Tag Archives: TV

A Day in the Life of a Cheapskate

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I spent the weekend living like a cheapskate.  I didn’t try to.  I just kind of lived my weekend life as I normally do, and it turns out my brain kind of defaults to less expensive choices.

The highlight of fall weekends for me is watching Penn State football games on TV.  But I don’t have cable.  I do have an assortment of streaming services, but none of them were carrying this week’s game.  I usually subscribe to one of the “watch live TV” services at some point during the football season (and carry it through bowl games), but I was trying to put it off as long as I can.  I won’t be home for next week’s game, so if I could find a way to watch this week’s for free I would be good until mid-October.  So I signed up for a one week free trial for one of the services I’m not planning to use for the full season, but had the Penn State game.  The next day I canceled the service so I wouldn’t be charged.  I feel a little bad for taking advantage of the service like that….but not that bad.  I usually do this once a year, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

For dinner on Saturday I was thinking about getting a slab of barbeque ribs from the warehouse club.  But the $18 price tag made me rethink that.  I also thought about ordering a pizza.  But ultimately I pulled out my Instant Pot and made a pot of soup.  It was a lot cheaper than the other two options.  And likely better for me.  And we have leftovers.

I also needed to buy some jeans this weekend.  Apparently the Covid-19 pounds that I gained have morphed into the Covid 29, and now my pants don’t fit.  But I like the jeans I have.  I just need the next size up (until I can get myself back on the treadmill to get my weight under control).  Rather than buy new, I went to my favorite resale site, Poshmark.  I found a bundle of three pair in my new (hopefully temporary) size for a good price, so I bought it.  I like buying used clothes.  It’s less expensive to buy better quality that way.  And it’s better for the environment to reuse like that.  So much fast fashion ends up in the world’s landfills, so I just feel better about reusing an item somebody didn’t want anymore.

I guess I have the mindset of a cheapskate.  And I’m fine with that.  I can dress it up and say that I’m “choosing a frugal lifestyle” or something like that, but the reality is I’m pretty cheap in regular life.  And I’m pretty sure that’s a good way to be for this era of super high inflation.  If my default is to keep costs low, that makes it a lot easier to get to the next paycheck.

Do you default to the less expensive options?  Should you?

For just a few dollars more…

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I hate talking on the phone with a representative from the cable company.  It seems like they are always misleading.  That’s part of the reason that I became a cord cutter several years ago.  And usually I’m pretty good at not answering my phone when they call me to try to sell me services I don’t want.  But they caught me last week and I found myself on the phone with the cable people.

They tried to offer me a “great deal” to add cable television to my internet plan, keeping my costs basically the same.  Having been down this road before, I asked them to expand on what they meant by “basically the same.”  I asked specifically what would happen to the price if they were to add in taxes, fees, and the cost of renting a cable box.  Then “basically the same” turned into “only a few dollars more per month.”

I didn’t stay on the phone long enough to find out exactly what “a few dollars more” actually translated to.  I just declined.  Because “a few dollars more” is too much for me to pay for something I don’t want.  I don’t want cable.  I like having to carefully choose what television shows I use to escape life.  Hulu and Dish Sling and Netflix give me all of the TV I could possibly need.  Cable would load me up with excess channels I don’t care about.  It would burden me with an electricity sucking cable box.  And it would make it difficult for me to unburden myself from the cable company when whatever promo deal they were trying to sell me expires and they jack up the price (it took me about 40 minutes on the phone to cancel cable in the first place!).

I just said no.  They tried to tell me it was a deal I couldn’t afford to decline.  But any price at all is simply way too much when you are paying it for something you don’t want or need.  There’s a big difference between a bargain price and a burden.  Wise people can recognize the difference.

 

Vampire Power and the Great Cable Experiment

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Back in September I wrote about my great cable TV experiment.  I cancelled my cable and now do all of my television viewing through Internet streaming.  Four months later, I still don’t miss cable at all.  I’ve found that I read more.  I listen to music more.  I go to bed earlier at night (and reap the benefits of a decent night’s sleep!).  I don’t just “tune out” in front of the TV anymore.  Yes…I still vegetate on the couch from time to time.  I’ve been binge watching Parks and Recreation and Scrubs for the last couple of months.  But I definitely spend a lot less time staring at the screen.

cable box

I’m not surprised.  I expected all of these results from my cable cancellation.  But there is one specific side-effect of cutting the cord that has been a very pleasant surprise for me.  My electric bill has gone down.  Significantly—about $10 per month!  I always knew that my four (yes…FOUR) cable boxes were sucking vampire power while they weren’t really in use.  But I had no idea how much.  It seems cable boxes (especially DVRs) are among the worst vampires around, using more energy than most appliances.  A new agreement is going to make sure future cable boxes are more efficient. But in the meantime, you may want to consider plugging those set top boxes into a power strip that you can flip on and off.  Or just cut the cord altogether, like I did. 😉

Cutting the Cord (a classic tip from 9/9/2013)

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cord cutting

 

I did it.  I cut the cord.  I have ditched my cable.

I still have a high speed internet connection through the cable company, but no cable television.  Monthly savings:  about $75.  And what will I miss?  Not much.  I have Roku boxes attached to TVs in three different rooms in my house to allow for streaming.  I have subscriptions to Hulu+, Netflix, and Amazon Prime (and yes…I was already paying for those before I cut the cord).  Most of the TV shows I care about are available through Hulu+.  Most of the rest are available through Amazon or through CBS.com.  Most of the remainder of what I watch is drivel.  I can easily find mind-numbing comfort TV on Hulu+ and Netflix.  I just have to actively select my drivel rather than just stumbling into it in a remote-flipping haze.

It’s an experiment.  I may end up hating it (but after one week I’ve barely noticed).  I’m a little nervous about losing access to live sports, specifically Penn State football games.  But I have a radio.  I can listen to a couple of games a month.  And for those games I really don’t want to miss?  The money I save by not having cable can easily fund watching those important games from the comfort of my favorite brewpub.

Will I cave in and decide that I just can’t live without football and Doctor Who?  Or will I reap savings for years to come?  Only time will tell.

How much do you spend on cable/satellite TV?  Care to join me on my money-saving journey?