Next time you leave the faucet dripping ? or the light on, or crank the heat up ? you are doing nothing more than watching your hard-earned money slip away.
In the Baltimore Region, the U.S. Census Bureau lists the average household income as around $62,700 per year. To get every cent out of that paycheck, it?s important to be fiscally responsible with debt.
“Remember to pay all your bills on time,” said Kerri Kelly, a spokesperson for the Better Business Bureau of Greater Maryland. “When you are delayed or delinquent in a payment, late fees are charged, more interest accrues and your credit health is negatively affected.”
Handling utility bills
Customers of Baltimore Gas and Electricity Group can go online to estimate what their bill will look like at bge.apogee.net/rescalc. In a 1,000-square-foot multistory home built before 1970 with a family of four that keeps the thermostat around 68 and relies on mainly gas for heat and electric for the rest, that family can expect to spend just under $200 a month on their electric bill.
Earth Easy, an environmentally sustainable living company, says the average person using 100 gallons of water per day, costing the user an average of $300 per year. This number can vary with usage, unseen leaks or damage to pipes.
The American Gas Association tells people to seal cracks and leaks around windows, keep a constant eye on the thermostat, take efficient showers and wash full loads of laundry.
Watching out for credit card debt
A little effort and home-improvement can fix other bills, but credit card debt is something a little insulation can?t get you out of. Many finance experts, including Motley Fool, an international financial education company, have previously estimated that the average American household owes between $8,000 and $10,000 dollars in credit card debt.
Dave Jones, the president of the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies, told The Examiner that if someone makes the minimum payment on a credit card with a $10,000 balance and a 18 percent interest rate, it will take them 42 years to pay it off.
“Its always unwise to make the minimum payment; that?s a danger signal we look for if people do that two months in a row,” Jones said.
