If you’ve been reading this blog for a while then you may remember my post “Taking Cold Showers to Save $45 a Month” which was about my turning off my natural gas last summer to save money. I’m doing the same thing this year and it will be easier this time around. I’m staying with my mom during the week since my internship is in a town three hours away from Kansas City so I don’t have to worry about needing gas for hot showers then. When I’m back in Kansas City I usually spend the night at my girlfriend’s place so hot showers aren’t a problem. If for some reason that option wasn’t available I could take a shower at the school gym or just take a cold shower. I need to cut expenses since the internship limits my availability for paid work. I also need to increase my income and I’m working on a few ways to do that.
Well, you may be saving money, but what about your mom??!!?? That’s not cutting back — you’re transferring your use to someone else’s shoulders.
Karen- My mom’s place is 3 hours away from my apartment so it wouldn’t be feasible to drive all the way back to my apartment to take a shower. The cost of taking showers at my mom’s is going to be incurred regardless of whether I turn off the gas at my apartment.
My POINT is that maybe you should be kicking in some cash to your mother, since SHE is now incurring exrta cost. If you’re aware of how much it costs for you to take hot showers at YOUR expense, it’d be a nice gesture to be just as aware when it’s someone else’s expense, mother or not.