Could Love Be Brewing? Percolating Coffee and Money Stuff

Let me tell you about my latest coffee date.

I have noticed that my posts on dating or that have titles that hint at dating perk up your interest readers, so...gotcha.  This has nothing to do with my personal life.  (Boundary maintained.) But it shows how I do attend my analytics.  

I won't be telling you a tale of love; I'm going to save you money instead.

One thing I started to try to tune into when cutting down on my gas bill was weaknesses and consumption habits.  It was a form of S.W.O.T. Analysis.  

If I have a consumption habit, it's one for stove top coffee.  That's right, I brew coffee twice a day.  I make it in my vintage mocha pot that I found at an amazing garage sale.  I think it must have been a wedding present because it hadn't been used and had the original papers with it.  It might be worth something, or it was until I used it lovingly 2 times daily, for years.

Are you wondering if I am twitching as I write this?  I'm not.  Though I did make some more coffee to accompany this post.  Yes, my doctor seems a bit concerned. 

Here is a brief timeline of how I brew coffee.  After moving apartments, I got rid of my old Mr. Coffee pot.  It was a joke, only held 3 cups of water, and just wasn't hacking it.  Mr. Coffee and I split up and now he lives in my parents' basement.
I turned my attentions at this point to my mocha pot.   Unfortunately, and likely because of the thickness of the metal, I noticed it took quite awhile to percolate.  I was paying for those therms, so, I switched over to my tea kettle and french press.  Faster, but could be improved upon.

And then, after the gas bill of December '13, I bought an electric kettle.

The box boasted a lot of positive attributes, and I can tell you, it truly does boil water faster.

And to use "faster" appropriately I conducted a very simplistic experiment.

I put 6 cups of water from the tap (which is frigid) in each kettle, turned on their respective energy sources and let them go.

The electric took just 7 minutes to bring to a full boil and blow the fuse in my kitchen!

And the metal kettle took at least 14 minutes (it still wasn't at a rolling boil) and blew no fuses!  

The lesson here?

There are several, but first: have a flashlight and know where you stored it.

Also, know where the circuit breaker box is and make sure it is not painted shut.

The second is like the first, don't use a microwave and electric kettle at the same time in the same outlet.

The third, you save therms if you use an electric kettle. 
I'm not sure how to compare gas units to electric. It likely requires one of those conversions that I never quite mastered in chemistry class.
(Correction: I have not and will not take the time to convert therms to kwh, but I could because I am smart.) 

Simply put in my head, I converted less gas to more dollars.
I still drink enough coffee to concern my physician and sustain my wit past work hours, so I can convert it to wisdom for you.

Happy Brewing! 

P.S. I am coffee dating myself, and it's going great.

I've Got a Gas (Bill) Problem, St Louis: Friendly Money Tips

St. Louis weather, if you haven't noticed, is a little mercurial.  Which means, when it's Winter, my bills are inflated.  I can stand heat, but Dante got it right.  Being cold is a form of pain.  And doubly so when you have to pay for it.

I hate being cold and my body seems to have an inability to stay warm, but does that mean I really crank up the  heat?

No. 

I turn the heat down when I am out and sleeping, dress in layers, have a portable space heater, and drink warm beverages.

Even with all of this, my past gas bill from Laclede had a hefty price in the "Amount Due" column.  

So hefty that I sprung to action (read: googled), because between us I can't pay that amount again this year. 

There are a few challenges though. 

1.) I have an apartment, and while it is as homey as a house with a paid off mortgage, it is not mine.  

Which means whatever I do to outsmart the cold, I can't make lasting structural changes.  

2.) And I have to keep the ROI in mind, because someday I will be leaving and can't necessarily take my improvements along. 

3.) Googling. Websites galore tell you how to save money, but they assume a certain level of...let's call it naive thinking.  Additionally advice is geared towards home owners.  Basically I found the tips to be relatively unhelpful.  

Big challenges.

After tackling these and having a little success, I thought, why not help prevent bill shock for you?

I want you to be able to save (hopefully) many dollars.

I will post a few of the things I had not considered and have now employed.

Your Water Heater and You 

That's right, it's in your creepy basement, the water heater.

I was scared to approach mine and dial back the temperature of the heat. 

I envisioned slipping with my screw driver and getting scalded.  

Also I envisioned a scary person lurking down there, but both of these fears were needless.

(The person lurking down there was actually quite nice.)

I read that you need to remove a plate on your water heater with a flat head screwdriver to reveal the temperature knob. 

As it happens, I did not even need a screwdriver. 

This is what I found:

It was as if the water heater wanted to be condescending.  Hot, Warm, Vacation.
(Really water heater?  You think I go on Vacation? More like Stay-cation.)
I turned the knob and hope that next week my new bill will show an improvement.

Am I taking cold showers?  How is the water temperature now?
Not terrible.  Some days the water is hotter than others. It is not scalding hot but not cold and in the long run my skin is probably better off.

How have your bills this season been?  Have you stumbled across any great tips you'd like to share?

Check out this site if you want to learn more.