How much does everyone's gas and electricity cost a month? One adult one child here. My bills seem really high yet I'm apparently using much less then similar house holds. also how much did concession cover? so I have an idea how much I can get off this bill.
6 Replies
I spend about 200-230 a quarter on electricity. My gas is about the same. I am home all day, tv on as am at home caring for chronically ill son.
This is my first quarter and its around 170 for gas and over 300 for electricity. This is without concession yet. One child and one adult and I didn't think we used so much. one month was only $13 and then it went way higher. It has been hotter. I'm way below other house holds and I'm not sure how others afford such higher bills even with higher paid jobs. I'm new to this so I freaked out a little :/
I did it on carers payment (the same amount as parenting payment single) and my son getting the child disability (same amount as ftb part a and b).
Things you can do to reduce costs though is not use your oven. Cook stove top or microwave as use less power. Turn things off at power point when not in use, standby costs money and even the kettle and toaster will draw a small amount of power when not on. Turn lights off when you leave a room. Make sure your aircon vents/filter is cleaned and running aircon at 24 versus a lower temp. We have really thick curtains wich cuts down the temp so aircon doesn't have to work so hard. Switch light bulbs to LED.
All this will also depend on what your hot water system is etc.
If you are a low income or on Centrelink payments you should be getting a government rebate discount on your electricity bill the percentage will vary depending on number of billing days, on average the rebate amount is about $50 a quarter.I would also ring your electricity provider and ask them how much discount they can give you. I am with Energy Australia and at present I am getting a 18% discount off my bill. I am home all day with TV on in the back ground plus another adult in the house. My bills average around $300-$350 for winter quarterly bill and and $200-$300 for summer quarterly bill all electricity as I don't have gas. I am also in NSW, some states are dearer with their electricity than others. I would also check to see if you have a smart metre as they charge you more during peak times.
Our energy bill, for a family of 5 is about $300-$350 a quarter, but we have solar hot water. No gas bill. BEST, BEST, BEST thing you can do is get into the habit of paying weekly via Bpay. So if your bill is 300 a quarter, divide that by 12 is only $25 a week! Pay that amount every week and you won't have a bill. This is the best way to manage all of your bills. i do this with absolutely everything. We literally don't get any bills except for car rego, but I believe they're bringing in a system for that where you can pay that off, too.
We have rego that you can pay monthly in SA and it costs a lot more. Grrr I'm about to switch mine back to 12 monthly