Dang!! I’ll be on the lookout for that at mine.
Thats what Ive done for years. I also use the old heads cleaning things and useth heads a long tome…
I like that! For supplies, I decided that we needed what is currently in use and 1 back. Most of the time that works. For me, the problems are the items we use all the time: food, TP, etc. where only keeping the immediate backstock seems inadequate.
1 Like
Very delicious. And now there are 3 meals worth of sauce in the freezer (I used one of the cans of tomato) for future us.
8 Likes
Ive been researching lowering energy costs. This was interesting. Id only want to do it on a 2nd floor but Im paranoid…
2 Likes
I’m kind of frustrated re getting our water usage down. More accurately, our sewer usage. That’s the part of the bill that really went up a lot - what goes down the drain rather than what comes out of the faucet. I am trying to “if it’s yellow let it mellow” but honestly I am so grossed out by that.
gross
Sometimes Boyfriend has to flush 3 times to get all the 
to go down so I feel like I have to make up for that with less flushing because, well, what are you gonna do, let it sit there?
As far as actual water usage, I have been saving the water that runs while the shower’s heating up, for the garden. I have a whole canner full now because I haven’t needed to water for a few days, as it’s rained. It’s been raining a little every day here. I am sure that the water usage part of our bill went way up due to not getting rain for 2 weeks and it being in the upper 90s daily, I was watering 2x a day to try and keep the vegetable garden going. And I’ve asked Boyfriend to take shorter showers. Mine are pretty short on days that I don’t wash my hair or shave. I guess I could shave in the sink though, or turn the water off during the actual act of shaving.
A large portion of the bill is fees that I can’t do anything about, but the usage went up too so I am hoping that I can make some improvements there. They only seem to take a reading every other month and the other bills are estimated so now I worry that the next one’s going to be high too because it’ll be estimated.
1 Like
Unless they changed it. SWB calculates sewer as a percentage of water usage.
Eta… my bills have been from 26-36 days, half the time it is estimated,. Plus we are only in year 4 or so of ten years of planned SWB rate increases.
2 Likes
Re the fees… they may have an exemption or way to lower the cost? Im not sure we have a well and havent paid for water or sewage for years. It wouldnt hurt to ask.
We have to replace the well pump when it fails about every 10 years or so, maintain or replace the bladder, done that once, and pump the septic, which we do way more often than is needed. The well pumps are $200+, the septic pumping about $250, and the bladder was lmost a thou but thats only been done once in 30 years… I wonder how much we do spend on water? Thanks for the comment, Ill have tofigure that out…
Everywhere I’ve lived sewer was based on your water usage, not really on how much went down the drain.
3 Likes
Ah, so it’s not excessive flushing of toilet then. That makes sense, I wasn’t sure and they don’t make that easy to understand.
I am betting that trying to keep the plants alive when it was so dry is what did it.
I have never had to pay directly for water before, even when we owned a condo it was bundled into our HOA fees and I think averaged among all residents so I honestly don’t even know what our usage or actual bill was. So I have no frame of reference, other than things I read on Reddit or Nextdoor about people getting spanked with a huge bill.
5 Likes
Yeah, my sewer bill is based upon my water usage. When I compare month to month, the total gallons used is exactly the same on both.
1 Like
I think mine was different? I need to look again.
2 Likes
My sewer rate is based on water consumption from January-March because they figure that all water is going down the drain in those months (no irrigation or outside watering in the winter in CO). So from January-March we try to use as little water as possible. I think we pay $7-8/1000gal for sewer and $4.6/1000gal for the first 8000 gal then it goes up from there. Plus fees not related to usage.
For our household of 2 in the winter we use 1500-3000 gal of water per month. In the summer with outdoor watering we use 8,000-12,000 gallons depending on weather.
I know focusing on lowering costs is a big priority for you, but I would look at your objective usage, determine how much you think it will change, set a goal, and move on. The “REDUCE WATER AS MUCH AS I CAN FOREVER” mindset seems to be making you very stressed over something that might only be a $10-20/month opportunity.
ETA- I have never tracked how many times Mr. Ninja flushes the toilet. I think that is crossing the line on tracking water usage TBH. Sure if he left the water running for a long time pre shower or while brushing his teeth I would say something. It seems a bit shameful to count his flushes and judge him for it. Each flush is going to be 1-5 gallons of water. I guarantee this is not where your high water bill is coming from.
11 Likes
This just blew my mind! It makes sense, and I bet that’s how mine works too (we’re in a weird small water district so I’m sure not the same as yours).
2 Likes
I just googled your water service and found that sewer charges are 85% of your water usage. So if you’re watering plants 2x/day that is going to impact your sewer bill too.
7 Likes
Oh, I am not judging him for his flushes, just, I thought that was what the sewer line item is for and also my workspace is right next to the bathroom so I hear everything. It made me wonder if that was the cause, but, it seems not.
Again, I have never had to try to conserve water to get the bill down so this is completely new territory for me! I mean, I don’t think I use excessive amounts of water other than in the garden, but it is not something I had to think about. Until 2 months ago I had never received a water bill in my life.
Like, I don’t even know what a reasonable bill is? I think $132 is obscene for 2 people but maybe not? My neighbor in the other half of the house said her bill is usually around $80 and she has way more plants than I do and waters about as often as I do
4 Likes
132 seems really reasonable for 2 people who are home all the time. mine is always between 100 and 120 and i let nature water the plants other than shower warm up water.
1 Like
We’re just north of you and our water use is about the same. Our summer use has gone up this year to like 15k gallons/mo because we’ve been watering our trees a lot, and we have two extra adults living with us right now taking showers and doing laundry, etc., for a total of 4 adults and 2 kids (who aren’t bathed often enough, but do love a good slip ‘n’ slide).
@TrisPrior see what your usage is in gallons, and don’t pay as much attention to the cost. Facility fees and sewer/waste water charges will be different depending on the city, so you can’t really compare costs across the country. I don’t even pay sewer/waste water, because we have a septic system, but we do pay like $500 every year or two to get that pumped out.
6 Likes
Each person in the house costs $50 water, and plants cost $30 water. It makes sense!
4 Likes
Hey if anyone’s looking to buy glasses, eye buy direct sent me these two codes.
FOCUSBOGO for buy one, get one. Don’t know if it’s get one free or get one for half off or something.
FOCUS20 is for 20% off.
3 Likes