Riot for Austerity – Month 22

Riot for Austerity fist with Thermometer

This month our household was even more in flux than in July (see this entry for all the coming and goings). In August we averaged 6 people. Last year’s averages (calculated here) are mentioned as a baseline. I use this calculator. Don’t ask me how it works, all I know is it keeps me honest.

Gasoline. The biggest expenditure here is that we drove from Boston to Cape Cod with two  cars, packed to the brim with people and dogs.  DH had to drive into work because the shuttle doesn’t go in Summer. And with so many people around it was tough to consolidate drives, like I usually do, and our sundry crises also necessitated more driving than we usually do. So though I am dividing by 6, our mileage was still quite high.

12.625 gallons per person (pp) in 2 carsi

31 % of the US National Average

(Last year’s yearly average: 24.8%)

Electricity. Even though we had more people in the house, we used less electricity than last month (489 KWh).  The calculator reckons per household, not per person.

417 KWH (all wind).

12 % of the US National Average

(Last year’s early average: 18.2%)

Heating Oil and Warm Water. It’s just our warm water. As there were more of us – more showers – it is up a bit, because this is calculated for the entire household, not per person.

11.05 gallons of oil.

18 % of the US National Average

(Last year’s yearly average: 77%)

Trash. After recycling and composting this usually comes down to mainly food wrappers.We had a huge potluck but used compostable plates and bowls (let’s see if they really do decompose in my hot pile!).

10 lbs. per person

7% of the US National Average

(Last year’s yearly average: 7.3%)

Water. It was pretty dry all month and we had to resort to the tap for a couple of waterings.  At the end of the month we had four days of incessant rain, so the garden and barrels were topped off.

647 gallons of water pp.

22 % of the US National Average

(Last year’s yearly average: 16.5%)

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