September 11, 2026
Greetings!
Every January, I brace myself a little before I open my energy bill. Even after all these years of running this newsletter, that first cold snap still catches me and my check book off guard. It is the one bill in my house that never holds still, low in the warm months, painful in the cold ones. Because I like it warm, my heating bill can sometimes be more than my AC bill in the summer!
Last fall I called my utility company and asked about their budget billing plan. They looked at my last twelve months of usage, averaged it out, and now I pay the same flat amount every single month, no matter how brutal January gets. It costs nothing to sign up, and it turns one of my least predictable expenses into one of my most boring ones, which is exactly what I want from a bill.
September is the right time to make that call, before the first cold snap sends everyone else scrambling for the same conversation. A five minute phone call now means one less number to stress over all winter long.
Be Well,
Anisa
Please add anisa@gophercentral.com to your address book or
visit here.
Why Budget Billing Matters
Photo: Anisa calling Nicor to setup budget plan.
Most utility bills swing hard with the weather. You run the air conditioner all summer, then the furnace all winter, and the amount due bounces around every month with no real pattern you can plan a budget around. That unpredictability is what gets people, not the total amount they pay over a year, but the one or two months where the bill lands two or three times higher than they expected and throws the whole budget off.
Budget billing, sometimes called equal pay or levelized billing, fixes that by spreading your estimated annual usage into one flat monthly payment. It does not lower what you owe over the course of a year, but it does mean you always know the number before the bill even arrives, which is half the battle of sticking to a budget.
How To Do It
1. Look up your utility's program name.
Search "[your utility] budget billing" or "equal pay plan," most electric, gas, and water providers offer some version of this, even if they call it something slightly different.
2. Call or go online to enroll.
Many utilities let you sign up right through your online account in a few clicks, others just need a short phone call to get started.
3. Let them calculate your average.
They will review your last twelve months of usage and set your new flat monthly amount, often with a small buffer built in.
4. Ask about the true up.
Most plans reconcile once a year, if you used less than projected you get a credit, if you used more the difference gets spread into future payments instead of landing on you all at once.
5. Check in once or twice a year.
Once you are enrolled, payments run the same every month, just glance at your usage occasionally to make sure nothing major changed, like a move or a new appliance.
6. Pair it with autopay if you can.
A flat, predictable bill is the easiest one to automate, one less thing to remember every month going forward. I do this because when I travel I never have to worry about missing a bill.
It's a Small Call With Big Savings
While this won't shrink your total energy costs for the year, it can save you real money in a different way. Skip the plan and a rough January can leave you covering a $150 or $200 spike with a credit card, paying interest on a bill you never budgeted for in the first place. Enroll, and that same amount gets folded quietly into payments you already planned for.
Got a tip of your own? Reply back to me, I love reading your tips and ideas!
Missed An Issue? Visit our archives loaded with past & new issues.
END OF THRIFTY TIPS - Another
GopherCentral publication
https://www.gophercentral.com
Copyright 2026 by GopherCentral All rights reserved.
Please forward this to a friend, in its entirety, to others.