What are your monthly utility expenses?

[pennywize]

Just want to get an idea of how much people are paying for their utility services + cable, internet, etc. Seeing if I'm overpaying for some of these services or suggestions on where I can cut back.

Home phone service - basic line with call waiting feature
~$29/month @ Teksavvy

Internet - 200gig bandwidth
~$29/month @ Teksavvy

Cable TV - basic cable + specialty channels (need this to get Fairchild TV)
~$50/month @ Rogers

Home Insurance - 1mil liability, zero deductible
~$48/month @ Belair Direct (2000sq feet detached home in Scarborough)

Water bill
~$108/month @ Toronto Revenue Services (family of 6)

Gas
~$225/month @ Enbridge (family of 6)

Hydro
~$193/month @ Toronto Hydro Electric Systems

Cell phone - Voice + Unlimited data
$38/month @ Telus

Total: $720 per month

[GSRee]

You've got the best deals (IMO) for phone and internet already...I still have to get around to making that switch myself. So basically cutting back on the water/gas/electricity is where you could save some money, but I don't know if your usage for 6 people is good or not since we're only a family of two.

Home phone with bell: $33
Basic cable/Express internet with Rogers: $80
Home Insurance with TD: $47
Electric+Water combined: $80 (probably a $50/$30 split or so)
Natural Gas: $80
Cell with 7/11: $25 every couple months

Total: $345 (well a bit less since cell is probably quarterly)

[casey5]

Just want to get an idea of how much people are paying for their utility services + cable, internet, etc. Seeing if I'm overpaying for some of these services or suggestions on where I can cut back.

Home phone service - basic line with call waiting feature
~$29/month @ Teksavvy

Internet - 200gig bandwidth
~$29/month @ Teksavvy

Cable TV - basic cable + specialty channels (need this to get Fairchild TV)
~$50/month @ Rogers

Home Insurance - 1mil liability, zero deductible
~$48/month @ Belair Direct (2000sq feet detached home in Scarborough)

Water bill
~$108/month @ Toronto Revenue Services (family of 6)

Gas
~$225/month @ Enbridge (family of 6)

Hydro
~$193/month @ Toronto Hydro Electric Systems

Cell phone - Voice + Unlimited data
$38/month @ Telus

Total: $720 per month

That's a lot of hydro usage - any teenage children?:D

We pay about $160 every 2 months, 2300 sq. ft. home in Mississauga, 2 pre-schoolers.

[brunes]

People should post their region as well.... Mine are (for me + wife only)

$185 / month heat and electric combined, EPP
$28 / month water and sewage
$45 / month internet (Rogers express 60gb)
$25 / month home phone and long distance (Vonage)
$27 / month cell phone one (incl. unlimited data and long distance) (Bell)
$27 / month cell phone two (incl. canada wide my5) (Rogers)
$55 / month TV (Bell Expressvu basic + 1 theme)
$35 / month home insurance (1 mil liability, $500 deductible)

Total: $427

[TheRecessionista]

Toronto, Ontario

$140 - ROGERS
home phone (phone line + voicemail),
cable (basic cable, the level above basic, + news speciality packge + bold tv to watch figureskating a few months out of the year)
internet (high speed light + wifi modem rental)
cable includes free pvr rental

heat/electricity etc - included in my rent
cell phone - $0 I don't have one


I never knew I could basic cable and then add speciality channels. I'm going to do that.

[thumper80]

Medicine Hat , Alberta
$160/ month for Power, Gas , Water and Sewer and Garbage
$132/ month for Internet , Digital Cable and Phone - Shaw
$129/ month for Cell ( 2 lines for blackberrys) Rogers
$68/ month for Insurance ( 2 auto & tenant ) 1 mil liability ,collision and 100 decuctables

$489 monthly is not too shabby .

Just my wife and I .

[zeddy]

Family of 6 - rural Ontario. My kids are 10,9,6,2.

$150 / month hydro (includes flat fee water/sewage)
$80 / month natural gas - heat only. EPP
$28 / month internet (lite hispeed - local company)
$24 / month home phone (Bell)
$12 / month cell phone (Rogers Pay As You Go)
$50 / month TV (Cable - local company)
$54 / month home insurance (2 mil liability, home daycare rider, $1000 ded.)

Long Distance is with Yak so I only pay for what I use. 3.5cents/minute 24/7. Never had a bill more than $2/month.

Total: $398 + LD which is sometimes 0

The only ones I thought you were high on was hydro and gas. But I know 2/3 of my bill are charges I can't change. My actual hydro usage is about $50/month. I could reduce my usage but even cutting my usage in half would bring my bill to $125/month.

[jacksorbetta]

Fraser Valley, BC, family of 3 (Me, ,my mom, and my kiddo):

$45 /mo BC Hydro (EPP... last month was actually only $10.34 in usage:lol:)
$90 /mo Gas (EPP)
$72 /mo Cable- Shaw.... premium digital w/ movie channels ( the Moms keeps adding British shows to the lineup>:()
$54 /mo Phone/Internet-Telus (includes Super High Speed & 250 minutes LD)
$65/ mo Cell Phone from Bell....most of that fee is LD to the States.
$14 /mo Home insurance (billed yearly)
_______
$340 All-in

Pretty low I think. Having new appliances and a high effeciency furnace helps.

[speedyforme]

Peel - 1666 sq ft semi

Internet/Cable Tv/Home Phone - $125/month
Cell Phone - $150/year - pay as you go
Gas - $100/month (max)
Water - $12/month (max)
Electricity - $50/month (max)
Home Insurance - $40/month

So about $340/month.

[dcaron9999]

Mirabel, Quebec
detached 2000 sq feet, $480K value house, two adults.

$0 water (no such fees in Quebec yet)
$~250/month electricity from Hydro Quebec (exterior hot tub used all year long, air conditioning, air exchanger)
$11/month cel phone (no contract - pay as you go with Telus)
$40/month propane gas used for fireplace only (Superior Propane)
$140/month hi-speed internet, cable tv, phone (Videotron)
$61/month home insurance (Desjardins, $2 million liability, $5k deductible)
$63/month car insurance for our 2 cars (Desjardins, $1K deductible)
$18/month sewage ($250/2year septic tank flush + $85/year inspection)
---------------
$583/month Total

[sjweyman]

Thanks for the template Brunes, location is in my profile.

$160 / month heat and electric combined (roughly)
$42 / month water and sewage
$110 / month internet (Bell/Aliant Ultimate, 5mbps no cap), cell phone 1 (unlim data, 200txt, 6pm evenings, vm, cid), cell phone 2 (6pm evenings, vm, cid) all bundled together
$2.95 / skype hooked up to a VoIP adapter using cordless phones for unlim outgoing call in North America anytime
$0 / month TV (no cable here, stream TV shows from cbc.ca, ctv.ca, global.com, etc)
$35 / month home insurance (this is a guess because it is bundled with my car insurance)

Total: $349.95

[Zelig]

Nova Scotia, just me in a smallish apartment.

$50 / month heat and electric combined (through town electricity service)
$65 / month internet (Eastlink 15 Mbps)
$36 / month cell phone (Telus)

Total: $151

[crimsondr]

Me, wife and toddler in Milton.

$70 / month hydro
$45 / month water and sewage
$140 / month gas
$0 / month internet
$0 / month home phone
$76 / month cell phone one (iPhone, 6gb plan) (Rogers)
$58 / month cell phone two (iPhone, 500mb plan) (Rogers)
$55 / month TV (Cogeco)
$70 / month home insurance

Total: $514

[pennywize]

That's a lot of hydro usage - any teenage children?:D

We pay about $160 every 2 months, 2300 sq. ft. home in Mississauga, 2 pre-schoolers.

No teenage children but we have a habit of watching our own TV in our own rooms. So sometimes there's 4-6 TVs all turned on at once.

Trying to stop that obviously, after realizing our hydro costs!

[crimsondr]

Do many people have computers/servers running 24/7 in their homes?

I have a linux box running (BT, file server) with a 430W PS. From the UPS I see that it is running with an average of 25% load.

So 430 * .25 / 1000 * 24 = 2.58kWh. Using the mid-peak rate ($0.076/kWh) for simplicity, that means it costs me almost $6/month to run.

Quite often I also leave a laptop or desktop running. Perhaps I should consider shutting those off when not in use :razz:

[dcaron9999]

Quite often I also leave a laptop or desktop running. Perhaps I should consider shutting those off when not in use
On several occasions, I have read or listened to comments about transient electricity getting wasted by the silliest appliances left plugged in. They still consume power in "rest" mode, ie not beeing used but connected. One easy example is video equipment with contant clock displays. Think about all such appliances in your home ... It can add up ...

[sjweyman]

Do many people have computers/servers running 24/7 in their homes?

I have a linux box running (BT, file server) with a 430W PS. From the UPS I see that it is running with an average of 25% load.

So 430 * .25 / 1000 * 24 = 2.58kWh. Using the mid-peak rate ($0.076/kWh) for simplicity, that means it costs me almost $6/month to run.

Quite often I also leave a laptop or desktop running. Perhaps I should consider shutting those off when not in use :razz:

Yes I leave my desktop on all the time which also serves as a server for various things:

- skype is running all the time to power our cordless phones
- access to all pics/vids/mp3s streaming to my phone via Orb
- shared access to pics/vids/mp3s by all other computers on my home network

My power bill still isn't outrageous or anything so I consider it to be worth it. I'd like to know exactly how much its costing me though. I may buy one of those power meters sometime to find out and test other devices around the house.

By leaving the computer on I get much cheaper long distance through Skype and it serves as a heater as well in the winter time for my office so I don't lose out on as much money there :) In the summer time the office can get pretty warm though.

[dcaron9999]

I may buy one of those power meters sometime to find out and test other devices around the house.
I would love to get my hands on one of those, but ideally, would need compatibility with 220V appliances as well ...

By leaving the computer on I get much cheaper long distance through Skype and it serves as a heater as well in the winter time for my office so I don't lose out on as much money there :) In the summer time the office can get pretty warm though.
Smart move ...:cool:

[240sxer]

2 people, 1800sqf home. Electric stove, gas fireplace and heating.

http://i27.tinypic.com/33zeik9.jpg

[mecassa]

just myself in an apartment:

Heat/Electricity= $40-60 (depending on the time of year)
Unlimited Bandwidth Internet/Phone/Long Distance Plan= $98 (Bell, I usually use about 350-450 GB of bandwidth per month)

no cell, cable etc...

I hate paying $98 to Bell every month because I really don't use the Long Distance plan of my Bell package. But I figure if I fool around trying to get a better deal from Bell, they will kill my grandfathered unlimited plan.

[crimsondr]

I hate paying $98 to Bell every month because I really don't use the Long Distance plan of my Bell package. But I figure if I fool around trying to get a better deal from Bell, they will kill my grandfathered unlimited plan.

Phone and internet are completely separate departments. One bill is also a separate department.

[couch_potato]

hydro and utilities are included with my rent. Besides my rent, my biggest monthly bill is my Rogers Basic Combo pack at 98.00 a month, which covers: internet, phone and cable.