Even high altitude here is not that much colder than me! I am in the upstate but not even the foothills/mountains. I do have a big in insulated home. To keep it 70F in the whole thing would possibly cost me $400 month but we have one of the highest power costs in the nation.
My place has a small propane heater as a backup. I have no idea what it would cost to heat my place if I didn't burn wood. The self reliance, time spent outdoors, physical workout and not paying the propane man make it worth it. Also, as mentioned before, the woman basically strips in my house.
Am estimating we will save around $6,000 this year between two houses. Does not include what we save by burning wood in shop instead of turning up propane heater. Hard to place value on the fact that we can now keep house cozy instead of lukewarm. Enjoy cutting wood and have plenty of places that need to be cut anyway. Used to doze trees into a pile and burn as waste.
With this 45-55° weather we are having I have to use the oil burner set to 68°. It just gets too hot in the house even with a two split burn. Where did all the cold air go?
Man those are our highs here. I have a steady burn going. Catalytic stove down low and an in insulated home?? Stove room where we are does set upper 70s but hey this is the south? In the summer that room is that same temp so I guess it just keeps us consistent?
Its kind of hard to put a numerical figure to what our savings are by burning wood and Pellet. It used to be that I used to get 2 tons for "free" by using our chase card and get points. But after going on a strictly cash budget there went the points. (Thanks Dave Ramsey) But in all fairness after speaking to my neighbor who just received his Thanksgiving - 12/31 bill (our utility company bills every two months) it looks like we are saving alot. His bill for those two months was just over $1100, 550 P/M. Granted the temps here were lower than usual for a two week sting during those months and the holidays didnt help. Our bill for the same period was $322. There are a few variables at play, she is a teacher so she was home for the Holiday break while we were at work, they have 3 kids, we have 2 but all in all I am very happy with our bill. Lastly, The one absolute thing that we cannot put a monetary figure on is the comfort that we get from heating with wood. Franklin
If u paid your CC bill off that's a poor decision not to use it! I purposefully put as much on my credit card cause they pay me back. I pay it off and don't but things I wouldn't of anyway. I got an amazon card cause u get like 5x points on amazon for using it. I buy lots from them so why not its free money on stuff I'm buying anyway. I may only go to town every 2 weeks to shop and my town lacks big stores so to get that stuff its an hour drive one way. No thanks I order online.
I'm saving anywhere between $300 and $500 a month depending on how cold it gets. My home was built in the 60's "ALL" base board electric heat. I added Propane wall heaters about 15 years ago for ease when the wife and family was alone and I was away. I don't use them now, not at $5.00 a gallon, They can kiss my Fisher
Clemson, I dont like having debt, I spent my first 15 years out of college paying off student loans and credit card balances that I incurred during my college days. I paid everything off and still have the cards but never use them. I like not having to make payments, also, if i cant afford it i dont needed it. That has been my mentality of late. it works for me. Not knocking your way of doing it, im just doing it different. My apologies to the original poster, didnt mean to highjack. lol.
Again sorry for hijack. Not to sound harsh my point is to many people have no self control and don't use self control over spending. I never said I have CC debt. Never have. Do have wife's student loans but that's it well and house. My point is instead of paying cash I use a CC and reap the benefits of essentially a 1-5% discount on every thing I buy. Student loan and cell phone are paid by CC. I would pay that bill anyway. Save a check or stamp and pay with The CC and pay that bill every month. Just cause a card has a $7500 limit does not mean I spend it?? I have excellent credit and since I got a CC after college have not been turned down for a loan since. Paying CC off each month shows discipline and ability. Really not that hard. But if your the person who goes into Tue ginshop or wherever each month and cause u see it and have a card that you know you can make payments on and buy whatever its prolly not for you.!
Clemson, I know what you mean, and that was my problem in college that i was young and didnt have a lot of self restraint. I have matured financially since then and I know that I can control my spending as we adhere to a household budged, but as a family we decided not to have debt, good or otherwise. In 2011 we decided to pay everything off and still have kept it that way. We continue to make the car payments that we were, only we are paying those payments into an "escrow" envelop so when its time to buy a car, we will just cash flow it. Used car by the way, new cars loose value too fast, at least the cars that I am able to afford. LOL> Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I appreciate you taking the time to share how you do things. Its always good to see how others do it. Franklin
Speaking of paying off houses, I just did some number crunching and think I can own mine outright be January of next year. The best thing about that? Entire tax return next year can be put towards new garage roof!
Huh ? Why cant u out a tax return tiward the roof now ? Or are u throwing the return diwn on the house now ? As some idiots worry when u own ur house u don't get the tax break so your return is lower !
This year tax return will be buying my own wood splitter and the rest will go towards the mortgage principle. Been paying a out an extra 110 per month and still developing surplus funds. Hoping to push another 1000 towards the house as well, but I prefer to let it ballon first incase something comes up in the meantime.
Gottcha. If i did that i might pay off in another 19 yrs !! This NEW phone with no auto correct is a killer !!! Gotta figure out how to fix that. Hope it can be !
We have never carried a Credit card balance but I pay for everything I can with it and usually get between $1,500-2,000 in cash back on it every year for spending money we were already going to spend. I actually get dissapointed if I can't pay a bill with because every bill I pay with it earns me money.
I do the exact same thing. If they dont charge a fee to use it i pay with obe of them. Cell phone bill ,charge it...gonna pay it anyway . Buy grocerues pay with the CC your buying them anyhow just pay it all at the bill time. Or if yoy not diciplined yoy can pay weekly or after each tranaction i guess if u wanted too ? I can go online and pay whenever and however much i want to. Onr month i either forgot i oaid ir screwed up and sent a doubke payment on the internet. No big deal i just had a credit ?
What no one has mentioned, is that your credit rating is much better if you are using credit. I knew of a couple that didn't use cards and ddn't owe a cent, they also didn't have a good credit rating. That was some time ago as I don't know anyone who doesn't at least have a card. I like the CC card because of the protection I get should there be a problem with the purchase. When I go to Sams club, I charge and pay before I leave the store. The money back at the first of the year more than offsets the cost of the premium membership. That premium membership gives me an extra year of warranty on my purchases and several other perks that make it worth it to us.
