So, It's Thursday. Let's Pay Bills.

Sigh. . . It's snowing again.  AGAIN!  Warmed up and rained overnight so much of the droppings from the last snow melted. . . and here it comes again.  Seriously?  Missing those beautiful sunrises and my morning walks with the dogs. 

Baking that chicken today - how would you season it?  I'm undecided at this point. 
Need to find the cranberry-stuffing recipe and make sure we have what we need to make the lemon-butter brussel sprouts.  You read right - brussel sprouts.  J-daughter got this fabulous recipe from a chef-friend and they are out of this world!  Never would have guessed we'd like those little baby cabbages so much.  But that chicken.  hmmmm. . . any ideas?

So, I'm trying to get all the bills pay and I realize that I'm so gald for our 'even-pay' plan for our utilities. 

In our city, all of our utilities - sewer, water, gas, electricity, trash - are on one bill.  That's nice in the aspect of one payment gets it all.  It's also great if you take advantage of the 'even-pay' plan.  This is where the utilities company looks at your last 12 months of bills, averages that amount, and this is your payment-due each month.

Sometimes this payment will be higher than your actual bill, and those extra funds go into your account's reserves to make up the difference for those months when your payment is lower than your actual bill.  This makes it so much easier to budget each month.  Nothing can mess up a tight budget than having bills that are not consistent and vary significantly.

Here, they have two sign up periods - Spring and Fall - and  they review and refigure your 'even-pay' amount during each of these times.  Many other places have one sign up time during the year and refigure your account once a year.  Right now I'm thankful that our city was able to secure utilities at a lower than predicted rate, so our reserve is extremely high.  I'm going to call them and have them apply some of the reserves to pay this month's bill.   It's typically possible to do this if your reserve amount is above their required reserve minimum.  I certainly can use that option to redirect the money in my checking account to another bill. . . .

Call your utilities office(s) today and see if they offer a 'even-pay' plan in your city.  It really does help!

So yeah, here it is a dreary day and I'm going to spend it paying bills. . . what will I do with the rest of the day?  After making that phone call, writing one check, and paying the credit card on-line, I'll have plenty of time to focus on W-O-R-K and baking that chicken.  Maybe even 'squeeze' in some more quilting time.  I also have a necklace and earring set to re-string and create for a special customer. . .

Make your own sunshine - smile!

Robin