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Cut TV Bills – DFA Tip of the Week – 2/2/2009

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There are many ways to reduce costs in our every day lives, so to help do just that each Monday I will post a money saving “Tip of the Week”.

This weeks tip involves…reducing your cable or satellite T.V. bill.

When my wife & I moved into our new home on April 20th, 2007 one of the first things I did was to call Comcast and have them come set up our Internet service.  Running a close second was having DirecTV come and install our satellite television service.  In the past I have always had cable TV but I was so sick of dealing with Comcast I wanted to cut them out as much as possible.  I would have used an alternate Internet Service Provider, but there are no other viable options in our area…so I bit the bullet.

Using DirecTV at our new home was my first experience signing up with a satellite T.V. service.  It came as no surprise when they were offering me the world to sign up.  In times past with Comcast I have always had the basic extended plan that offered around 70 channels for $50 – $60 and that was always fine with me.  When deciding on my DirecTV package I wanted to choose something similar and ended up with a package around $65/month…or so I thought…

As time went by, my bill started increasing by a few dollars here and there until finally my most recent bills have been $85.  There is no explanation for the increases; my wife & I have not ordered any pay-per-view movies or added to our plan in any way, so the increases have confused me.  I tried calling their support but “DirecTV Support” is one of the biggest fallacies ever perpetrated upon the American public (pun intended).

Most recently we decided to subscribe to Netflix for their “2 out at a time – Unlimited” plan for $13.99/month.  Since we also have an XBox 360 we have the ability to stream select shows and movies directly from Netflix at no additional cost.  This past weekend I tried the service out and was very impressed.  My XBox, which is on our 1st floor, is connected to the Internet via our wireless router which is on the 2nd floor.  Despite all this, the speeds were enough to stream even HD movies with little to no interruption.  While watching the movie, the service made one adjustment a few seconds into the movie, then never blinked again.

To make a long story even longer, basically what I’m trying to say is that I’m VERY close to canceling my DirecTV service and just watching DVD’s and TV shows via Netflix and Netflix/XBox 360 stream.  I’m also looking into setting up Ubuntu Desktop Edition (which I’m already using successfully at work) in conjunction with Boxee on a slimline desktop PC which will enable me to watch TV via the Internet.  Boxee has also recently added Netflix support.  To read more about using these technologies together for your home entertainment center click here.

Regarding pros & cons of getting rid of your current TV service, my main Pro is obviously that I would cut my bill from $85/month to $14/month. Here is an additional list of Pros & Cons:

Pros

  • Times when you would normally watch TV you can do something more constructive like read, pray, exercise, do home projects, spend quality time with your family, or catch up on some sleep
  • The ability to record your shows lets you watch them at your convenience
  • Fast forward through commercials
  • Watch Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, and many other Internet Video sites through your TV
  • Manage your pictures, music, video and more via the media center of your choosing (XBox 360, Boxee, etc.)

Cons:

  • No “real time” TV service
  • Set up cost of getting an XBox 360 or Netflix compatible DVR or new entertainment PC or something of the like
  • If Internet is down you cannot download new shows (but you can still watch what you have recorded)
  • High Definition programming offers are limited (but they are limited in cable & satellite TV as well)
  • Have to learn a new system/interface (this may be a good thing…learning is growing right???)  🙂

What do you think?  Would canceling your current TV service be that bad? With the onslaught of alternatives popping up every day like the ones mentioned above, are you considering canceling your service and replacing it with something cheaper?  Give your comments below!

Click here to see all past DFA Tips of the Week.

Paper vs. Cloth – DFA Tip of the Week – 1/26/2009

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There are many ways to reduce costs in our every day lives, so to help do just that each Monday I will post a money saving “Tip of the Week”.

This weeks tip involves…substituting paper products with reusable cloth products

“With over 90% of US households taking advantage of the convenience of paper towels we produce over 3,000 tons of waste each day.” *

“Giant paper producers including Kimberly-Clark — the maker of Scott, Cottonelle, Kleenex and Viva tissue paper products — are forcing the destruction of our continent’s most vibrant forests…” **

Let’s see what we can do to combat this wastefulness and become better stewards of God’s money.

Paper Towels

Here are a few alternatives to paper towels.  Once you stop using them, there’s little doubt you’ll feel liberated, more environmentally conscience, and less wasteful!

  • Use sponges – Sponges are a great way to handle those “messy spills” we normally use paper towel for.
  • Use microfiber clothes – These reusable clothes from Sam’s Club have gotten rave reviews and are a great substitute for paper towels.  I am going to purchase some tonight, and will post a review after I get a chance to use them.
  • Cotton kitchen towels – Instead of using paper towels to dry your hands, simply use washable & reusable cotton kitchen towels.
  • Use homemade rags – Have some old socks or t-shirts you are about to throw out?  STOP!  Instead cut them into pieces and use as rags in the kitchen in place of paper towels.

From here forward I will be employing the above methods to save on the cost of disposable paper towels.

Kleenex/Facial Tissue

To reduce/stop having to purchase facial tissue, simply carry around a reusable & washable handkerchief.  This may seem gross to you at first; that is only because you are in the habit of using disposable tissues.  Similar to paper towels, once you make this change you will most likely wonder how you ever wasted so much money on disposable tissues.

Toilet Paper???

Who knows, after reading this post from Amelia at TheMomCrowd maybe I’ll even start using clothe toilet paper!  I’ll keep you posted on that as well, although I’m not so sure you want updates on that info!  😉

*Source:  EzineArticles
**Source:  NRDC

Bone-in Chicken – DFA Tip of the Week – 1/19/2009

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There are many ways to reduce costs in our every day lives, so to help do just that each Monday I will post a money saving “Tip of the Week”.

This weeks tip involves…boneless skinless chicken breasts.

I’m not sure when they started to get popular, but I think we’ll all agree that boneless skinless chicken breast have taken over the chicken breast market & are most likely here to stay!

Thinking back as a child, I don’t remember my parents cooking with them.  Instead they bought breast on the bone.  I don’t know if this was because they were budget conscious or because that was the only way chicken was sold back then…at any rate…growing up we always ate chicken on the bone.  I tried to look up “the history of boneless skinless chicken breast” on Google but found nothing.  If you want to look it up, good luck…the search results are filled with recipes, but no history.  Not even Wikipedia had any information on the history of the boneless skinless chicken breast.

**I’ll give someone a free blog ad on Debt Free Adventure for the entire month if they can give us a decent history of this modern convenience food.**

Now on to the Tip of the Week for January 19th, 2009:

Don’t buy both boneless skinless chicken breast and canned or boxed chicken broth from the grocery store!  Save around 75% of the money these would cost and cook healthier in the process.  Simply buy chicken breast on the bone, then boil it in water with a few of your favorite spices to make your own chicken broth!

I did so today and make a big pot of chicken stew.  Instead of spending $10 – $15 on the BSCB & store bought stock I did the following:

  • Boiled the breasts on the bone, sit aside to let them cool
  • pull the meat of the bone
  • chop veggies, saute veggies
  • add everything back into my homemade chicken broth & Voila…soup on the cheap!

Not only was this meal made a lot cheaper than normal, it was also more delicious! The homemade broth was EXCELLENT!

If you use this tip, let us know about it by leaving a comment…