# Sayin gby again



## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Ill be shutting down the puter for the winter. Cant afford it AND the more than double heat bill, and, push come to shove, id rather stay warm


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## Oregon1986 (Apr 25, 2017)

FarmboyBill said:


> Ill be shutting down the puter for the winter. Cant afford it AND the more than double heat bill, and, push come to shove, id rather stay warm


Sad to see you go,come back very soon!!


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## DKWunlimited (Sep 11, 2006)

Would you send me your phone number so I can call and check on ya every now and then?


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## CajunSunshine (Apr 24, 2007)

You will be missed, warts and all! Please leave your number with someone here, or else keep in touch somehow so we don't worry about you.

I hope you have few smoke alarms, especially considering the electrical situation over there, f'sure.

Be well, keep warm and dream of spring!

.


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## tiffanysgallery (Jan 17, 2015)

I hope you have Happy Holiday's & a Merry Christmas. Try to stay warm and take care!


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## COSunflower (Dec 4, 2006)

Merry Christmas FBB!!!! See you in the Spring!!!!!!


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

DKW I left my number. Did you get it?


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Tanks COS. See yez all then.


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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

You've been in your face longer than a year. Have you checked with your power company for energy assistance programs?


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## Oxankle (Jun 20, 2003)

Bill, dang it all; do you have an address or telephone number?
Chuck


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

Bill,

NetZero still offers free 10 hours a month dial up internet and some others offer 56k dial up for as low as $7 a month.

The only thing is if your using a newer PC without a dial up modem, you will have to buy a USB modem for around $40 or so to connect to one of your USB ports.

If the dial up ISPs have a local number to connect through, it will give you limited net access at a low price.

It's slow but at least a way to have some internet.

I use dial up on this 2017 wifi PC to visit this site , play chess and even load a youtube once in awhile by letting them load in pause mode as I do my chores.

If you might want to consider dial up options to save money , do a google search of free dial up ISPs and check their sites and have a local number to connect by before you go off line for winter.

If you do go offline for winter, stay warm and see you back here in the Spring.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Thanks Jay, Ill look into it.


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## tiffanysgallery (Jan 17, 2015)

Another idea, you could go to a coffee house, McDonald's, Walmart, Library or any public place that offers free wifi.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Im broke, so, im going to drive 20 miles one way to do that???


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Jay, the problem with your good idea, is that, once spring came round, and the electric bills went down, and eventually X showed up, Id have to go to the trouble to change it all around again.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Ill check the free dial up sites.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Jay DD told me that I had to have a land line to be able to get free service


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Have a Merry Christmas and I will see you when I see you!


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Talked to DD as I do every weekday. She said to hold off shutting down and she would try to help me. I said well, OK, But this is going to happen every month till spring. She said, well, lets just try to go as far as we can and see what happens,
SO
I guess, falsie alarm, for now.
Shes going to try to see about consolidateing some of my bills so as to bring down the payments.


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

Bill, find your county senior services center. Go there around 10am-1pm (usually ALWAYS people there then) and talk to the people there, find out about utility assistance, other assistance, internet for seniors...They can be a great first hand source of information, or will know who you can go to to find out about those things. I know that where I am, the phone company offers internet for $10 a month, in several smaller towns further south, a company offers free internet to those of a certain age/income.

Mon


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## MoBookworm1957 (Aug 24, 2015)

You stay safe Bill.
Leave somebody your phone number so we know you're well.
Stay warm.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Bill.
You come back you hear.


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## DKWunlimited (Sep 11, 2006)

FarmboyBill said:


> DKW I left my number. Did you get it?


Got it


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

I suspect the dialup networks have shrank to where if you dont live near a city, there are no local numbers to connect. Also as others pointed out, you need a landline service for dialup. Which in my area had gotten close to $30 per month just for basic. I got rid of it cause I have cell phone for $10 a month. Dont much need a phone at all, but a phone number of record is kind of a necessity whether you use it or not. Tell somebody anymore that you dont have a phone and they kind of look at you like you grew a second nose. And emergencies happen.

For internet, there is no cable or DSL available for me. I ended up with cell hotspot. You can buy as little as 1GB data per month. This would be plenty for basic email, and possibly tiny bit surfing. BUT you need to lock down windows and other software from doing automatic updates and telemetry spying. That will eat into your data. Also you have to used ad blocker and script blocker software when surfing as that eats into your data too. Which is unfortunately more complicated than most people want to do. 

I have everything locked down and use about 4GB data a month at around $40 a month. This means NO VIDEO but most everything else ok. Video is big data eater. And I know Bill loves his youtube. You can buy 1GB data for around $15 a month. Some places offer even smaller amounts data, though they may not be much of a bargain. StraightTalk hotspot and Net10 hotspot offer best buy as you go deals on data plans.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

I will add that in another thread Shrek mentioned that he had close to full 56k dialup connection. This is unusual. At best when I had dialup, I had 24k connection and usually more like 18k. Other than connection using a pop3 email client to download text only email, a 18k connection is next to useless for surfing. Maybe a non-commercial website with only static html like in old days.


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## tiffanysgallery (Jan 17, 2015)

FarmboyBill said:


> Im broke, so, im going to drive 20 miles one way to do that???


Didn't know you're 20 miles one way. Glad DD trying to help.  Always found your threads interesting.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

I was never a big fan of bill consolidation. If you are spending more than you earn the problem will continue.

What *DID* help me was when I arranged to pay the same amount every month for my utilities. It was easy because I did it with one phone call to the power company, and then I know exactly how much money I will need every month excepting for repair bills. It makes it very easy to follow a budget


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Terri, Im going to check into that.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

Bill,
Terri is right that utility bill averaging can work well. I started paying an averaged bill for my utilities about 10 years ago and every year I get a refund check or a negative bill balance carried over depending how high or low the surplus is.

Only one year have I had to pay more than my monthly averaged amount and the extra during that colder than usual winter was still under $200 for the extra spark juice I used to stay warm.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Is this a good time to hit them up, OR does it matter?


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## CajunSunshine (Apr 24, 2007)

Might be a great time to start! A friend of mine did the same and is delighted with the results. Averaging the utility bills brought a fresh of breath air into her checking account.

Policies may vary among different utility companies, but there's only one way to find out... Give 'em a call soon.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

My gas bill was ranging from $9 per month in the summer to $400 per month in an unusually cold winter month: that was not bad because a lot of people I knew were paying $600 for a month that hit below zero.

When I went to paying averaged amounts I started paying $90 per month every month, winter and summer both. Sometimes I have to add $100 at the end of the year if I have used a lot of gas that year.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

If you don't have a ceiling fan, take a regular fan and point at ceiling (at an angle) to get the hot air at the ceiling back down where it helps. This can raise the temperature as much as 5 degrees at lower levels of room.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

I have 4 cealing fans in the house . Im only using the master bedroom, master bath and a adjoining room to live in over winter, and it has only 1 which I have turning clockwise for that effect.
Im calling the elect Co now about a steady monthly payment.
They said my monthly bill would be AROUND $125 give or take $5 or so. 
I figured out that I spent around $70 OR LESS for 8 months, and I guessed at around $150 for 4 months of winter.
I found that, the way im CURRENTLY paying it is $300 cheaper than on a fixed amount per month,
I called and asked about that. 
They said I had a bill of $400 in Jan, and my average was made up of ALL 12 months.
If there is an amount left over, it rolls over into the next year.
Checking my records I don't show a payment till May 11, which would have been for the previous months. Then one in june for $61, One in july for $58, One in Sept for $63, one in Sept for $66,One in Nov for $56, And this months bill of $122.
My records are FAR from accurate as to forgetting to write down when I made a payment.
Now, all my bills, cept the one on the place is taken out directly from my account. I go on the day I get payed, usually, to the bank and they go through their/my accounts to balance them up and give me a true balance.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Utility company averaging the bills is simply convenience for the customer. Not saying they cant cheat you, but its highly unlikely. the idea for them to offer it is so people know what to expect to pay every month and nobody gets huge surprise bill they cant pay. You can do cost averaging yourself by adding up the previous years bills and dividing by 12. If a particular months bill is lower than average, you put the difference into a savings account. When a months bill is higher, you make up the difference by taking difference out of the savings account.

For lot people the utility doing the cost averaging seems lot simpler. 

My electric bill is slowly creeping up as cost of electricity and all the added taxes and fees, rise. Right now its between $40 and $60 a month year round. Not enough difference month to month for me to worry. But then I heat with wood stove and run my cook stove off 20# bottle propane. Havent used an air conditioner for couple decades now.


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

Bill, level payment plan and your utilities do NOT get shut off during the winter, as long as you make payments.

Mon


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## DKWunlimited (Sep 11, 2006)

There is a program in Oklahoma called LIHEAP (Low Income Heating assistance Program) I think it pays twice a year, once in January and once in July, the 2 usually highest bills of the year. Other states probably have something like it.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

John as to your first para
Theres no depositing any excess, OR drawing it out. Any excess gets rolled into the next years bills.
Deb, Ill check into that LIHEAP next week.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Gotcher mail. I don't see where I would qualify for any of the 3 qualifiers that you mention down at the bottom of the page.
Thanks for taking the time and interest.


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## DKWunlimited (Sep 11, 2006)

FarmboyBill said:


> Gotcher mail. I don't see where I would qualify for any of the 3 qualifiers that you mention down at the bottom of the page.
> Thanks for taking the time and interest.


Was this 2 me? If so, just give it a try, you might be surprised


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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

FarmboyBill said:


> Is this a good time to hit them up, OR does it matter?


I believe anytime is a good time. This is the same thing I mentioned Bill. Answer is no until you call. They might give a credit on your bill. Please check.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

Bill,
If you don't mind telling us, how are you doing for food? Firewood?

geo


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

I am loaded up with food. No problem there, AND DD is coming Tues to take me grocery shopping to buy what I don't have. Why would I need firewood?


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

Thought you were doing some heating with the kitchen stove--isn't it a wood stove? That's all.
Best regards for Christmas.

geo


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Nope, got rid of antique stoves, cabinets, ect. Have elect cook stove here.


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## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

I tried the electric company level plan on 2 weeks. They average the last 12 months. That amount is your first months bill mine came in 2 weeks. Then they do the average ing again each following month. My bill was 2 times what I had been paying$89 plus taxes ect.$238 Didnt help me budget at all. You wont know from month to month what to budget.


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

I just have the budget billing from the gas company. They readjust the rate every six months, so it changes twice a year...the raising/lowering of the bill isn't much, around maybe $7. Maybe each company does it differently?

Mon


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

yep DD said that she gets a pittance from the electric co also at around that amount.
Last year I went 3 or 4 months where I didn't have a bill. Theyd send on with DO NOT PAY on it. I called them, and they told me I had a balance that they were working off.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Thank y'all he won't listen to me when I tell him the same thing. So I hope he listens toy'all and follows through. 
FBB's X Sun


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## DKWunlimited (Sep 11, 2006)

FarmboyBill said:


> Thank y'all he won't listen to me when I tell him the same thing. So I hope he listens toy'all and follows through.
> FBB's X Sun


Confused, is Bill writing this for his son or does Bill's son log in to his account?


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

That's my X lol


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## DKWunlimited (Sep 11, 2006)

So she logs in to your account at the nursing home?


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## CajunSunshine (Apr 24, 2007)

'parently so! 

>waving< Hi there, and welcome aboard! (((hugs and all the best to both of you!)))


.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

she does, but seldom.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

DONT encourage her lol


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## DKWunlimited (Sep 11, 2006)

FarmboyBill said:


> DONT encourage her lol


Help her create her own account so she can join in!


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

no way zohay. She knows my access info, so she can get in here as easily as I can.


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