You're a high powered programmer. It's safe to assume a significant amount of your work and entertainment is electronic in nature. I would expect your electricity bill to be higher than average. It's cool that you want to 'win' this game. I'm interested in winning the save-the-most-money game. So I use my one light in my kitchen-living room combo for all of my lighting needs except my bathroom. I also don't use the heater, at all. Lots of blankets. This way I don't spend money on expensive energy efficient things and I don't spend much money on energy itself.