Paying bills ahead.

There is just something EXTREMELY satisfying about opening a utility bill, checking to see how much you owe, and reading DO NOT PAY. Am I right?

I do love summer, but one of the not so good things about it for me, is the high utility bills. I have paid as high as $300 for my electric bill (but I do LOVE my air conditioning. In fact, when we were living in California, my dad told me how much he loved to come to my house because it was like a refrigerator. Sadly, I don't have that same cooling capacity in this house, but I do try - thus the high summer bill. And maybe for some people, that doesn't even seem like a high bill ... but this is relative here, and compared to the fall/winter bills, it is!)

My water bill also goes up about a bazillion percent in the summer. Fall/winter bills - maybe $35.00. Summer bills, as high as $285.00. I do have a pretty big back yard, live on a mountain, and really need a green lawn, but when you live on a "fixed income" ... whoa, that makes me sound a little like a senior citizen, doesn't it? But you know what I mean ... that puts a damper on things.

Anyway. This year, I decided to pay a little bit more than was due on my water and electric bills during Spring. That way, the sting wouldn't be quite as bad. Now, the bill above only says I am "ahead" $8.66, that was the second time this summer I didn't owe anything and the one before this one said, -$33.46. So ...

Pretty SWEET!!!!