I think those descriptions are for electric and gas (heat)...

Not internet.  Internet is different because it is not based off of square footage.  To me, that would sound like because my living room is larger than my office, I use the internet more in my living room, which is untrue.... Plus, I never use the internet in my bathroom or kitchen. 

I write off the percentage that I use it, that is how my tax guy said to.... I mostly use the internet for personal use about an hour a night and a couple hours on weekends.  Otherwise it is work only.  That is where I get the figure for 75% work, 25% pleasure use. 

• IC Tax Question - TTime
  • Only if you only use it for work. - NM
  • I would think - memt
    • makes sense - TTime
      • I do mine 50/50. - NM
      • On the program I use... - MT
        • Here is the IRS description... - MT
          • I think those descriptions are for electric and gas (heat)... - memt
            • My understanding... - MT
              • Thanks everyone (nm). - TTime

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu

Am curious if anyone's else is outrageously high.  Mine typically is $150-200 for summer months. 

I keep temp at 82 during day, 78 at night.  Temperatures here soar to 95-100 though.  But, I live alone and have gas hot water, gas stove.

Working at home has its pluses and minuses!  Leaving the air off for 8-10 hours a day while I was at the hospital working saved me a lot of cash in this utility bills.

and, get this, it comes with a "Users Manual."

This is the el cheapo $6.74 can opener and I'm thinking "hmmm, am I missing something here?"

My take on this is that if you don't know how to plug in and use a $6.74 electric can opener, there is a very good chance that you probably can't read to start off with.

It's 4 pages!

HOW TO USE: (Page 3)

1.  Raise lever, place can under the guide bar and against the geared wheel (See DIagram A to identify parts)

2. Press down on lever to pierce lid of can (Daigram B). This automatically starts thye cutting action. the can opener will continue to cut until the lid is completely severed from the can.

3 Grasp the can, then raise the lever to release the can.

4.  Carefully slide the lid away from the magnet, using caution to avoid being injured by the sharp edge of the lid.

I'm sure they do this so some stupid bozo won't sue the company because they weren't instructed on proper use of the can opener.

Way back when, I didn't even know it was "transcription."  I did some transcribing as a secretary at a clinic with 8-10 docs. Office manager showed me how to use "a tape player that you operate with a footpedal." (never heard the words "transcriber" or "transcription"). Only had a Dorland's Med. Dictionary and IBM Selectric. Wasn't until several years later at first actual medical transcription job, realized previously had already been doing medical transcription, "typing" the doctors' chart notes and letters (plus answering phones, sorting/distributing the doctors' mail & journals, bookkeeping/accounts payable, payroll, etc.) for ridiculously low file-clerk type pay for what was really an administrative assistant type job. 

You wanted a laugh though: One time, in a hospital transcription dept., me & the other ladies were in the breakroom, giggling about something in the newspaper, someone made a great joke about whatever the subject was, & we were laughing so hard, the security guard came running down the hall and into our breakroom to see what was going on (he thought he heard screaming!)  When he saw us all cracking up, he just shook his head, laughed, & told us to get back to work!

I've never cared to associate with nasty people and nasty people seem to dominate most MT boards.

Too bad we can't have the best of both.  Was 103 here yesterday in Portland, OR and we very rarely get that warm this early in the year.   could not work after 1 o'clock yesterday because of the heat, so got up at 4 this morning.  Better today low 90's but still plenty warm. 

Good luck to you being from Oregon I know about the rain but right now wouldn't mind a little.

Patti

I think my favorite account is getting cleaned out first thing AM, so I'm going to try nights for a bit.  Starting now!

Those of you who do nights regularly, any secrets to staying perky?

Good thing.  It was 6 degrees here yesterday morning.  Have enough wood stockpiled to last through this winter and halfway into next and I have a +2600 square foot farmhouse.  Also have the LP tank full in case the furnace kicks in.

Now, before I pat myself on the back too hard, let me say that wood heat is a LOT of work and time-consuming and very very very messy.  It's almost like a second job in some ways. 

Hubby wants the furnace on 67--too cold for me but we settled on 68.  Last year we had it at 70.  Our windows this year have all new caulking and loose windows are sealed shut, but that didn't seem to be enough. I bought a bunch of those 4.00 fleece blanket throws 50 x 60 " from Big Lots and some cafe rod clips from Walmart, enough to adequately cover all 20 windows. I cut the blankets in half and put 7 clips on each half, hung them on a standard rod and they cover the windows adequately for me.  If you want more fluffiness, use 1 blanket and 14 rod clips for each panel. It really helps in keeping the sun out of my office which is way too hot during the day being on the south side but then gets cold at nights when I work, so the blankets keep out the drafts. So far, so good.  We'll see if it helps on our gas charges. So far, they have us on budget billing and our bills are 72.00 a month.  Hopefully, they will go down a little more. I'm going to try leaving them up in the summer to see if they keep out the heat and keep in the air conditioning. I priced the thermal rubber backed drapes and they were about 25.00 to 50.00 a window-a little bit more than I can spend right now.

I think we may have worked for the same lady!  She never had the AC on in her office except for a unit in the room with the phone equipment to keep it cool, so my husband used to say that it must be the heat frying her brain cells.  If it isn't the same lady, it's a real clone.  I don't work for her anymore, either!

My office is upstairs in my house.  I work nights, so I have the settings on my automatic thermostat lower at night to be more efficient.  However, with the office upstairs, it is always warmer (heat rises), so even when the rest of the house is cooler, I am just comfy.

Also, have heard that when not using the computer, it is still using energy if it is turned on, so when going to be away from computer for a while, remember to turn it off.

Also, in my master bedroom, I have found this room gets very cold, especially at night on cold nights.  I think this is caused by the fact that it is in the corner of my house, with 2 large outside walls, and is also located above the garage (which is colder).  I purchased a small electric (porcelain I think or something like that) for about $30, and I don't think it uses that much electricity.  It has a thermostat system, so will cycle on and off to keep the room at the set temperature.  This works great for this room, as I keep the door closed.

Good luck!

around 67 at night, cut it down to about 65 during the day.   Gas prices have come down significantly in the last couple of weeks, so while we can expect gas bills to be higher this year than last, it won't be the whopping bill it was expected to be earlier.   Also I use gas for heat, so my gas bill will go up, but my electric bill will be lower so it will balance out.  I also cook a lot during the winter and I leave my oven open after I'm through cooking to let that extra heat into the house.  We've weatherstripped, caulked all the windows/doors, got those foam things for all the sockets and light switches on outside walls, and added extra insulation in attic.  If bill does get out of hand we have a fireplace and we'll just shut off part of the house. 

Fortunately in my area we have had a very mild fall thus far and today is the first day we've had heat on all day. 

That was our only heat source for over 20 years. It started out as a backup heat source, but soon became our only source.  We lived in a 5 room house back then and it heated the whole place.  If it was 5 degrees outside, it was wonderful to walk into the house. It felt like a cozy warm blanket wrapping around you as soon as you opened the door.  I was never cold. We kept a metal box fan behind it to blow the heat through the rest of the house, and a 30 gal soup pot on top filled with water for humidity. I even cooked a lot of meals on top. Had a whole set of cast iron pans, including the dutch oven. Meals were great. The only thing I didn't like was the "dirt" from the wood.

We now have forced hot air. I hate it. I'm always cold. I still have the wood stove but it's in the storage shed. Can't talk DH into installing it in the house. The only time I am warm is when I go up to the garage where my DH has an old Kenmore apartment size wood/coal kitchen stove that I bought for him a couple years ago. Guess where I spend all my free time...