the summer, around $140 in the winter. Â Gas: $40 in the summer and $90 in the winter (gas oven and water heater, gas heat with a heat pump) Cell: $230 (5 smart phones) No land line No trash fee (we don't have pick up, and our dump is free within our county) Water $40 No sewer Dish: $50ish. Â Internet: $145 (but it is business internet through Comcast and dh's company pays for it) Edited July 23, 2016 by The Girls' Mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 LCOL Midwest  electricity/water/trash all bundled through the city $90-$175 depending upon season gas $50-$150 also depending upon season as the only thing gas is the furnace. Internet $55 Cell phone $37 ( we do not have land lines) Ds pays his phone bill which is the same price 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshin Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Inland Pacific Northwest: $134 electric (all electric house on the "budget billing" plan that allows a flat rate averaged from previous year's usage.) $90-ish for water/sewer/garbage/single stream recycling -- combined billing. $60 for highspeed business-class style internet. We own our modem, which saves us $10. $165 for mobile service (Sprint business class). This includes four lines with unlimited data/text/talk, a tablet with mobile hotspot for my work, and an included netflix/hulu subscription - which is handy since we don't have cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lllll Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 (edited) nm Edited August 7, 2016 by ~ d9n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 I wasn't going to post, because it makes me sick, but you made me think about it, making me sick, so I may as well.  Our house is all electric.  We're on a budgeted bill, but it still varies from quarter to quarter, anywhere from $220/mo to $385/mo. Garbage and recycling is included in our dues. Our dues payment is about $1,000/yr.  I don't know what chunk of that goes to our garbage contract. We have well and septic, so no monthly bills, but maintenance and repair costs. We have 1 choice for internet, and they require a commercial account for our usage ( we stream, no cable.) $100/mo. 5 smart phones, no landline. $280/mo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Silicon Valley (1 bedroom condo) Electric - about $30 per billing cycle Gas - less than $10 for gas stove and gas heater Garbage and water - included in HOA Internet - $50 Cell phone - all prepaid plans, we just top up $25 every 3 months, no landlines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MooCow Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 (edited) House gas $25 in hot months, $200 in cold ones Electric $250 in hot months, $75 cold ones Water/sewer $150 Cell phones (4) unlimited $180 Edited July 24, 2016 by MooCow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Electric averages $125 in summer, $175 in winter Water/sewer $80, includes epa fines Phone $55 TV $35 (sling tv and netflix) Garbage $100 per year; includes recycling and rental fee for the trash can   No gas, cable, or landline.  Someone recently asked about electric fees on a local Facebook page. It is all over the place in my town. It seems newer houses use a lot less electricity even if they aren't LEED certified. There were multiple people with 1000 square foot houses paying $200+ per month for electricity, one person over $400. Our house is more than double that size and we paid less, lots of people said the same thing. It seems newer meters, ac units, and windows (even if cheap ones like ours) made a big difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 I don't usually consider my cell phone part of a utility bill because if I HAD to, I could function with a much more minimal plan. As it stands, we have our DirecTV, cell phone and internet (which is unlimited cell phone data because of where we live) wrapped up into one bill, AND it's for 6 devices (my kids still on my bill each pay their portion). Our total bill for that is $650.00. Â Â Yikes. Â Internet/TV bundle: $125 Cell phone is $160 or so. Â Â We only pay for the cable TV to come into the house though, no boxes. Â In full disclosure, we have Tivos. Â We have one I got off of eBay for about $150 with lifetime service. Â And it snowballed from there. Â A Roamio for $400 with lifetime on a special deal, and then 2 Tivo Minis on 2 other TVs. Â Â So, the initial cost was higher, but we don't pay monthly on those and the older Tivo I got off eBay 5 years ago is a 12 year old Tivo, still working. Â I am hoping we get the same amount of use out of the others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamakelly Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 We are in southern Ca. We pay: Â electricity/gas-$130-$150 per month Water-$125 per month Trash-paid for in taxes Cell phones-$250 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Also upstate NY (but that's huge so...)  $260 ish for gas/electric (part of the killer with this is living in an entire 2 family with separate meters so all those damn fees that get tacked on for each bill we get more than once) trash is part of tax bill (?) water is part of tax bill (? but not metered) $150 for Fios (TV package, VoiP phone, extra super duper fast Internet) next to nothing for prepaid cell phones we hardly use  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiac Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 This thread motivated me to review our cell phone bill and cancel insurance coverage for my three-year old smartphone. Canceling the insurance will save $11/mo or $132/yr. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellydon Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 (edited) Here-- Â Water $100 per month Electricity-- $80 in winter, $350 in summer Gas-- $12 in summer, $80 in winter Internet -- $50 per month Trash $25 a month Edited July 23, 2016 by Shellydon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbecueMom Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 $200/month - electric $185/month - cell phones/crappy satellite dish $110/month - water/sewer/trash $40/month - internet  Electric is budget billing and may be too high. Cell phone bill should drop by $35 in January. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeachyDoodle Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Electric: $200 Gas: $90 Water: $35 Trash: $17 Cell phone: $60 Â No sewer, as we're on septic. We don't pay for cable, internet, or home phone. One of the few perks of working for the cable company. Â Our electric bill is low in the winter and INSANE in the summer. We have gas heat, but the air conditioner here is way too small for the size house (it should have had two units). When we hit the upper 90's, like we have this week, it runs nonstop. DH keeps it cleaned and the filters changed, which helps, but still. We're on the fixed-rate plan, so we pay the average monthly rate. That makes budgeting easier, at least. Looking forward to moving next month -- our new house should be significantly cheaper! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 (edited) While looking over monthly budget, I got thinking about utility bills and wondering what they are for everyone else. Â I live in upstate New York and pay monthly: Â $90 for propane gas (for water heater and backup forced water/furnace heating) $40 towards wood (heat by wood stove so put this aside each month to save up to buy 4 cords of wood in the Fall) $90 electricity $25 town dump (take 2 trash bags there every Saturday) $0 - water as have own well $80 month for terrible and slow internet (have no option as only one carrier provides service in area) $115 - cellphone (no land line) Â SO what is everyone else paying/using? Â Just curious, Myra Electricity: $250-$325Heat: varies. We have a wood-burning furnace with oil back-up. Heat and hot water on wood is practically free, but variables make it impossible to average the cost of oil. Trash and recycling $85/3 months Water is well. Landline phone $40 Cellphones and internet: an embarassing amount I can't type out without vomiting. Our wifi is theough a mobile unit, is limited and horrible, and costs too much. We try to patch it up using other data on other devices. Adding them all = absurd amount Directv: $98 of wasted money Edited July 23, 2016 by Quill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrittanyM Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 California:  Electric: averages about $90 a month  Cell phone: This is on a big plan with a bunch of DH's family. Because we organize and send bills out to them all ours ends up much cheaper for us for unlimited texting and calls with about 10 gb of data for DH and I. I think we end up covering about $30 of the bill  Gas: $30 a month  Water & Sewer: $102 a month  Trash: DH usually just takes dump loads for customers and then throws ours in. If we didn't do this it would be about $12 a month for a load to the local dump  Internet: $50 a month can't get anything cheaper here    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaeFlowers Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 North GA:  Electric: $120-$280. All electric. Water: $25-35 Cable/internet: $130 Trash: $14 Cell: $260 for 3 lines. DH had to switch carriers Ă°Å¸Ëœâ€™ so we have two bills right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Just realized I forgot internet, I have no clue what we pay for it, more than I want to pay for sure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 (edited) Middle Tennessee Electric runs $175-$275 Water is $60-$80 Cable/phone/internet is $150 (first time we've had cable since 2009 but we couldn't get the 300mg download with out the particular package) Cell phone 45 Trash is free  Southern Indiana Electric and Water $250- $350 phone/internet $100 Cell phone $45 Trash was paid by buying a roll of 30 gallon bags, 10 bags for $7.50 We used 2 bags per week.  Edited July 23, 2016 by foxbridgeacademy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 (edited) Northern Illinois here, five bedroom drafty old house.  Gas - $51 year round. Still can't believe this. Sometimes Nicor lowers it to $30 a month. Whatever. Gas furnace, water heater, stove/oven, dryer, yet bill stays low. Electric - $80s winter, up to 250 summer, depends on need for a/c.  Note - ComEd keeps sending us notes on how we are using more electricity than our neighbors. Seriously? Our neighbors are either in much smaller houses and/or single retired men or smaller families, and half the houses are empty during the day and do not have central air like we do.. I have five adults living here and rarely is no one home. Of course we will use more electricity! We are signed up to get a $30 per month discount during summer months since we let ComEd finangle a doohicky so they can turn off the a/c for 15 minutes every hour if they need to to avoid area brown-outs. Water - about $75 - 80 (all those showers!) Cable/phone/internet = $175ish now. Hubby needs to call and get it reduced. Trash is part of property tax bill, which we pay as part of mortgage payment each month, so no idea. Individual cell phones - about 30 - 40 bucks each. Everyone pays their own bill. Edited July 23, 2016 by JFSinIL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 My electric, gas, water and trash average $350 per month. Â Â Cell phones for 4 $180 Â Internet $80 ncludes home phone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 Northern Illinois here, five bedroom drafty old house. Â Gas - $51 year round. Still can't believe this. Sometimes Nicor lowers it to $30 a month. Whatever. Gas furnace, water heater, stove/oven, dryer, yet bill stays low. Electric - $80s winter, up to 250 summer, depends on need for a/c. Note - ComEd keeps sending us notes on how we are using more electricity than our neighbors. Seriously? Our neighbors are either in much smaller houses and/or single retired men or smaller families, and half the houses are empty during the day and do not have central air like we do.. I have five adults living here and rarely is no one home. Of course we will use more electricity! We are signed up to get a $30 per month discount during summer months since we let ComEd finangle a doohicky so they can turn off the a/c for 15 minutes every hour if they need to to avoid area brown-outs. Water - about $75 - 80 (all those showers!) Cable/phone/internet = $175ish now. Hubby needs to call and get it reduced. Trash is part of property tax bill, which we pay as part of mortgage payment each month, so no idea. Individual cell phones - about 30 - 40 bucks each. Everyone pays their own bill. Natural gas prices are at all time lows right now. Â We more than doubled the size of our house yet our electricity in the summer is about half what we were paying when we lived in a 50 year old house with a similarly aged ac unit. We may have actually replaced instead of repaired the thing if we had realized how much money a more efficient unit may have saved us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Um_2_4 Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 SoCal here  Trash -$23/mo, weekly curbside with 3 bins: trash, recycling and greens Water/sewer/city ambulance - $110/mo Electricity - level pay of $102/mo (our first summer doing this, I think that amount will go up, before we paid $30 in winter and average $300 in the summer) Gas (cooking, hot water and heat) - avg $28 month except maybe 2 months we use the heater some, then it is about $45/mo Internet - $65/mo up to 300Mbps (includes basic tv) Cellphones: about $25/mo for 2 tracfones (smart phones, DH usually uses about 1GB of data a month calling friends/family overseas, much cheaper than LD calling used to be :laugh: )  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelaNYC Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 I'm in New York City and we rent. Â Our monthly rates are: Â Electricity: Â $400 (summer), $200 (winter) Gas: Â $16 Cell phones: Â $350 (5-phone family plan, unlimited everything + insurance) Cable/Internet/House Phone: Â $20 (every channel + 300mbps internet - I work for the cable company ;)Â ) We don't pay for water or trash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frugalmamatx Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 Our bills are very low, but I work hard to keep them that way. I'm in the same city as Kinsa used to be :)  Electric / Gas - $75-$150. Higher in winter as we use space heaters. Summer I've actually seen a $60 bill, but normally it is about $75. We don't have a/c - I'm sure when I finally manage to get a windor unit it will go up a bunch in summer. Water/Trash - $30-40. Hoping this goes down as I fixed one of the bigger leaks Internet - $10 I prepay through a program that is set up for low cost / low income Bus Fare - $20 ish a month normally. Depends on how much we end up going. Also lately we've been carpooling some places with the neighbor which helps. Cell Phone - $0. Freedompop phone cost me $25 a year ago, and I get 500 mb data, 300 minutes ad 200 texts free every month. I use WIFI everywhere and skype so I never use it all.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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