Has this winter hurt your household budget?

Natural gas costs are up this winter by roughly 15% according to Xcel Energy. Are you feeling the pinch of energy costs? Where are you cutting back to cover other winter-related costs?

"There's all this give and take going on at the micro level," according to Toby Madden, an economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "But at the macro level, we still should be producing $300 billion worth of goods and services this year in 2014."

What about all the expensive repairs to burst pipes and busted fenders? Economists call that a "loss of wealth."

Despite those costs, Minnesota's economy is so big and so diverse that a few months of lousy weather is not likely to move the needle much. In fact, Madden said, all signs point to continued economic growth. (MPR News/KARE11)

Today's Question: Has this winter hurt your household budget?

• Thank you!
• Should gun makers be allowed to create handguns that look like cellphones?
• What is your reaction to Tay, Microsoft’s AI chat-bot that learned to be racist?
• Do you support the reopening of a private prison in Appleton?