Home heating bill shocker. How high are your bills?

[prolesunited]

I thought I was prepared for the sticker shock, but apparently not according to my reaction when I opened the bill.

This past month for gas and electric: $282 :shocked:

I live in a very modest brick, 2-story house with only 1,200 square feet IIRC. We have good insulation, newer double-pane windows, steel doors, and a programmable thermostat. I've been freezing all winter and at the highest setting before bedtime, I go up to 68 degrees. During the day, I've been letting it go down to 58 or 59, and at night, it goes down to about 55, and I have flannel sheets and three blankets on my bed. I don't know what more I can do.

I've been practically torturing us, and still the bill is this high. If I were a Chicago landlord, the tenants could have filed complaints against me for not meeting minimal heating standards. And, my bill is still this high.

To compound matters, I'm on the budget plan. I'm paying $150 a month now, but they are readjusting it to $279 per month, starting next month. (I already had been putting in an extra $50 to keep from getting too far behind.) Excluding my escrow account, that's just shy of my monthly mortgage payment.

And, of course, we make too much to qualify for assistance, but hardly enough to pay these kinds of bills. I don't know how people are going to do it. No wonder there has been such an increase in those using food banks.


So, now that the bills are coming in, how are you doing? Any other strategies to try? And, unfortunately, I think I will be turning the thermostat even lower. :-(