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Shouldn't expenses be going down?

April 18th, 2011 at 05:46 pm



My husband was promoted and started his new job on 03/21/11. He now travels out of state for 9 days at a time and is home for 4-5 days. Shouldn't my bills and expenses be going down? I'm eating out less...once a week I may go out to eat with a friend or do something, but I'm only paying for 1. I'm gone all day...so it seems like my electricity and water should be down. I even spent just as much as I normally do at the grocery store this weekend! I just feel like I should be able to save all this money and I haven't seen any extra yet. Maybe its because it really hasn't even been a month yet? I'm not sure. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things change.

And I did score an extra $25 this weekend by selling a video game I couldn't play. Maybe I should just throw it in savings?

5 Responses to “Shouldn't expenses be going down?”

  1. LittleMsMom Says:
    1303149463

    You most likely will need to have one billing cycle pass before you see change.

    Are you on a averaged utilies program? If so it will take longer to average the lower costs.

    Do you have a program able thermostat? You might want to check the settings so that they reflect new only you home times, and turn down the heat or increase the temp on the AC to what you can stand.

    Also have you gone around the house and unplugged appliances that only the hubby uses. Phantom useage was a biggy for me and only until I unplugged things like his video game system, coffe maker, second alarm clock, etc did I see an electricity decrease.

    As for water I was being charged the required miniumum usage so the loss of one person did not affect my bill since I was already as low as I could go.

    As for groceries, it will take time for you to mentally shop for only one.

  2. LuckyRobin Says:
    1303158986

    It might just be because the costs of food, gas, and electric have all gone up, so any savings you might have seen is eaten up with new higher costs.

  3. Nika Says:
    1303162033

    There are probably other savings -- like his commuting costs, vacations savings (he is probably getting hotel points and airline miles).

  4. baselle Says:
    1303184013

    Similar answer to Lucky Robin & Nika - promotion might mean increased commuting/entertaining/dry clean costs. If you are driving more - the price of gas is going up, and the price of food is definitely going up. It used to be that you can find plenty of veg for under $1/lb. Now its only for loss leaders.

    Another thought is that you should keep on tracking your spending - it could be that there is some treat or you both celebrated the promotion and the routine next month will smooth things out.

  5. Jerry Says:
    1303503368

    I agree that one billing cycle could lead to some changes noticed in the bills department, but there are also possible costs associated with promotions and travel, so be on the look out for those and what they can lead to in budgeting requirements. Don't worry! Good luck to you...
    Jerry

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