slight annoyance with spouse doing the bills...

[CW&M Mom]

Is anyone else going through this....

Hubby has taken over most of the bill paying...well some of the bill paying. And the guy...bless his heart.....seems to be so out of touch with reality.

Currently his delusion is we can get the water bill down a lot.

Wondering what you think.

He actually doesn't live here most of the time. My sister and I are here...we shower daily. that's not going to change...no matter what he thinks. My 8 year old showers when she gets home from school...to help get germies off of her. She normally does not take a long shower. The other 2 kids get bathed once a week if I remember. They are young enough...they actually get a bath.

We do have a ton of laundry. There kids...they are messy . I do not however change towels every day...which to me...would be a normal way to cut back on laundry. I probably do 2 loads a day...if I remember too LOL.

We wash at least one load of dishes a day in the dishwasher. Probably need to do 2...but ...um that just never ends up happening.

We don't run the water to brush our teeth. We don't water the lawn. It was rare that we ever had to water the garden....and now obviously that's not even a possibility....since it's a frozen tundra outside.

I'm not making my toilets worse flowing then they already are . I"m also not buying a new washer until the current ones breaks.

Any other idea's???

This is what our bill looks like this month:

we get it monthly

Water: $47.97
Sewer: $45.97
Sanitation $11.80
Polycarts $6.00
Storm water: $2.50
Tax .51

See to me...maybe since I've been paying these bills for years...this actually sounds like a great bill. Mr. Pissy pants....he thinks it's extremely high

What do you think??

[melodyjg]

Tell him not to complain....I live in Oregon, land of the rain and my water bill is 2x that and in the summer try 4x that! :)

[loaslaen]

Is anyone else going through this....

Hubby has taken over most of the bill paying...well some of the bill paying. And the guy...bless his heart.....seems to be so out of touch with reality.

Currently his delusion is we can get the water bill down a lot.

Wondering what you think.

He actually doesn't live here most of the time. My sister and I are here...we shower daily. that's not going to change...no matter what he thinks. My 8 year old showers when she gets home from school...to help get germies off of her. She normally does not take a long shower. The other 2 kids get bathed once a week if I remember. They are young enough...they actually get a bath.

We do have a ton of laundry. There kids...they are messy . I do not however change towels every day...which to me...would be a normal way to cut back on laundry. I probably do 2 loads a day...if I remember too LOL.

We wash at least one load of dishes a day in the dishwasher. Probably need to do 2...but ...um that just never ends up happening.

We don't run the water to brush our teeth. We don't water the lawn. It was rare that we ever had to water the garden....and now obviously that's not even a possibility....since it's a frozen tundra outside.

I'm not making my toilets worse flowing then they already are . I"m also not buying a new washer until the current ones breaks.

Any other idea's???

This is what our bill looks like this month:

we get it monthly

Water: $47.97
Sewer: $45.97
Sanitation $11.80
Polycarts $6.00
Storm water: $2.50
Tax .51

See to me...maybe since I've been paying these bills for years...this actually sounds like a great bill. Mr. Pissy pants....he thinks it's extremely high

What do you think??

Gotta love a septic tank! Our water bills were high too when we had to pay the city for sewage, etc. Now water is the last bill I worry about, outside of actually paying the bill and not getting a disconnect/reconnect fee (it's $80)

Your monthly bill would cover about 3 months here, so that is high to me. It probably cost us $80 minimum when we lived elsewhere and were paying sewage, etc.

You seemed to name every conceivable way one uses water, so I don't see any other ideas except maybe getting one of those 5 minutes timers for the shower like on "Downsized" . Maybe check for leaks or running toilet. Oh, and handwash the dishes.

[Mama Stu]

. Oh, and handwash the dishes.

Actually, most studies show that dishwashers use less energy and water than washing dishes by hand.

OP, I have no way of knowing if your bill is high or not, we have our own well and pay $25 a month for sewer. But, for 5 of you (6 - when your hubby is there) your bill doesn't seem outrageous to me. Ask him which of you he prefers to quit bathing

[CouponQueen83]

Tell hubby that my water/sewer/etc bill was $37-41/mo in my 1 bedroom apartment. Sometimes even as high as 45!!

That's because they took the entire complex, divided it up between the units - no matter how many people live there. So if my neighbor had 6 people crammed into a 1 br apt, they paid same as me, with just me, myself, and I in there.

[kschick96]

CoriandWes-

As you know I am also in rural KS, just on the other side of the state, and I can tell you your bill is very similar to mine. I think you are spot on for the region (rural KS).

[Lmnde]

High for me in se GA - mine is about $31 and was right at $35 at our old location. It might help if you include your state and city for others near by as estimate. It also sounds like you are a pretty fair sized family there - 2 adults and 3 kids, so yes you probably use more water than a single would.

[cybilx10]

Let him understand that my MIL (just water& sewage, does not include trash) is more than your total bill. Its just how some towns get you on these things. I pay for everything only $45-$50 a month (and the $50 a month is when I have been watering and filling my pool up after the winter). I live 2 towns over from her, but we get our water from a different source than she does. My sister for everything her bill is over $150 a month. She too gets her water from a different source than the 2 of us.

[BringontheWonder]

Our bill includes all the items you listed and is about $54 per month. I'm feeling very grateful about that right now.

[jenrose]

They only read our water meter every other month so one month it is a set amount then the next month it is higher with the water being read. I think our low bill is $6x.xx and then it goes up to like $8x.xx. But this month we got a HUGE bill so I'm thinking great I sure hope we don't have a leak or somthing. DH goes down to look at the meter to see if it is going fast ect and he can't even see the meter because it is too covered in dirt (so is the neighbors) so obviously they didn't even read the meter just just 'guessed'. Grrrrrr!