How Rolling the Dice with My Heating Bill Saved Me Money

As a homeowner, one of my biggest budgeting concerns every month is utility bills. And, since I live in Wisconsin, this is especially true of our heating bill.

My furnace runs on natural gas and, for the past several years, I have participated in our electric/gas company's budget program. I originally signed up for that program when I was renting a townhouse and was devastated by a $400 heating bill. After struggling to pay it, the budget plan (which allows you to pay a fixed amount each month for one year) seemed like a good idea and I stuck with it even after moving into our current home.

This year, however, I decided to roll the dice and skip the budget plan. And, so far, it is proving to be a wise financial decision.

I made the decision not to enroll in the budget plan back in October, when I saw my monthly installment would be $170. This was an increase of $20 per month over last year and, when I did the math ($2040 over the course of 12-months); I couldn't help but feel like I was making a mistake. So, instead, I decided to gamble a bit by cancelling my enrollment rather than renewing it.

When I did this, it was with the intention of re-enrolling if my bills got out of hand. But, so far, that has not been necessary. As I mentioned before, the budget plan would have required me to spend $170 per month for 12 months. So far, I have had only one bill that was in excess of $170 (that one was $174). As a result I have saved about $100 since October and, once I no longer need to use my furnace, I'll save considerably more over the remainder of the year.

One thing I should mention is this wasn't just luck. Yes, we had a somewhat mild winter and that did help. But, because I no longer had the safety net the budget plan gave me, I also have been much more diligent about making sure we aren't wasting heat too. This includes turning the thermostat down at night or when we aren't at home and making more of an effort to find and eliminate any places that are leaking heat.

However, because I did take that chance in October and did make the extra effort, I can now figure out how I want to spend the money I've saved. And, as a result of that, you can be sure I'll be skipping the budget plan next year too.