Since 2005 I've been tracking our average daily kilowatt power used. Spreadsheet and all. Now that we've moved into a much smaller home our power costs have dropped dramatically. I'm also pretty sure going from six TVs to one has helped.
Each month I challenge myself to have a lower bill than the same month last year. One way I do it is by keeping the heat turned down. 66 degrees during the day when we're home and 52 degrees at night. The only thing problematic is that 66 degrees in the house during winter isn't exactly warm and toasty. We wear layers and sweatshirts but my feet still freeze. So when that $6.05 heating pad showed up this week I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.
Combine it with the other one I have and add in some nice flannel fabric.
Warm and toasty. Now if I could figure out how to keep my ears warm at night.