MM's Thoughts on Budget Billing?

abrewer5 · January 2014

Good morning!

I've posted before about getting my finances in order and come up with a budget, so I was curious what MM's thoughts were on budget billing? I have the option to switch our BGE Gas (we have a seperate electric provider) to budget billing which would be $29 a month. We just moved in the house about 8 months ago, and our bill is really cheap in the summer, but higher in the winter with gas heat.

Just wanted to get some ideas. In some ways I think it's good because you have a set payment while we work our budget, but in others it's crazy to overpay or owe at the end of the year if we didn't break even.

Thanks in advance.

CuriousKiddosMama · January 2014

We've never done it, but I know my parents used to. One thing they liked about it was if you underuse, you don't have a bill or very little in December which is a nice month to not have to pay a bill, but of course there is the flip side of this like you said. If you overuse, then you can have a huge bill in December. I guess I just prefer to budget for it month to month.

Xstatic3333 · January 2014

What region of the country are you in? In New England that would be a great deal, and I'd like the ability to pay year-round. If there's a 50% or higher chance of overpaying, however, I probably wouldn't do it.

abrewer5 · January 2014

Xstatic3333 said:

What region of the country are you in? In New England that would be a great deal, and I'd like the ability to pay year-round. If there's a 50% or higher chance of overpaying, however, I probably wouldn't do it.

I live in Maryland. In the summer our bill can be as low as $15 and in the winter it's been as high as $70.

Xstatic3333 · January 2014

I'd do it. Unless my math is off I think you'd save money most years.

spalko · January 2014

I live in Michigan and we do budget billing with our gas bill. In the winter, our gas bill can be as high as $200 so we definitely save! We pay $60 every month so while it may be more in the summer, it saves us a ton in the winter. With out gas company, the way they figure the bill is from the previous year. So we're budgeted from our use from last winter right now. The bill has gone up every year though, just a little bit, to compensate for our usage. September is our settlement month but we've never had to pay more that month to settle, we usually end up paying less that month then the billing year starts over again.

Erikan73 · January 2014

I just put myself on budget after a year in our house of not being on budget. Right now for us being on a set monthly amount will be easier for me when figuring out our monthly budget. I'm not good about putting money for the higher months. This is giving me more piece of mind in the winter because it's been unusually cold and I have bills that I can handle & behind the scene I'll catch up during the warmer months. It's hard for me going from at $70 bill to an $180 bill the next month.

brij2006 · January 2014

We do this, and have ended up ahead every year. Go for it.

We have an old victorian that doesn't have much insullation. The average bill in the winter is $700-1,000. Summer is around $50. We pay $130/month year round on the budget plan. It makes a big difference for us.

mana8503 · January 2014

I do it for gas and electric, I'm in MD too. I'd rather have a set amount all year for gas than $7 in the summer and $300 in the winter. Right now it's $64/month. WAY more manageable and easier to budget around.

If you pay more, they give you a discount at the end of the cycle, if you pay less, you may have a few months of higher bills then they level off at the new amount. This happened for our electric, they split it between 2 months and then the 3rd month was our new adjusted rate. It was because H talked me into setting the AC at a lower temp last summer. We probably would have been fine otherwise.

vlagrl29 · January 2014

I do it and love it. We know how much it will cost every month and twice a year they look at our usage and adjust it. There have been times it has gone down which is great. I prefer doing it this way than paying high cost in winter for gas and high cost in summer for electric.

abrewer5 · January 2014

Thanks for the feedback! I think I'll try it out and see how it goes. I'll start with gas for now, and possibly move to electric depending on how we fare.

Having a set number each month will help a lot.

dragonstarjk · January 2014

We use balanced billing and I love it. Our monthly bill includes a line that shows what we would have paid with regular billing, and whether we are ahead or behind for the year.

It's not really 'saving' money, because we still have to pay the same in the end. They are just making it average out so its easier to budget for each month, instead of having huge swings one way or the other. For this reason, I like it.

VadersValkyrie · January 2014

Our last two electric bills have been wicked high, although that's probably because of the frigid cold we've been dealing with in New England. I think if it doesn't come back down to normal compared to previous winters, I may consider this. We have electric everything in our condo, so it might be worth our money.

chicagobride_07 · February 2014

It's our first winter in a new house. This month's bill was $375. In the summer, it was around $50 or so. They want $110/month for the level payment plan. We are going to have a few more winter months in the house to see where the bills come out, then make a decision for next year.

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