October “Reduce a Bill” Challenge Review
November 1, 2007 – 12:27 amWelcome to Working For Financial Freedom. If this is your first visit please read about this blog. You can keep updated by subscribing by email or to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
The first “Reduce a Bill” Challenge has come to an end.
I started out the month hoping to line-dry at least 4 loads of laundry a week. It was a bit time consuming since I had to hang up most everything on hangars (I have plenty of room in my laundry room, but no drying racks. So in order to make this a true challenge and not spend any money I didn’t buy a wooden drying rack). The extra time spent hanging up the clothes while also trying to keep my youngest out of harms way was enough to slow me down a bit.
I line-dryed clothes, which is a first for me. Second, I KNOW I saved money, but I can’t figure out just exactly how much.My average electric bill for the month of October during the last 2 years was $135.65 and 1,358 KWH used. This past October was much warmer than usual and we kept the A/C on as most days reached the 80’s and 90’s. According to the Energy Analyzer provided by my gas company temperatures during October were more than 15 degrees warmer than last year. This really had a dramatic effect on my electric bill, which came to $199.20 (1,937 KWH). I received the bill on October 23rd. Now I realize that the challenge wasn’t over then but my electric bill cycles don’t run exactly from the 1st-31st.
I’m disappointed it wasn’t lower, BUT I know it would have been higher had I not line-dryed my laundry. I didn’t save hundreds of dollars, but I did save some. And, it’s the little things that count. So I won’t call my participation in the challenge a total flop, although I don’t think I will be line drying my clothes for the November “Reduce a Bill” challenge.
The following bloggers joined me this past month. I want to send out a big CONGRATS to all of them for being brave enough (or just crazy enough?) to take the plunge and join me this month on my challenge. I think we all learned something, and hopefully saved a bit this month, whether it was $1 or $100.
Lynnae @ Being Frugal - Reduce her grocery bill
Mary - “No spend days” *Saved $100 in October
Heather - “No spend days”
Fiveberries- Reduce her dining out bill
I have decided to continue the “Reduce a Bill” challenge in November and I hope that others will join me again!
5 Responses to “October “Reduce a Bill” Challenge Review”
Congrats on your savings! As you mentioned “its the little things that count”
I still don’t know exactly how many no spend days I had but I do know that I exceeded my 10 lol.
I will be doing the no spend day challenge again for the month of November. I need to get better however with keeping track of them. Guess I had better include them in my entries when posting on my blog
By Heather on Nov 1, 2007
I would love to join the challenge. Being November and the month where I do most of my Christmas shopping anything I can save will be a challenge, LOL. But, my electricity bill this month was the lowest it has ever been…even in the summer (110!). So my plan is to keep it that low even as the nights get colder and I’m tempted to turn the heat on for convenience. I have a woodstove so I just need to not be lazy and keep hauling that wood. I also turned things off when not in use (like the coffee pot, printer, etc.) and kept lights off. My electricity bill can get up to $350 in the coldest months but I’m challenging myself to keep it low.
By Julia on Nov 1, 2007
Great job! I still have to total my grocery bill. I think it went up, since I started stockpiling. I think I’ll continue reducing my grocery bill, and see if it goes down, now that I have a decent stockpile going.
By Lynnae @ Being Frugal on Nov 1, 2007
Well, I just ran the numbers, and I came in about $20 lower than last month, which isn’t huge, but considering that during September, I challenged my family to spend the minimum amount of money we could live on, I think we did pretty well. And, it’s $20 that I have rather than some restaurant!
Thanks for doing this, and I’m up for it again, if you are!
By fiveberries on Nov 1, 2007
How about occasionally doing a load where everything is something that you hang on hangers anyway? Then it won’t take any extra chore time to hang dry that load, because when it’s dry you can quickly scoop everything up and hang it in the closet.
By Debbie M on Feb 4, 2008