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Utilities and phone bills

Started by CLL, March 02, 2010, 11:36:26 PM

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CLL

I got my KCP&L(Kansas City Power & Light) bill and ATT bill today and about had an heart attack. Seems KCP&L has scammed their way to a 13% increase on my bill and ATT raised my bill from $45 a month to $64 without ever mentioning they was going to raise the bill, of that almost $15 of it is some kind of taxes. Have any of the rest of you had this kind of  sticker shock?
Too much work-not enough pay.

Kcwoodbutcher

KCP&L has raised their rates twice in the last year and a half. I go to great lengths to conserve electricity and my kilowatt usage has gone down quite a bit but my bill keeps going up. What bugs me is the rate structure that actually rewards you for using more electricity rather than conserving it. All in all KCP&L has one of the lower rates in the country and are rated very high in efficiency among public utilities. Don't even get me started on ATT, that is the most absurd bill I have ever seen. I don,t know what I'm paying for most of the time.
My job is to do everything nobody else felt like doing today

SwampDonkey

We've had three turn overs of our phone company in the last 12 years and everything has doubled and all I have is the line charge and dial-up on the bill. $62 for that.  >:( I'm charged more for a phone line than a power meter. :X
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Mr Mom

CEI just got rid of the all elertic house discount program and some peoples bill went from $250 a month to like $500 -$700 the next.

Thanks Alot Mr Mom

Cedarman

Time for a windmill and a woodstove.
I am in the pink when sawing cedar.

easymoney

i already have a wood stove. you have to watch at&t. i called a few weeks ago wanting to add caller id to my phone. the girl i talked to tried to sell me all kinds of calling plans. i kept trying to tell her the only change i wanted to make was caller id. the next bill i got they had switched me to a much higher  plan than i wanted. i called and supposedly got it corrected. if it get another bill like the last i may have my landline cut off and just use my cellphone for all my calling. i understand a lot of people are already doing that.

Patty

We did that eight years ago. (cut the land line to our home) Our cell phones do a fine job. However our local phone/internet provider now have their rates higher for internet use only. It is now cheaper to have a phone and internet, than just internet to our home. We signed up for that, but just never bought the landline phone to hook up to it. I do not even know the phone number for our land line.
Women are Angels.
And when someone breaks our wings....
We simply continue to fly ........
on a broomstick.....
We are flexible like that.

Carries-Mom

We got tired of paying for nothing but taxes on our phone bill. So we went with metro pcs for a long time. It was cheaper going with a cell phone and still do. Don't think we will ever go back to a land line. Electric went up here again, which is crap, for lack of a better and appropriate word. We have a dryer, stove, and tankless hot water heater that runs on propane so that helps the electric bill a lot. It's gettin' ridiculous. smiley_furious3

Raider Bill

Carrie,

Get ready for some more increases, Progress Energy who we both have got a 25% increase starting last year and has applied for a 32% increase for next year. They say it's to start saving money for a new power plant years from now.
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Fla._Deadheader


NOW, we will see if Carrie's Mom, paid attention.

  Our last home, when we livid in Arkansas, was powered by what WE made. Cut the ties to APL 4 years earlier. Had a Wind Gen, gasoline Gen, and conserved by heating water with wood, and such. Our business of making and selling Musical Instruments was ALL powered by Battery or the 1 cylinder Peckerwood engine. Ran the Planer and table saw and ran the generator whenever we cut or planed a board.  Kinda like a Line Shaft setup. Ran a Throttle and Governor engine to charge batteries, using a small hose directly into the updraft Carb, straight out of a 100# Propane tank. Gas was cheap back then. Used it for the Servel Refrigerator, also.

NOW the family is going to see what I tried to teach them 30 years ago.  ::) ::) ::)
All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

red oaks lumber

this is only the begining ,wait till they pass the cap and trade bill
the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

Samuel

The phone bill here in Alberta with the features (call waiting, caller id, voice mail, etc), unlimited North American long distance 24x7, and extreme speed ADSL (internet) runs me just short of $90/month.

Power here in my 1800 ft2 house is around $160 during these cold periods and natural gas around $200 or so.
____________________________________
Samuel B. ELKINS, RPFT (AB)
Senior Consultant (Owner)
Strategic HSE Systems Inc.
Web: HugeDomains.com - StrategicHseSystems.com is for sale (Strategic Hse Systems)
LinkedIn http://ca.linkedin.com/in/samuelelkins
Software Solutions-
DATS | Digital Action Tracking System by ASM

ErikC

  We are off the grid completely, thank God, but I know the electric bills around here have gone up significantly. I'm not exactly sure how much though. I hear a lot of grumbling about that in Redding also, and it's a totally different EUC.
As far as the phone bill, we have cellphones and Skype, from the wireless internet. Those things alone are well over $100 ($110-$120) a month. If we had to we could go to Skype only, it's like $3 a month, plus the $35 for internet. But it's not very portable :-\. If a person was on a real tight budget, I think you would get the most for your money that way. It won't work on dial-up though from what I understand.
Peterson 8" with 33' tracks, JCB 1550 4x4 loader backhoe, several stihl chainsaws

SwampDonkey

My power bill is not so bad, I haven't had a bill over $100 in a year. Propane and natural gas prices here in the Maritimes would put you into receivership, that's why most of us with sense enough never got hooked to that albatros. Some in southern New Brunswick got sucked in and are paying big time. We are sitting on some of the largest shale reserves in the country, but we won't get it cheep only those outside the region. They are working on infrastructure to get it out as fast as they can.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Samuel

And they likely won't be developing those shale gas reserves any time soon as the technology around fracing has improved so much, that they are going back to a lot of old wells that were getting to the end of their cycle, and now are getting a few more years out of them.
____________________________________
Samuel B. ELKINS, RPFT (AB)
Senior Consultant (Owner)
Strategic HSE Systems Inc.
Web: HugeDomains.com - StrategicHseSystems.com is for sale (Strategic Hse Systems)
LinkedIn http://ca.linkedin.com/in/samuelelkins
Software Solutions-
DATS | Digital Action Tracking System by ASM

Cedarman

Got the word today.  Electric for the mill will go up about 8%.  That's another $110 per month.  But then again we sure do a lot with whizzing electrons. :D :D
I am in the pink when sawing cedar.

Coon

Saskatchewan hasof the cheapest utilities is Canada with our crown corporations.....  As much as I like to deal with beaurocrats I really don't have a choice unless I go offgrid.  My bills to date have not been terribly high but I still pay about $65/month for natural gas (equalized payment plan), $85/month for power (equalized payment plan), $85/month for phone and internet...   The best deal we get is on our water and sewer which we pay a flat rate of $52/ every two months.

Brad.
Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

D Hagens

 I understand that there's Skype and Magic Jack that make things a lot cheaper by running it through the computer but I was wondering if any of you guys use video chat instead of using the phone.
I tend to use it a lot as it's kind of nice to see the person that I'm talking to.
  I have MS and one of the specialists that I see is hours away and we have appointments over the net via video chat; it sure saves a ton of time, gas and stress as I really hate driving in the city.

ErikC

 I have never used the video chat. Our internet speed is at the low end of what works, the calls glitch now and then, so I doubt we could do the video.
Peterson 8" with 33' tracks, JCB 1550 4x4 loader backhoe, several stihl chainsaws

D Hagens

Quote from: ErikC on March 04, 2010, 08:28:31 PM
I have never used the video chat. Our internet speed is at the low end of what works, the calls glitch now and then, so I doubt we could do the video.

Yeah I never thought about that with dial up, even with high speed I've seen glitches. The only time I ever have problems is when my server acts goofy.
You can turn off the video part with most chat providers. It really comes in handy if someone is trying to explain something to you, all they have to do is put it in front of the cam.

edwardj_

I had a good thing going for a few years renting a room off a guy i worked with. was all in for $400 a month.  I bought a pair of mobile home last spring and am living in one and finally renting out the other.  My utility bills are not too bad by the sounds of what you guys are saying.  I am in northern Alberta and in the coldest month I was paying $200ish a month for the pair for natural gas.  That wasnt including distribution charges as it runs through another place on the same line.  I am guessing if the two were on seperate lines it would be another $50 for each.  My power bills are around $150 a piece.  Since I am out in the country I would be forced to go dial-up for inet and cant do that after having high speed so i bought one of them new fangled mobile sticks and I am sorely dissapointed.  It isnt much faster than dial-up...  apparently had i waited 3 months I could have got the newer version for the same money but it is faster than the "high speed" inet we have at work.  Only issue I have with the bill for the stick is the fact i like to download videos...  if I were to try and do that on the stick I would be paying through the teeth to do so.  to download the equivalent of a dvd would cost me upwards of $75...  what happened to the old unlimited internet for $50???   I also dont use a phone much so have a cell phone as my only phone.  Costs me around $75 a month if i decide to call my parents every week... 

The times are changing...  I am only 26 years old and I can remember gas for 50 cents a litre...  right now at the pumps its 97.9 cents...  I have paid up to $1.29 a liter for gas...   whill it ever end?  I have been trying to think of ways to go close to off grid and be self employed...  I think I would have to take up hunting, have one heck of a good greenhouse, a very good supply of firewood and maybe a small crop of the wacky to sell on top of trying to find something i can work at to make a living...  not sure that will ever happen...  but heres to hoping...   
smiley_beertoast   cheers

ohsoloco

I got sick of my 30-some-dollar phone (land line) bills, when I used my cell phone a lot of the time.  The only reason I didn't get rid of it was due to the fact that I'll get calls once in a while from customers I haven't heard from in years, and they wouldn't have my cell phone number.  I did get rid of my long distance because they were charging me a couple dollars a month even if I didn't make any calls  >:(  Dropped the caller ID, and went to a bare bones plan...it runs around $17 a month. 

I WISH I knew what my electric bill was  ::)  Allegheny Power has been estimating my bill since November.  Usually it's just every other month...I assume this is to cut costs sending someone out to read the meter.  Guess I'll have to send my reading in to see how much I'm actually using  :-\

SwampDonkey

Read the meter every 30 days for a few months, like say the 1st of every month and multiply by the rate. I read mine sometimes just to check against the meter guy. I read it the same day. ;) They did that estimating thing here and what they did was estimated everyone way higher than the historical record. That stopped.  :-X >:( We have a graph on our bill that shows all the previous readings for a year, besides keeping a copy of old bills to check against. It was darn funny that I was always paying around $100-110 for January and it went to $190 bucks on estimate.  >:(
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

stonebroke

Our power company went to remote reading meters, All they have to do is drive down the road and it records automatically. much more productive

Stonebroke

SwampDonkey

We have them to, but it still requires someone to run around to read them. Only, they can sit in the seat in an environmentally controlled cab.  :D They still drive into my driveway for instance because the meter don't face the road. But, if you want to check it yourself you can go outside and just read it. ;)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

olyman

Quote from: easymoney on March 03, 2010, 09:41:37 AM
i already have a wood stove. you have to watch at&t. i called a few weeks ago wanting to add caller id to my phone. the girl i talked to tried to sell me all kinds of calling plans. i kept trying to tell her the only change i wanted to make was caller id. the next bill i got they had switched me to a much higher  plan than i wanted. i called and supposedly got it corrected. if it get another bill like the last i may have my landline cut off and just use my cellphone for all my calling. i understand a lot of people are already doing that.
if your with us cellular, you can get another cell phone, and put your landline number on it..thats what i did,as the private phone co here, was charging me 90 a month for nothing. so for 15 a month additional, i now have another phone. and i no longer have to deal with the ripoff landline phone co. and its tied in with the other two phones on my plan--which i now pay us 92 a month. a no brainer.

Ron Wenrich

They're starting to do more of those estimates than they did in the past.  Our electric bill went up quite a bit in Nov and Dec.  Apparently they didn't read it but guessed at it.  One was a scheduled read and the other was an estimate.  They read the meter the other week and said it was the lowest they've seen in some time - $38.  So, it all evens out.

The local electric has the readers using their own cars instead of company trucks.  I also think they may be on some sort of quota system.  My lane is 1/2 mile long, so it takes a while for them to read just the one meter.  I probably get a little less service.

I'm still on a business plan for my phone.  I have everything bundled together for a flat rate of about $95 with the taxes.  Includes local, long distance and broadband.  I have a cell that I buy the minutes for and use on rare occasions.  They want me to go to another plan but want a 3 year commitment.  My rate was to "never go up".  I heard that one before and decided against it.  I could do without my phone altogether, but need the internet.  I don't have cable, so I can't use that as an alternative.
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

SwampDonkey

It evens out, but what it does and makes customers lenders without interest in investment. If you were 30 days past due, what's the interest on your account?  :D :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

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