Last year I used 3,898 kWh from 11/12/21 - 03/14/22, averaging $236 per month.

I only had two minisplits at the time and I was still using my electric resistance baseboards in my master bedroom and full bath. Every other space had coverage from a minisplit. I worked from home on my dining room table upstairs. Kept temperature at 70°F during the day, low 60s at night. Kept second bedroom low 60s unless I was in there for a long time, master bedroom was kept at 58°F all the time because all I did in there was sleep so I had lots of blankets. Full bath was kept at 60°F.

This year I got a third minisplit for my condo and put it in my master bedroom. I moved my work from home setup into my master bedroom, re-arranged room. Contractor said to not change temperature more than plus or minus 3 degrees. He said minisplits like to run all the time, more efficient that way. I basically kept all rooms at 70°F during day and 67°F at night. I haven't had a full winter doing this yet, but my most recent bill was $229. My entire place is way more comfortable.

For comparison, the year before I put in minisplits I used 4,792 kWh during that same timeframe and never set the electric resistance baseboards higher than 64°F.

And going back to when I moved in I used 6,799 kWh over that same period. This was before I did any improvements.

Mine was just over 700.....

I don’t shop a whole lot so I don’t have a keen awareness of price, but this week Walmart was out of my favorite cereal so I ran into S&S to grab one. Their price was exactly a dollar more than Walmart

If I pay a dollar more for one simple item, what must it be like for a whole cart full of groceries?

Why waste time worrying about other people? Do what you feel is best and helps you sleep at night. Screw everyone else.

S&S has gone DOWNHILL the last few years, both in quality, availability, and price. At least I knew where everything was so trips were fast.

Then our local one did a complete rebrand/aisle shuffle for no discernible reason, and now you can't find anything and things are not in logical places anymore.

Then they added those weight-sensitive self checkout machines, so even the benefit of fast self-checkout was gone (if you don't time the scanning and the bagging perfectly the machine locks up and you have to wait for the lone attendant).

So I started using the self checkout gun. But now their price bar code machines in the produce section almost never work or they constantly are out of paper. All four of them. It's insane.

After a week or two of that bullshit I realized it was just a slow slide to absolute shit and started planning my shopping better so I could do it once a week with a car (one car household that's needed for commuting) and go to Wegmans. They're not perfect, either, but as long as you like their store brand it's definitely cheaper AND the quality of the produce and meat is phenomenal.

What’s your electric bill look like in cold months? I live out in the woods and get 5-6 outages a year ranging from hours to a few days so a heat pump was out of the question.

Market Basket and Aldis are right near each-other, so I just combine those into one trip. Aldis pickup for staples, MB for meat, produce. It’s pretty convenient!

We have a 1,200 sq ft home and last month's combined electric and natural gas was $250. I can't fathom 864 sq ft paying four digits for electricity. I've seen a couple of these kinds of posts recently and am curious about what the issue is. Maybe call one of the television stations so that they can investigate - it would make a great news piece.

For me, I am able to get most everything I need at Walmart, but occasionally they are out of something and Stop & Shop is extremely close to where I live. The other times I go there is if I don't have access to my car or don't have the time to go to Walmart and Stop & Shop is like 2 blocks from where I live, and it is only an item or two that I need not a whole shopping cart full.

I always get my lunch meat there as we like Boars Head and no other grocery stores sell it…

If you know how to shop, it’s not that expensive.

What, did you just get fired from there or something?

So I would check a few things:

• check with Nat Grid that you are on residential heating rate for electricity. They have heating and non heating rates. While you’re at it, helpful to also check if the meter is defective.
• it could also be payments from previous months that weren’t paid off by the seller. In Which case, check your closing disclosure to see a credit was issued for the utility.
• Get electrician to verify no other sources are tapping into your electricity meter. Not sure the age of your building but it’s very common for old wirings to stay in place which affects your usage.
• check with Mass save about your insulation and windows.
• lastly. If you meet income requirement, you can get a fuel subsidy from the state.

Good luck! Source: I volunteer at FTHB programs, happy to chat more if you have questions.

Less crowded, more convenient locations. It's the place I go when I just need a few things. Also the gas points have more value than at Market 32 - and are more convenient because there are more Shells than Sunocos around here. For everything else I go to Market 32.

Heat pumps have come a long way. My Mitsubishi heat pump only starts to struggle below -13F

For us to weigh in we would need to know two things: number of days on the bill, and the total kWh used.

I shop at whatever grocer is closest to me. I’m not gonna drive 20 minutes out of my way to save $10 at market basket

Stop and Slop is a rip off.

Their curbside pickup in my town is free, no subscription required. If there's a problem with my order, they always fix it. Their employees are usually very nice.

They're always less busy than Market Basket. (I actually like MB quite a bit.)

The two other options within a ten minute drive of my house generally cost more than S&S. Since S&S is directly competing with MB in my area, they hold their prices a bit lower. It's also easy to shop mostly sale items from S&S. Most everything goes on sale at least once a month.

I am vibing with this. I used to shop at our super walmart but did not feel I was getting the best quality of foods. Big Y is expensive(3.50 for a can of campbell soup?!) unless you go exclusively for one of 10 for 10 sales. Price Chopper/Market 32 is further away, more congested, and their flyer/prices seem to follow Stop and Shops, i fucking love their food bar tho. We got another small brand store that is the closest (>2miles) but the selection does not include everything our family eats. Stop and Shop seems to have the most of what every one eats. So less time traveling between stores and I feel better about food we are eatting.

For us, we live in a slight food desert so either I'm driving 25mins north or south for grocery shopping🤷🏼‍♀️

That being said, fuck all these prices😭 its been like 550$ a month on groceries. Man, I remember when I would spend 220$ for a full cart😫

Don't worry about the gaming PC, thats not the culprit. Its the electric heat. Didn't your inspector advise you that electric baseboard heat was extremely expensive?

Either way, call MASS SAVE. Get them out there and discuss some solutions with rebates from the state. Its the absolute best thing you can do at this moment.

It’s not as insanely crowded as Market Basket

Convenience

I like to use the price guns and bag my own groceries as I go along. At the end I use self checkout, scan the code, exit with everything bagged up in my order (easier to unpack).

True. Heat pumps have come a long way in the last ten years. I am also lucky to live in a town who participates in municipal aggregation. 9 cent per kWh supply rate until the November 2023 meter read. I really hope something changes between now and when the next three year contract is negotiated. Also I am debating on improving the insulation in my unit over the summer. Not much else I could do besides solar and I am not sure I could even do this. 🤔

1. They are a union shop
2. Their local store is very conveniently located
3. Pickup is free with a yearly subscription.
4. Pickup is quick. The second I am in the parking spot for pickup, the groceries are out packed in my trunk without me doing a thing (easiest pickup, with target second but slower)
5. Specials, coupons, reward dollars can add up to real savings.
6. Personalized rewards on things I have shopped for before
7. Great Subsitution policy - if they don't have an item ordered for pick up, they will substitute a similar item at the lower cost of the original or substitute
8. Employees seem in general happier than other stores
9. In our area, Aldis is the cheapest, followed by Price Chopper, Stop and Shop and Big Y, so not the most expensive but has the most variety.
10. They have store brands for a wider variety of items than other stores in our area.
11. I either grow my own veggies or stop at a farm stands, I don't eat flesh, so I am far more open to have others select my groceries.
12. Gas discounts, ours have their own pumps.

What I dislike:

1. They do not allow tipping.
2. Their app does not include all items they sell.
3. Veggies and fruits are not the best and not the most local.
4. Although store managers listen, corporate doesn't when you have a issue.
5. Inventory issues, they sell out too quickly.

Edit: corrected a couple of spelling issues.

That's insane. My gas and electricity combined are like 1/5 of that, but I have gas heat and appliances and my house is a bit smaller. You can get a thing called a Kill-a-watt that plugs into the wall and you plug your electronics into it and it will tell you how much power they're using. That might help you figure out why you're using so much power. You can also look into switching your electric provider for a better rate. The state has a website for it. I don't remember the address but you can find it easily if you Google "Massachusetts energy suppliers" or something along those lines.