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Paying More Then You Have To On Your Electric Bill is Not Awesome.

Energy cost are always going to be going up. Try some of these cost cutting moves to bring your electric bill down to a respectable level.

Some Advice on getting your electricity bill down a notch

Lets see how low can you go?

I have gone as low as $39.25 with our monthly electricity bill in my three-bedroom, 2,500-square-foot house.

People who live in similar homes tell us they routinely spend $100.00 to $150.00 a month, and ask me how I do it.

Basically, it is done by saving energy.

For example, I always buy energy efficient appliances. I follow my electric company's advice, and figure out the appliance's "unit life" cost and its purchase price plus what it costs to run. One refrigerator may sell for $950 and cost $93 a year to operate. Another may sell for $1,050, but cost only $73 a year to run. The $1,050 refrigerator is a better deal in the long run.

Even allowing for the earnings you would lose on the additional $100 upfront cost (let us say, 8 percent a year), it would take less than seven years to recover the extra cost of the energy-efficient refrigerator. (Remember, the $ 20 you save every year on electricity can also make 8 percent interest.) Over an average 15-year life span, the refrigerator selling for $100 more would be $226 cheaper.

You can calculate the unit-life cost from the yellow and black Energy Guide label taped on most appliances. The label, required by federal law, tells you the appliance's estimated annual energy cost and helps you compare one model with another. Most people don't look at this stuff but you will from now on.

Costs are derived from average electricity rates, so you need to call your electric company and find the one for your area. My utility, Con Edison (New York) charges about 8 cents per kilowatt hour, including tax and fuel surcharge.

Your utility can also give you ideas for lowering energy costs.

Con Edison sent me brochures on lighting our home efficiently, saving on water heating, avoiding energy loss, ceiling insulation, window treatments, landscaping and many other topics.

Con Edison also sent a representative to our home to do a free energy survey. He checked our insulation, weather stripping, window tinting and appliances' efficiency, and gave us a passing grade.

Here are some of the tips Con Edison gave me:

Read the instruction manual from the manufacturer before you begin using an appliance, and keep warranty information safe but accessible. I keep a file on each appliance, including the manual, warranty card and where to call for service.

Clean appliances regularly. I do it at least once a month.

Open the refrigerator door only when necessary, and when you do, shut it as quickly as possible. Sounds simple but you know that kids like to look in there for an hour to see what's good inside.

Turn the oven on just before you use it. Preheating is not necessary for most foods. That is an old wives tale started by the people that make the oven I guess.

Do not open the oven door to peek, because you will lose valuable heat. Check food through the window if your oven has one, as ours does.

Use a counter-top, compact microwave oven to reheat leftovers and for quick meals. Our compact microwave - the only one we have - does not heat up the kitchen, so it puts no strain on the air conditioner.

Save Money Washing Clothes

Use hot water only for heavily soiled clothes or normal loads in which soil has begun to accumulate. Warm or even cold water is enough for less soiled loads. Doing three to four full loads a week in warm water costs $ 4 a month; in cold water, only $ 1.20. We always use the cold-water setting. Your clothes don't know what temperature it is inside the washing machine.

Try to wash clothes during off-peak hours, such as early morning or late night. We are early risers, and we do our washes after breakfast.

In some cases, we go beyond what our utility recommends.

The television set, radio or stereo are never background noise to us. If we are not watching or listening, we turn them off.

Con Edison recommends that you set the air-conditioning thermostat or cooling-control switch to the highest comfortable temperature, and suggests 78 degrees Fahrenheit. We can go higher. We keep the temperature at 80 to 82 degrees during the day and 78 at night. That is if it is even on at all.

Our utility says that for every degree we raise it, we save 6 percent to 8 percent on the electricity bill. In the winter, we save 3 percent to 5 percent for every degree we turn the thermostat down.

These are just some tips that I have used and I don't want you to pay high electric bills. There are more important things to do with your money.