Some tips:
1. Make your home efficient. Go all CFLs for your personal lighting, and go with the smallest watts possible. Weatherstrip your doors and windows. A few hundred bucks and a couple hours work stopping drafts can keep your A/C from running constantly and your A/C draws HUGE wattage.
2. Go with gas appliances when possible. Gas oven, gas range, gas dryer are all about the same as their electric counterparts. Sure, a plumber now might cost you a few hundred bucks to run some new gas line, but it'll be worth it in the long run by keeping your electric bill low.
3. Typically, the total wattage of your setup should not exceed 1000 x the number of bedrooms. So for a two bedroom apartment, running a total of 2000W would not be out of the question.
4. Pay your bill on time or early, every time. Power companies don't report people until their bills get insanely high. As long as you aren't doubling the neighborhood average, you should be fine. Stealing power is the dumbest thing you can possibly do. The power company will eventually trace it out, then they'll call the cops on your ass, and they'll have a warrant to enter you home and arrest you for stealing power.