15 years in CA will get you...

The average American Household uses about 100-200 gallons, per day.

We use 80 gallons a day. I've been reading our water bills for years, and it always runs between 2 to 3 thousand.

I owe it to living in California. During the late 80's, early 90's we had a terrible drought. One year, I think we got 12 inches of rain in the whole year. One thing we learned quickly - water conservation. Don't leave the faucet running. I remember hearing "DON'T WASTE WATER!". They'd teach us lots of tips in school on "living green".

Same with electricity. I loved the new flourescent (sp) light bulbs as soon as they came out. It uses 15 watts, and I get the equivalent of 100? I'm there. Ron's totally blind. He could care less, but he loves knowing that - right now for instance.

Desk Lamp: 4 watts
Kitchen lights: 160 watts
Hanging light fixture: 18 watts
If I had the lamp in the corner turned on, it would add another 17 watts. That's all lighting about 500 square feet of living space.

I've been using these bulbs for over a decade, and I love them. The only ones I've "lost" was one in a lamp that Ron knocked over. The only problem I've had is with the lampshades that rest on the light bulb, some of them are a little wobbly.

We use the microwave for most of the cooking, and mainly use disposable paper plates for our "china". We have a natural gas stove, furnace, and water heater. Our house is well-insulated. The biggest energy hogs are the fridge, my 20-inch TV, and my washer and dryer.

So, living in California for 15 years will get you good habits of conservation that help you to be a good steward of God's planet AND save you lots of money.

I don't know how many kilowatt hours we use a month, but our electric bill is always 1/3 to one half of everyone elses'. Ron and I keep the thermostat at 77 during the summer, and I have a couple of nice warm robes I wear in the winter.

Like he says "That's more money I can spend on you, Heather."