I
dont write about shit like this so that people who hate me can use it
to make fun of me. I already know what you think. I write it so
that others who are in distress may, occassionally, read about my
experience and get some useful information from it. Who knows what
the odds are of this. I think that they are small, but w.t.f. why
not try a little idealism now and then?
I
have been able to get my gas and power bill down from roughly $150 /
month to less than $50/month. I am told that these are very good
figures, but its all still baffling to me. Someone who is not
working can afford none of this and yet they have to live even if the
rich fly their widebody jets around. Supposedly there is a utilities
program under the name of 211 that I have yet to try.
But
for those of you who are interested in lowering your power bill and /
or have no income, here are some notes on what is necessary to get
the numbers down by 2/3rds.
1.
Enroll in your power company's “CARE” program. This gets you
somewhere between a 20 to 30 percent discount on your bill. You need
to watch this one, as it tends to reset to off.
2.
Unplug your washer and dryer and use the laundromat. Yes that will
cost you between $10 to $20 per visit (including detergent), but at
least it wont be a surprise at the end of the month.
3.
Turn off your heat and air conditioning. I live in Southern
California. The heat is oppressive and it gets cold at night. But
the pipes wont freeze and its time to realize that you are worthless
garbage because you are poor, and you can wear a fucking sweater to
keep warm.
4.
Replace all the curly lights with LEDs, available at Walmart for
roughly $3.00 per light.
5.
Unplug all unknown electronics devices, period. Trace all power
lines and if you do not need it, dont use it. Remember, if it is
plugged in it is probably using power whether there is a light
glowing or not.
6.
Turn all computers onto maximum power savings. Wait for the fucking
disk to spin up.
7.
Only run your workstation when you need it, and then turn it off.
Never run it overnight.
8.
Turn down the temperature on your water heater, assuming you still
have gas.
9.
Dont use the electric oven and rarely use the electric stove. Use
your outdoors propane stove where you can. It may or may not save
money in the long run, but in the short run it will save on your
electricity bill and let you keep the lights on.
Remember
what we are trying to achieve here. We are trying to keep lights on
and the ability to charge our smartphones and run some of our
computers. Everything else is and should be optional.
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