I have a bit of a reputation around my house as being the 'Lights Off Czar':
"Turn your bedroom light off!"
"Did you turn your bedroom light off?"
"Who left the basement light on?"
"Why is the bathroom light on?"
"Remember to turn the lights off before you go to bed."
I pay the bills...as in, it is my responsibility to ensure all the household bills are paid every month. Car payments. Utilities. Credit cards. Netflix. Internet....you get the point. This has always been my responsibility, maybe because I'm a control freak, maybe because I was the responsible one in the relationship, maybe because who the hell knows why.
This become a point of contention in 2016 when our marriage first fell apart. Right after I confronted my husband about texting with a woman he met online (turns out it was many women, but I didn't discover that until months later), we started marriage counseling. One of the issues that came out in counseling was that I had all the responsibility in the marriage. I made appointments and took the kids to the doctor, dentist, orthodontist. I made sure all the bills were paid. I scheduled and took the dogs to the vet. I assigned tasks for cleaning the house. I, me, oh my.
So he offered to take over paying the bills every month. Great. Halle-freakin-lujah. I showed him how I do it as an FYI, but stepped back and let him do it his way.
Well, his way was to not do it at all. Our electricity account went on notice to be turned off. Our Internet did get turned off (big problem, since I work from home). Both of our vehicles were under review for repossession.
What the absolute #~(%!!!!!
I had to step back in and take over again. This is where I sputter all the cliches:
Story of my life.
If you want something done right, do it yourself.
I do, in fact, wear the pants in the family.
So when the divorce came around, he took possession of the mini-van, fine by me, but because my name is a co-signer on the loan, he is required to pay me every week so that I can make the monthly payment. Trust is a hard thing and I will never again trust him with the finances.
But what I have noticed, and what I thoroughly enjoy every month, is seeing how much the electricity bill has dropped since he moved out - as compared to the same month a year prior. For example, for June 2021, usage dropped 29.2% from June of 2020.
Why such a decrease? Well, because even though I'm the "Lights Off Czar," he didn't care. He was the most guilty of everyone in this house of leaving lights on all the time. He'd leave the lamp on in the basement so he could see his way up the stairs. He'd leave the light on over the stove all the freakin' time. He left the outside light on even when it wasn't needed. He would turn the bedroom light on in the evening and just leave it on for no apparent reason. And let's not forget, he stayed up until 2, 3, 4 in the morning playing video games, watching porn, and oh, apparently chatting with random women. He often fell asleep mid-game with the controller in his hand. Lots of electricity being used when it didn't need to be.
Of course, because I'm the 'Lights Off Czar,' he never failed to point out when I left a light on at my desk, or left my monitor on. These were occasional infractions, but the Czar isn't allowed infractions.
Anyhow, now I'm seeing between a $20 and $50 savings each month since he moved out. I still have to remind the kids to turn their lights off on occasion, but they seem to understand the financial repercussions of being wasteful, even if they do forget. I am much less of a Czar now, maybe more of 'Lights Off Army Commander.' And that money equals savings, which either goes in the nest egg, or goes toward vacation.
Why be wasteful when you can go on vacation?
I always try to find the silver lining in any difficult situation, but in this case, I am definitely looking on the BRIGHT side.
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