It’s a bright, sunny day, and I have turned our dishwasher on to wash the previous day’s dishes before making myself some breakfast and sitting down to peruse social media.  

About half an hour later, I hear my husband come out of our room. He often sleeps late on the weekend, so I don’t open the blinds in our room until after he gets up. A few minutes later, he storms into the room.

Husband: “Why do you have the dishwasher on? You know I changed our power supplier and we now get cheaper electricity between midnight and 5:00 am. You have to run the dishwasher then.”

I roll my eyes and shake my head before giving him a side-eye as I slowly turn toward him.  

Husband: “Well, what have you got to say? I’m the one paying the bills here; you’re just wasting money.”

Yeah, we both work, and our finances are combined; he just does the physical payment. 

I don’t say anything as I nudge my head toward the window. Noticing the nudge, he looks outside and comes to a realization.

Husband: “Oh… It’s daytime… We’re not paying anything for electricity.”

We have solar power and don’t pay for electricity from when the sun hits the panels to about midnight when the battery runs out. Until [Husband] started charging an electric vehicle overnight, our power bills were always in credit.