I previously posted about having my gas turned off because I felt that the monthly bill of roughly $45 was too high. My plan then was to take my showers at my school’s fitness center with the occasional cold shower at home. That plan didn’t work because my school requires you to pay to use the fitness center during the summer unless you’re enrolled in summer classes. Since I’m not yet enrolled for the fall semester I would have had to pay $40 a month to use the fitness center which would have basically wiped out the savings from not having a gas bill.
So now I am taking cold showers at home. They actually are not as bad as I thought they would be. You get acclimated to them after a while but I certainly don’t luxuriate in them. This has a green side effect in that I use less water in addition to using less energy. I also bought a solar camp shower from Wal-Mart for $6. This actually works pretty well on sunny days. The problem with it is that it is already starting to fall apart.
When I tell people that I’m doing without hot water they think I’m crazy but I think it is well worth it for the $45 monthly savings. What would you do to save $45 a month?
Hello. Beware that the gas might have a reactivation fee that negates the savings.
J- There is a $40 reactivation fee but since I plan on moving when my lease expires in October I won’t need to reactivate the service.
canadian_sadie- I believe you meant to respond to this post. I do my cooking in the microwave or on my George Foreman grill. Since I didn’t cook much before this isn’t really a problem.
An interesting idea….my gas bill is looming a threatened shut off later this week…I expect it will be paid and stay on, but to gut my bill down during the summer months, I could easily see myself taking cold showers. What with no airconditioning, it just might feel good to have cold water running over me in a hot house.