Uh.. Einstein.. Can you tell me why a cold kWh costs more than a warm kWh?

So probably the biggest way you can save money is by saving energy.

And how many people did I scare off just by saying that? Using energy is associated with coal and power advocates while Saving energy is for those pesky tree-huggers. I would just like to take this moment to say that this ass-u-me is not true for everyone. I don't like coal-huggers or tree-huggers. What I do like is money. And from personal experience, I know that saving energy saves me money. And that's what I'd like to talk about.

I won't go into name-calling, but I'd just like to say that the energy company that supplies my electricity likes to spike the rates from January to March-ish. Why is this? Do the company meter-readers dislike the cold and therefore have to be compensated for braving the elements to come to my house to look at my meter? (Take a lesson from the intrepid postal workers, meter-readers!) I would be happy to take a minute out of my day to read my own meter and report it to the electric company so that they would not spike energy prices during these months. But we all know that compensating cold meter-readers is not why energy prices go up. Energy prices go up during these months because more people are using energy and therefore more profit can be made by the electric company during these months. This is what they told me last year when I called to find out why my bill almost doubled in February when I had actually used less energy (football was over so I was watching a lot less TV). I kid you not. They told me they always increase prices during times of high usage.

Honestly, this information pissed me off. I was being punished because I wanted to stay warm in my home. Since it was cold outside, the electric company decided I should pay more for using a kWh than I do in, say, May, because I was using my heating system. It didn't matter that I used less energy overall. They knew that I needed to run my heater to keep my home warm (as did everyone else) and therefore they could charge me more for a kWh because it was guaranteed to be used. Energy use = Less money for me, more money for them (who then double that money by charging me more to use the same kWh).

So after foregoing on some meals to save money on food in order to pay the electric company for their selfish and unjustified temporary raising of price, I decided that I was going to do some home improvements to help reduce my energy consumption. This was not because I wanted to "live green," in the common conception of such, but because I wanted to live IN the green (as in money). I'd prefer to buy food rather than pay the CEO of an electric company his holiday bonus that probably amounts to more than my salary for the entire year. Call me selfish, but I like being able to eat three meals a day.

So, anyway, I hope there are other anti-hugger persons who can move past the conceptual idea of "living green" and embrace the idea of "saving money" like I did. If you happen to be such, see if some of these ideas can save you money, too. (And for those of you who like the conceptual color green, you are probably already practicing most of these ideas, but if there is a new one in here that helps save you some money, then perhaps you can stop hugging trees long enough to give me a hug. People hugging is okay.. as long as no one is freely in an animal costume.)