Your electric meter is an accurate measuring instrument that you can easily read. Simply read the dials from left to right. Record the number that each dial pointer has passed.
Notice that the dials read either clockwise or　counterclockwise.
In the illustration, the reading is 35394. If you read the meter a month later and the reading is 36176, the difference between the two readings would be 782. That represents the number of kilowatt-hours used between the two reading dates.
 
 

In the illustration, the reading is 47851.