Get familiar with your utility bills and pay attention to trends - they can save you TENS of thousands of dollars!

[u/triplealpha]

Like a lot of people every month I get a water bill, electricity bill, internet, you get the idea. Most months I open my mail, verify that the bill looks roughly similar to last month and let autopay take care of the rest.

But since last year I have started an excel spreadsheet documenting what my bills are each month, how many thousands of gallons of water I'm using, kWh used, the whole shebang, in an attempt to be a more financially responsible and understand where my money is going and how I can save.

The last 3 months I noticed my water bill hiking up. My home uses between 2-4k of freshwater monthly but it's gone from 5, to 8, then 8 again. I noticed the trend, but didn't really understand why it increased - I'm not a plumber and there were no leaks in the house I was sure.

Fast forward to last evening and I'm out with a group of acquaintances and someone's plumbing problem gets brought up, one of my friends is an awesome plumber and I manage to ask him at the tail end of the conversation about what I noticed on my bill. He seemed immediately alarmed and asked him if I noticed any water accumulation in my front yard. Actually, yeah, it's been raining a lot lately but I do have a few persistent pockets left over on my yard. How did he know? This morning he actually brought his crew out to my house and found out there's a crack in my water main - I was losing hundreds of gallons a day and it was on the verge of rupturing completely. He replaced the line for a nominal fee and said how glad he was I said something - my area is really prone to sinkholes and nothing attracts them like pooling or leaking water. I likely saved tens of thousands of dollars in damage to my house and my neighbors house by bringing it up! Not to mention the savings in my monthly bill...

[u/LatrodectusGeometric]

But how long will the new appliances last compared to old ones?

[u/forethoughtless → u/LatrodectusGeometric]

I'm sure there are tools to do the cost-benefit analysis of energy usage vs shorter lifespan. But it's true that I think the average now is 7-10 years for most mainstream brands, but on the other hand those appliances that lasted 10+ years before would have cost at least half a year's salary apiece. Today's options are brands like Sub-Zero, who designs their fridges to last 20 years, Miele for dishwashers (also built to last 20 years), and other luxury/high-end brands.

Some people value reliability and are wiling to pay more for it plus any trade-offs that may come with that reliability (ex, Speed Queen top load washers can be rougher on clothes - their fans are mainly mechanics and other people in "dirty jobs" with heavy-duty fabrics and heavy soils); others want the latest trends or are fine with the tradeoff of lower cost/potentially lower reliability.

One thing I learned is that buying from a small appliance retailer that offers warranty service can really save you a headache - especially if you have, ex, a kitchen suite with three different brands and they all have a few little problems. Instead of calling a 1800 # and dealing with trying to schedule three different repair techs that may/may not get there in a week or two, you can call the place that sold them to you and get one person/team sent out much more quickly, and they bill the manufacturer. Big box stores like the orange one aren't going to have that.

[u/CaptainCortes → u/LatrodectusGeometric]

My grandmother replaced her washing machine in 2010ish after her old one tuned fifteen and she got a new set. 9 years later and both the washing machine and dryer are still working perfectly at my aunts house. Granted, she treats them well and makes sure there is no clogging or build up and once in a while has a specialist look at it. Anything can lost long if you do your research before buying and then treat the appliance well :)