After being home after graduation I realized how much my mother was spending on regular household utilities, and it was too much and could be reduced. The first thing I looked at was my Verizon phone bill. It usually added up to $70 bucks a month and sometimes even $90.00 including my DSL service. After looking at it and seeing how much it was just a bother I looked into something I always wanted to do which was switch to Vonage an online phone service. With this VoIP (Voice over IP) service you will need the internet to connect to it. It is very simple so don’t make a funny face. All I had to do was go to their website sign up and pay for the equipment which was $39.99. The rest was done quickly with my 2 day delivery payment and has been great since then. What I love about it is that I am only paying $33.00 a month for my phone service with long distance and unlimited minutes. Some other features that are great is that I can recieve my voicemail to my email as a mp3 file while I’m at work. And I can forward my phone calls to my cell phone or any other phone just in case the internet goes out I can still recieve my calls.Oh and did I mention calling European countries like the U.K and etc are free? Here are some details from pricing to equipment and etc.
Vonage’s Residential Premium Unlimited Plan offers the following for the low price of $24.99 a month:
- Unlimited local and long distance calls anywhere in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico and select European countries. See details below.
- Included features such as:
Voicemail Plus
3-Way CallingCall Waiting
Call ForwardingCaller ID with Name
911 Dialing - Free phone adapter if you sign up directly from Vonage
- Competitive international rates
- Money Back Guarantee
Added Benefits
- Switch to Vonage and keep your phone number
- Vonage has area codes available across the US and in other countries
- Real time billing information anytime through your online web account
- Quick access to local emergency services with Vonage’s 911 Dialing feature
Requirements
- You must have a broadband Ethernet Internet connection
- You need a US or Puerto Rico shipping address (no PO boxes)
Once you sign up, we will ship your startup package within 5 business days. To start saving, simply connect your telephone to your high-speed Internet connection using the Vonage phone adapter. Pick up the phone, and use it just like you do today!
Another bill that made me upset was the Electric bill. I never payed attention to it at all until I started paying it lol. And for some reason now the bill has been in the 100s for no reason. I noticed that Conedison charges everyone on a peak and off peak rate like those damn LIRR tickets. So every bill is separated into what time did you use the electricity and you get charged more for peak per kilowatt, which for me was around 18.8 cents per Kilowatt. But, another thing we don’t pay attention too is that it changes so the next cycle it can be around 19 cents per kilowatt and you’ll never know. I am heavy into green power now so I did my research and found ConEdison Solutions, which use cleaner power such as wind towers and water power to generate power, and no you would not even notice a difference if you switched. When I switched they gave me a locked rate of 16 cents per kilowatt, so I pay no peak and off peak rates and I pay no NY State sales Tax. Here are the benefits of switching to ConEdison solutions and you do the match.
* $25 Rebate – Sign up for GREEN Power and receive a $25.00 rebate.*
* Elimination of Sales Tax – the New York State sales tax on the delivery portion
of your utility bill is fully eliminated (no tax) for purchasing energy from an energy
services company, such as ConEdison Solutions.
*Fixed Rate – Available – You can choose a fixed rate that is easy to understand and is
guaranteed not to increase during your contract term
*Easy Billing – We include our electricity supply charges on your regular utility bill. You
will still make just one monthly payment to your utility, but the bill will conveniently
itemize your delivery charges and ConEdison Solutions’ clean electricity supply charges
separately.
Another Budget tip that will benefit your electric bill are these
Spiral Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs. I just bought a whole set today and I couldn’t believe the stats on them compared to the bulbs I am using now and have been using for years. The bulbs I used before were always 75 watt soft white bulbs that used a lot of energy and never really lasted that long. But, with the Spiral Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs you are getting 12,000 hours basically the bulbs are 8 year bulbs. I bought a bulb that was supposed to power 60 watts, but only uses 15 watts to power it, which is why they last so long. Now the average price you save on these bulbs are $54 bucks per bulb in your house. I just bought 7 so that is $378 that I am saving in energy costs.
