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Treading water financially - need to find ways to save
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Anonymous
Really, get rid of the cable. I promise you won't miss it AT ALL. You can get an internet/phone package if you want to keep the high speed internet. This is what we do. You can watch shows online and really, there isn't much on cable anyway. If we want to catch a movie, we do the $1 Redbox and microwave popcorn after DD goes to bed. No money for the sitter. Honestly, how much time do you have to watch cable? Just cut the cord. It adds up month after month. |
Anonymous
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OP, call the insurance company to confirm that you will save money if you drop the car. You say you have excellent driving records so most likely what happened to us won't happen to you but it's worth checking out. We had two cars and when we moved into DC we decided to sell one. Our insurance costs went up!!!! What happened was that dh had a couple of speeding tickets (both over 20 mph over the speed limit) and it turned out that the company was somehow averaging our driving records over two cars and therefore reducing our payment. When they applied both his crummy record and my good one to just one car, they charged us more!
I know I know. It makes no sense. Even my insurance agent was surprised. Fortunately, dh got his act together and has a much better driving record but I learned from that to never assume that selling a car would reduce my insurance costs. |
Anonymous
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I don't have the Internet at home.
I gotta have: House Hunters Law and Order:SVU TCM Britcoms & Mysteries |
Anonymous
I agree - we just did this and don't really miss it at all. I can still watch Gossip Girl online! And we get movies from the library and are planning to start Netflix; movies is mostly what we had time for before. I've also read three books this month, which is more than I read all of last year. Check out hulu.com and see what you could be watching online if you have shows you love. |
Anonymous
| Drop Cable and subscribe to Netflix. |
Anonymous
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Cut out or way down on the biggest expenses. Giving up lattes ain't gonna do it.
Need to cut back on daycare or house/mortgage expenses. |
Anonymous
I thought I'd miss the Food Network and House Hunters (and Sabrina The Teenage Witch)  when we gave up cable.
It's been a year, and we haven't looked back. At first, I'd want to watch cable at my parents' house when we were visiting, but now, I don't even think about watching TV. RedBox is awesome. Or Netflix. Cable is a money waster and a timesuck. Give it a try. You can always start it up again after 6 months if you're too miserable without it. I don't know of anyone who's regretted giving up cable. |
Anonymous
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Do you need the Internet & a PC to access RedBox or Netflix.
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Anonymous
No. RedBox is those kiosks at Giant/Safeway where you can rent a DVD for $1/night. Just need a DVD player. |
Anonymous
Thanks. I don't have a DVD player. Does Redbox have Poirot/Miss Marple type programs? |
Anonymous
No. Netflix does, and you can get some PBS shows online. |
Anonymous
| Definitely get net flix. It's so much better than cable. You can get everything, and if not so much is online now. Seriously. |
Anonymous
| 9:54, can you give us the recipe for your rice/lentils/carmelized onions dish? That sounds yummy to me! |
Anonymous
A DVD player is less than $50 these days, so if you cancel cable and start netflixing your shows (they have a lot of tv, as well as movies), you'd come out ahead in the first month. |
Anonymous
We are in the exact same boat and have had some really tough epiphanies. With a third child on the way the reality hand is slapping my DH and I down hard (CC debt, minimal savings/unexpected emergencies, 3 cars totaling 36 years old [and not big enough to accommodate 3 kids = need "new" car]). What we finally did, which is what we should have done years ago when we had an easier flow of money, was to create a budget. We wrote down our bills (monthly bills, quarterly bills, annual bills, etc.), averaged out and then budgeted what we'd need for groceries, gas, home improvement, clothes, entertainment, vacation, oh s*it emergencies, cars, etc. It's been very enlightening, although still depressing knowing we're having to "box" ourselves into spending (tough when you're 38 and have never done it before). Coupons have been great, I've created a spreadsheet and keep it on our kitchen board which helps when we're making out our lists. We're getting there, it's required a whole different mindset. At 38, I'm like 266 years old in dog years, so it's been really tough teaching this very old dog new tricks, but it's working. 
I really like the posts about canceling cable - we've been toying with the idea and I've realized that canceling it saves us 120 per month. Multiply that times 24 months = $2880 = Disney when the kids are bigger. Good luck, know that you're not alone. |