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DogsCantBudget posted:I would do some quick research...some utilities will actually give you a programmable thermostat for free, and potentially even install it! Check with your electric/gas provider... (Source: My apartment had one of those when I moved in, but it turns out that it couldn't keep temperature worth poo poo. Would fluctuate from mid-60s to 80+ when it was set at 72 day/70 night. Apparently the management got a ton of free thermostats from the power company and a lot of them had that problem. Still worth trying, just be ready to put the old one back in if you have to.)
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Feb 7, 2015 07:37
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 Going pretty good with the power and gas savings - our bill estimate actually went down from 2/5 when I posted the other graph. I turned the thermostat down even further to around 56-57ºF. At 61º I was able to walk around in a pair of gym shorts and no shirt or socks or anything, so who knows we may still be comfortable at a lower setting. Still gonna go with the estimate of $50/mo savings, but we'll see if we do even better than that. I did this huge energy usage questionnaire through our power company. A programmable thermostat at our current setting would save us very little; it's probably only worth it if the power company will subsidize one for us as suggested, or the landlord pays for it. Vegas has a kick rear end free thermostat program from our power company: https://www.nvenergy.com/home/saveenergy/rebates/mpowered/mPoweredSouth.cfm It's a smart thermostat that automatically adjusts and stuff. I checked and that doesn't apply up north where we live. I did calculations for our monthly costs, and it looks like it's about $3491 / mo assuming $800 / mo in baby expenses. That seems high to me, but we'll see. That doesn't include discretionary either, as I figure in an emergency situation we wouldn't be buying poo poo for fun. Based on that our 3 month emergency fund needs to be $10,500. We've got $4572 including our month ahead buffer (we're very nearly one month ahead on YNAB again). That doesn't include other savings accounts like our car registration, car repairs, and vet bills. $5828 to go. Shouldn't take that long especially if we continue to cut expenses where we can. I think then we'll be in a position to start paying down the car?
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Feb 8, 2015 21:08
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Shorts at 60 degrees? Maybe you're just one of those human furnace types, but do you have thermometer (separate from the thermostat) that you could set out? I think your thermostat may be incorrectly calibrated or something, ours is set at 65 and we're warm *enough* in sweaters, wooly socks, and with a kitty on your lap.
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Feb 8, 2015 22:44
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Dry climates feel different.
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Feb 8, 2015 22:49
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Knyteguy posted:
Dude You could just stick to your food budget or not go out to dinner as much. Living in a 57F house is kinda nuts.
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Feb 8, 2015 23:49
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It might just be a crappy thermostat and not actually 57*
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Feb 9, 2015 00:23
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I think most people recommend (at least up here in the frozen north) keeping thermostats at a minimum of 55° when you go on vacation so any pipes that aren't adequately protected from freezing don't actually freeze. Keeping a thermostat at 56-57 is not going to work with a newborn.
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Feb 9, 2015 00:47
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Knyteguy having an unsustainable over-correction to save money fast? This is unprecendented!
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Feb 9, 2015 00:51
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The thermostat reads 57 like I said. Our meat thermometer reads the room temperature as 73 though. The heater hasn't come on today. It just stays warm in here and the thermostat is probably not entirely accurate either, plus it's outside the heavily insulated area. Relax guys I can handle the temperature in my house. I'll adjust as necessary.
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Feb 9, 2015 01:04
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So we've established that your thermostat is probably reading somewhere between 10 and15 degrees lower than the actual temperature of the house. And you're looking up rebate programs in Las Vegas for $300 thermostats instead of calling your landlord to have it fixed for free? God drat it KG.
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Feb 9, 2015 06:04
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NV Energy is the power company in Vegas and Reno so he may have just saw it while looking around...
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Feb 9, 2015 06:39
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I keep my house at 55 or 56 in the winter, and might pop it up to 57 or even 58 if it is a lot more humid than usual, and that is shorts and a t-shirt temps for me. My thermostat agrees to within a degree or two of several other thermometers I have compared it against. Some of us just like it cooler. I think the important thing is that as long as Knyte and his wife* are fine with the lower temps they might as well save some money, and it doesn't really matter what the thermostat claims the temperature is; just don't waste money you don't have to on unnecessary heating or cooling if it isn't truly needed. * and son, soon - but I hear that babies have ways of making one aware that they are not comfortable so I imagine he will let them know if he is too hot or cold.
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Feb 9, 2015 08:16
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sheri posted:I think most people recommend (at least up here in the frozen north) keeping thermostats at a minimum of 55° when you go on vacation so any pipes that aren't adequately protected from freezing don't actually freeze. Yeah, the deal is you can't have anything in the crib due to SIDS. No blanket, no pillow, nothing. When that tiny unreasonable human is screaming, you'll be mashing that warm button or co-sleeping in a second.
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Feb 9, 2015 13:44
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I have an old Honeywell TH8000 you can have if you want. http://www.fellerheating.com/documents/Pro8000%20thermostat.pdf
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Feb 9, 2015 16:40
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AbsenceVsThinAir posted:Yeah, the deal is you can't have anything in the crib due to SIDS. No blanket, no pillow, nothing. When that tiny unreasonable human is screaming, you'll be mashing that warm button or co-sleeping in a second. They might be thinking of using a swaddle, which can double as a blanket.
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Feb 9, 2015 17:00
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OneWhoKnows posted:They might be thinking of using a swaddle, which can double as a blanket. Yes we'll be using a swaddle to keep the baby warm in the crib as necessary. Re: the temperature - we're definitely not sitting there uncomfortable in the house with the thermostat down. Not at all. I think we'd be getting into bad with money territory if we were sitting there miserable for such small returns per month unless we absolutely had to. But right now it seems to be working OK. Like Blarfy says anymore than we've got is currently unnecessary. That thermostat I listed that applied to Vegas only was actually emailed to me since that's my power company as well as mentioned, it just wasn't very clear that it was for Vegas only outside of the URL until I wasted a bunch of time with it. I linked it because someone may be able to get some use out of it. Droo: thanks for the offer. That'd be really cool if you would be willing to do that. I think it would be really helpful to have a programmable thermostat for cooling in the summer time at the very least. Plus most winters are way more frigid than this one. However let me check with my landlord first to make sure they'd be OK with the install, and to see if they are willing to pay for one. Do you mind if I PM you after I talk to them (sometime this week)? I didn't expect so much thermostat talk. Most of our savings are from using electronics less, and being crazy about turning off lights we're not using. I just want to see what else we can do. Another recommendation from the power company was to turn down the water heater temperature. It's currently set at 137ºF (I measured the water yesterday), but the website says that 120ºF is generally good enough, and it would save about $4.00/mo estimated. Anyone have experience with this? I don't want a lukewarm shower, but if it's practical then there's a dial on the front of the water heater that makes it super easy to adjust.
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Feb 9, 2015 19:32
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You can turn down the temperature setting on the water heater until you start running out of hot water before you are done in the shower, basically. I usually turn mine down in the summer and back up in the winter, since in the summer the cold water feed is warm enough that you don't need the hot to be as high to still have plenty of hot water available. And yeah you can PM me your address if you want that thermostat. I have two of them sitting in a box since I replaced mine with zwave ones anyway.
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Feb 9, 2015 19:53
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Droo posted:You can turn down the temperature setting on the water heater until you start running out of hot water before you are done in the shower, basically. I usually turn mine down in the summer and back up in the winter, since in the summer the cold water feed is warm enough that you don't need the hot to be as high to still have plenty of hot water available. OK thanks I'd definitely appreciate that. So regarding the water heater, it sounds like I'll just need to test the water heater settings. A potential $50 per year of savings is worth 5 minutes of time and a little bit of testing. I'll probably drain 5 gallons in the process to clean it also, as that's another no cost way to save a little according to the power website. e: clarification Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 20:13 on Feb 9, 2015 |
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Feb 9, 2015 20:10
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Knyteguy posted:I didn't expect so much thermostat talk. Most of our savings are from using electronics less, and being crazy about turning off lights we're not using. I just want to see what else we can do. Another recommendation from the power company was to turn down the water heater temperature. It's currently set at 137ºF (I measured the water yesterday), but the website says that 120ºF is generally good enough, and it would save about $4.00/mo estimated. Anyone have experience with this? I don't want a lukewarm shower, but if it's practical then there's a dial on the front of the water heater that makes it super easy to adjust. You should crank it down to at least 125 anyway in preparation for childproofing the house.
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Feb 9, 2015 20:27
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Ehh, slow down there KG. I know you've said before that you're proud of your home and want to take care of it like a homeowner even though it's a rental, but keep in mind that *it is a rental*. Turning down the water heater is simple and fine, but draining it to clean the tank is getting into that iffy territory of "who is now responsible if it breaks?" The owner? Or the person who had been fussing with it? Likewise, your thermostat seems to be broken as it is registering the temperature as far lower than it actually is in the house. There isn't any need to be calling up the utility company for rebates and asking the landlord's permission to install a new one. They are responsible for the repair, not you. (There's no way they will "repair" it, they will just swap it out with a new unit.) You will receive no recognition dealing with these things yourself, and in some cases you are exposing yourself to financial risk. Your time, money, and metal faculties are better spent preparing for baby.
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Feb 9, 2015 20:37
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Engineer Lenk posted:You should crank it down to at least 125 anyway in preparation for childproofing the house. Oh good call. I'm thankful that most of the child proofing doesn't need to be done for awhile, but water being too hot is one of them that needs to be taken care of immediately. Robo Boogie Bot posted:Ehh, slow down there KG. I know you've said before that you're proud of your home and want to take care of it like a homeowner even though it's a rental, but keep in mind that *it is a rental*. Turning down the water heater is simple and fine, but draining it to clean the tank is getting into that iffy territory of "who is now responsible if it breaks?" The owner? Or the person who had been fussing with it? Also good call. I'm not interested in further financial risk. Like you guys have said the focus needs to be stability. The draining thing was probably unnecessary anyway. I'll do some more testing to ensure the thermostat is really registering incorrectly. I didn't measure the temperature at the thermostat, so it could just be the living room was much warmer than the hallway, which I wouldn't doubt. The LR is by far the warmest place in the house; especially when we have electronics running. e: I'll post a budget report later in the month. Still too early. Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 22:11 on Feb 9, 2015 |
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Feb 9, 2015 20:50
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Rehomed one of the cats to my wife's sister. That'll happen today. Didn't want to, but at least she'll get a ton of attention from our nephews. Far more than we'll be able to with the baby coming.
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Feb 11, 2015 17:14
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Even though that sucks, at least it's with family and you can see the cat when you want to 
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Feb 11, 2015 17:24
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Veskit posted:Even though that sucks, at least it's with family and you can see the cat when you want to Yep that's true. It's going to change our household dynamics quite a bit too, because she never got along very well with our current cats. It'll save us some money, too. She's a cool cat, as friendly as a dog, but it's for the best.
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Feb 11, 2015 17:35
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Knyteguy posted:Yep that's true. It's going to change our household dynamics quite a bit too, because she never got along very well with our current cats. It'll save us some money, too. She's a cool cat, as friendly as a dog, but it's for the best. Good for you man. As someone who also loves their animals I can say that must have been really tough. Great job realizing it was best for everyone however. Hope your wife has a happy healthy baby. Won't blame you if you disappear for a few weeks with the baby due anytime. Keep up the good work.
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Feb 11, 2015 17:43
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Did you ever post your Feb budget?
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Feb 11, 2015 18:12
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Bugamol posted:Good for you man. As someone who also loves their animals I can say that must have been really tough. Great job realizing it was best for everyone however. Hope your wife has a happy healthy baby. Won't blame you if you disappear for a few weeks with the baby due anytime. Keep up the good work. Thanks. n8r posted:Did you ever post your Feb budget? Yes: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3586966&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=69#post440866134  And that's our month-to-date. I emptied out our emergency fund so we could budget ahead for March since it's the same thing with different labels anyway. We just need a little more money to cover March's emergency fund, which we have budgeted at $700. I also cut down the baby expenses (which went into savings). I don't foresee half a short month taking $710 when our insurance will cover medical costs and we don't really need anything (we already have diapers). March is readjusted up again. We have a ton of premade frozen meals in the freezer. Lbs of food. We also have plenty of ingredients still (lbs of chicken and frozen veggies), so we should be good on groceries the rest of the month. We also have some frozen pizzas and such to help otherwise. edit: oh and my wife spoke to the rental company about the thermostat. They're speaking to the owners and they'll get back to us soon. Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 19:00 on Feb 11, 2015 |
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Feb 11, 2015 18:36
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I just want to double check, did your wife find out if she will be responsible for making the payment to her health insurance (that normally would come out of her paycheck) while she is on disability?
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Feb 11, 2015 18:59
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RheaConfused posted:I just want to double check, did your wife find out if she will be responsible for making the payment to her health insurance (that normally would come out of her paycheck) while she is on disability? I don't know if she has asked them that yet; that may have slipped by us. One of us will be able to answer this sometime today.
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Feb 11, 2015 19:35
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Can you explain what in the world is going on between your buffer and your rainy day funds? I'm not following.
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Feb 11, 2015 19:39
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n8r posted:Can you explain what in the world is going on between your buffer and your rainy day funds? I'm not following. http://www.youneedabudget.com/support/article/rule-four-live-on-last-months-income posted:In order to live on last month’s income, you first save up enough money to cover a month’s worth of expenses. When you save this money and put it to work, we call that a Buffer. The buffer allows you to put some space between when you receive your income and when you actually need to put it to work. This breaks the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle, provides you more time to plan when the unexpected happens, and also allows you to budget for the whole month at once. I just pulled the emergency fund money to get us a month ahead. So we now have 94% of March's budget money ready. All of March's income (well all but roughly $300) can now be used for April, ad infinitum. Since the emergency fund is used to cover monthly expenses they're basically the same thing. You can think of all of March's budgeted money as being in the emergency fund if you want.
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Feb 11, 2015 19:44
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You're supposed to go and allocate those funds into the March categories not into a "buffer fund"
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Feb 11, 2015 19:48
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Veskit posted:You're supposed to go and allocate those funds into the March categories not into a "buffer fund" That's what I did. That's Feb and March showing there. March is already budgeted for.
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Feb 11, 2015 19:52
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Knyteguy posted:I don't know if she has asked them that yet; that may have slipped by us. One of us will be able to answer this sometime today. OK. I'm not trying to be rude here, but I have asked this specific question at least twice, if not three times. Please make sure you do it, you don't want to miss a payment and suddenly not be covered, especially with newborn pedi appointments and such going on.
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Feb 11, 2015 20:11
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Congrats on getting a month ahead! I think in a few months you'll realize how less stressful it is. Set your bills to auto-pay the first week of the month. Even rent, most banks will allow you to set up automatic checks online. You don't have to worry that the money's not there, because it is! Now you can budget bills down to the penny before doing anything else, and you know exactly how much money you have for other categories. No more waiting for the next paycheck and hoping it's enough to cover. Huzzah!
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Feb 11, 2015 20:58
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Old Fart posted:Congrats on getting a month ahead! I think in a few months you'll realize how less stressful it is. How can one be "a month ahead" while still having any debt? Isn't the point of "your debt is an emergency" that one can't get a month ahead without having 0 debt?
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Feb 11, 2015 22:11
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RheaConfused posted:OK. I'm not trying to be rude here, but I have asked this specific question at least twice, if not three times. Please make sure you do it, you don't want to miss a payment and suddenly not be covered, especially with newborn pedi appointments and such going on. Visual of little tiny baby getting their toes done up all pretty. Awe.
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Feb 11, 2015 22:21
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RheaConfused posted:I just want to double check, did your wife find out if she will be responsible for making the payment to her health insurance (that normally would come out of her paycheck) while she is on disability? Okay, I just got out the phone with the benefits department at my work and they told me they will pull the insurance money from my IRT check. There will be no lapse in our coverage
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Feb 11, 2015 23:07
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Knyteguy posted:That's what I did. That's Feb and March showing there. March is already budgeted for. Then I am just as confused as the other guy.
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Feb 11, 2015 23:18
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Janus Owl posted:Okay, I just got out the phone with the benefits department at my work and they told me they will pull the insurance money from my IRT check. There will be no lapse in our coverage Phew. That's cool of them, a lot of places don't do that. Sorry, it just happened to me (scrambled at the last second while out on disability to get the payment to them) and I don't want it to happen to you.
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Feb 11, 2015 23:26
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