Livin' ain't cheap.
Residential bills we typically regard as "utilities" are electric, water, sewage, natural gas and telephone.
Might as well add cell phones, the Internet and cable TV in these modern times.
The bills have things in common: Figuring them out can be a challenge. Numerous taxes and fees apply. The "amount due" never goes down. And you better pay on time.
Verizon is a favorite.
The bill usually introduces itself with an "Account Summary." It shows what you owe in simple terms. Then it turns into a packet of pages and small print.
Turn to Page 2 titled "Current Activity" to start learning the challenging details.
A bill that a widow gave me for her regular phone service showed Flat Rate Unlimited Service cost only $5.22 a month.
By the time Verizon was done, she paid another $26.01, consisting of $2.53 for Sensible Minutes, whatever they are; $8.95 for Caller ID; $8.53 for a Dial Tone Line, and $6.00 for a VLD Shortfall Charge, whatever that is.
The carrier tacked on an extra $11.03 covering eight various state and federal taxes, plus other government and Verizon charges, surcharges and fees. Of the amount, $1.25 went to the county to subsidize the 9-1-1 emergency call center.
The woman's "final bill" for $5.22 of Flat Rate Unlimited Service amounted to $42.26!
My bill for the same month came to $82.95, understandable because it also covered a high-speed Internet connection, unlimited long-distance calling and other communication frills.
For whatever reason, Verizon changed my service from Double Freedom to Double Play with Double Freedom Essentials, whatever that is. It increased my overall bill, too, to $89.14.
Visiting the Verizon website, you can find a link to "Getting to know your Verizon bill."
Who wants to?
My Comcast bill went up by $5 a month, proportionately increasing taxes, surcharges and fees, bringing it to a total of $69.78 although I don't subscribe to HBO or the other "premium channels" that can drive the cable TV tab well above $100.
The bill included a "franchise fee" of $3.29 that's really a local, hidden tax. Comcast remits the money to the municipality where you live, a "reward" where public officials grant exclusive rights to a cable company.
In my case, the township now collects nearly $40 a year from me because I subscribe to cable TV.
Allegheny Power and Peoples Natural Gas provide graphic charts showing how much energy you consumed on a monthly basis for the previous 12 months.
They compare average daily temperatures and show related information, not only to help explain their bills but, I suppose, to make people more mindful of how they should save through conservation.
Because they read meters bi-monthly, Allegheny Power and Peoples enable customers to submit readings on their own to prevent wild fluctuations in months that bills are based on company estimates.
The Summary of Basic Charges on my latest natural gas bill was intriguing.
The part from Peoples Natural Gas covered a Customer Charge, Delivery Charge and Capacity Charge. The part from Dominion Energy Solutions covered a Commodity Charge.
By reading the back of the bill, I learned the Capacity Charge is what it cost the gas company to reserve capacity on interstate pipelines.
The Delivery Charge covered the cost of distributing the gas from where Peoples took it out of those pipelines to the gas meter at your home or apartment.
The Customer Service Charge covered maintaining the gas lines, meter reading and billing.
What it actually cost for the gas was in there somewhere.
Thought du jour: Man with one chopstick go hungry.
