Live Debt Free

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Legal Alternatives to Cable TV

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Cable alternatives for lower bills

Let’s talk about cable alternatives I use to lower my TV bill and give you several ideas to help you lower yours.

Has your new HDTV been more like a money drain than an entertainment unit?  I feel your pain.  There seems to be no end to the accessory products & services you have to buy to “complete your HD experience.”

I’m at a place in life where I’m ready to sacrifice my wants for the greater good of becoming debt free.  I’m not sure where you are in your journey, but one thing’s for sure – the more you separate yourself from the plague of consumerism, the more freedom you stand to gain.  It may seem like you are sacrificing at first, but as time passes you will undoubtedly see your “sacrifices” turn into blessings!  Not only financially, but also in many other areas of your life.

There are a few things to consider before you can start saving on your TV bills.  Here are the highs & lows my wife & I had to go through before we ended up finally lowering ours for good.

Alternatives to cable TV – Our situation

Regarding television sets, things were going just fine for my wife & I.  We had two TVs in the house, everything a nice young couple could ask for really.  In the living room there was a very nice (& heavy) 27″ Samsung cathode ray tube set that did everything a good TV should.  In the bedroom we had a little 13″ cathode ray tube TV perfect for watching on 30 minute sleep timer while dozing off for the night.  No, we didn’t have the latest & greatest, but did have exactly what we needed.  Until…

I’m not sure exactly when Bizarro Matt kicked in, but before I knew it I found myself on the way to ABC Warehouse to “check out” the new flat panel HD television sets.  In my mind I knew I wanted a flat HD plasma or LCD TV, but honestly had very little intention of actually buying one that day!  As I was walking through the store the idea of going home with a brand new $1,900 Panasonic seemed like less & less of a bad idea.  Before I knew it, I had one in the back of my Jeep Cherokee and was heading home to “surprise” the wife!

After hashing out the pros & cons of the purchase we were on the phone with Comcast to cancel the basic cable package to make way for a brand new HD/DVR service from DirecTV.  The existing basic cable/Internet package with Comcast was costing us around $85/month.  After canceling the cable TV, keeping the Comcast Internet, and signing up with DirecTV the total amount we were paying reached a peak of $150 in January of 2009.  The high amount was due in part to the extra costs I needed to incur to enjoy the HD & DVR capabilities my new TV offered.  In early February I contemplated the option to cancel my TV service but never pulled the trigger.  In late March I decided to call DirecTV to lower my TV bill and ended up shaving off $20, which was better than nothing.  After a few bad experiences with DirecTV I canceled and went back to the Comcast basic package.  Then – finally – in October of 2010 I canceled our service altogether and began my quest for cable alternatives.

Our chosen alternative to cable TV

Finances were not the only reason that led us to rid our lives of television service.  Both my wife & I were fed up with the incessant commercials and endless materialism being shoved down our throats.  Since canceling, we can more clearly see how the rampant consumerism was affecting our daily lives.  We are happy we canceled, and encourage you to do the same.  You’ll get more done and you’ll save more money.

I kept the Comcast Internet service to run my websites, but am saving $76 every month by no longer paying for television service.

Alternatives to cable TV for you

I will order these solutions by levels of effectiveness:

  • Cancel your television service altogether – C’mon…just do it!  You won’t regret it.  This is your best option for the highest reduction in costs.  Shutting of our DirecTV saved my wife & I $76/month.  Besides saving you money, canceling your TV service will also free up enough time for you to develop a few money making hobbies you are passionate about!  You will not believe how productive you can be until you shut off your TV service.  The next few solutions are things that my wife & I also do in lieu of a television service.
  • Buy a digital antenna – With the digital switch coming soon you must use a digital antenna to receive a signal.  You can purchase either an indoor or an outdoor antenna that enables you to receive free local “over the air” digital programming.  Indoor antennas are cheaper and seem to work fine, this is the route my wife & I took.  They usually range between $15 and $60.  Here is the indoor digital antenna I recommend, it’s only $36 and has been highly rated by nearly 400 on Amazon.
  • Purchase a Netflix streaming video plan – I would only advise this if you have an XBox 360 with an active XBox Live subscription, or some other Netflix Watch Instantly plan.  We subscribe to the $16/month plan, but Netflix has cheaper options yet.
  • Watch TV over the Internet – We now watch some of our favorite shows on the same laptop I’m typing up this blog post.  NBC.com offers all its shows over the Internet as soon as they have aired.  Other network sites include: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, A&E, Discovery Channel, HGTV, Lifetime, MTV, and even PBS.  Other sites offering up free view are:  Hulu.com, Boxee.com, YouTube.com, along with lesser knowns like ChannelChooser.com, TVChannelsFree.com, and WatchTVChannels.net.
  • Call your service providers – Use my tips on speaking to Customer Service Reps to get your bill lowered.  This has saved me a lot of money over the last 5 months.  One Comcast rep even told me that I can continually take advantage of their 6 month promotion prices by simply calling every 6 months.  With this tip, a lot of your success rides on how well you get along with the CSR so make sure you use my tips
  • Lower your television plan to the lowest they offer – Make sure you figure out the “after tax” and “after features added” price though, for example.  DirecTV offered a plan for $29.99/month that turned out to cost $45/month after HD & DVR capabilities along with taxes were added.  I know Comcast offers a plan my wife & I call “welfare cable” that gives you a few basic channels for around $15/month.
  • Bundle your services – We did this for the first six months we lived in our new home, but after awhile I grew tired of Comcast’s TV service, so I switched to DirecTV.  Doing this cost me in the long run.  Bundled service will lower the cost of your television, Internet, and now even your phone services.

A few extra tips to make/save some money

  • Sell your HDTV – if you do cancel our TV service you may want to get rid that HDTV altogether.  If you are to go this route make sure you don’t sell it for pennies on the dollar; if you’re going to do that you may be better off just keeping it.
  • If you must purchase an HDTV go with LCD – LCD TVs use way way way way way way way less power to run them, which will save you a lot of money over the long haul

Using all or any combination of the above techniques will help you lower your TV bills!

MTV,

The Whole Armor of Personal Finance

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Some of my favorite bible verses are those packed full of encouragement and power.  In the following passage, the Apostle Paul is speaking to the church at Ephesus regarding the battles to be fought, and the weapons with which they should fight.  This text is incredibly uplifting and full of timeless wisdom.

Paul reminds the reader that the Christian battle is not one of flesh and blood, but of principalities, powers, the rulers of this world, and wickedness in high places.

It reminds me of our battle against debt, advertising, commercialism, and the war we fight to gain control over our personal finances.

The Scripture

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”  – Ephesians 6:10-18

The whole armor of God

  1. Loins girt about with Truth
  2. Breastplate of Righteousness
  3. Feet shod with the preparation of The Gospel of Peace
  4. Shield of Faith
  5. Helmet of Salvation
  6. Sword of the Bible

The whole armor of Personal Finance

  1. Loins girt about with Wise Money Management
  2. Breastplate of Frugality
  3. Feet shod with the preparation of Sound Financial Counsel & Education
  4. Shield of Contentment
  5. Helmet of A Proper Money Mindset
  6. Sword of Cutting Expenses

Loins girt about with Wise Money Management

  • Budget to gain control & focus on Spending less than you earn
  • Emergency fund savings – while many say to get at least $1,000 saved for emergencies, I advise to continually fund your emergency fund and other high interest savings accounts by using the percentage approach.  I currently designate 25% of my available funds to my savings even though I am still in debt reduction mode.
  • Debt reduction – where I focus the remaining 75% of my available funds.  It is of the utmost importance to rid yourself of all your high interest consumer debt like credit cards, department store cards, auto loans, etc.  Once you pay off your high interest debt, I advise shifting the majority of your available funds to savings & investments.
  • Invest & continue to save – once you have paid off your high interest consumer debt, continue building your EF and invest the rest in your investment of choice.  Index Funds (through Charles Schwab or Vanguard) are solid, low-cost, choices that will meet market returns.
  • Pay off your mortgage & student loans – once you have your savings funded according to the needs of your individual situation, paint a big bulls-eye on your low interest debt and slash that baby down as quickly as possible.  I may catch flack for saying this, but I am a HUGE proponent of paying off the mortgage and living DEBT FREE.

Breastplate of Frugality

  • Creative mindset – get your creative juices flowing & be resourceful.  Before we do anything now, my wife & I run all our financial decisions through our protective frugal filter.
  • Stop eating out – If you have been following our Debt Free Adventure then you may well know that Mrs. Jabs & me were spending between $5,000 – $6,000 a year eating out at restaurants.  Looking back now, this is absolutely atrocious to me but before equipping ourselves with the breastplate of frugality we just didn’t concern ourselves with the costs.  If you must eat out use my Frugal Guide to Eating Out.
  • Homemade gifts & products – making more things at home including:  food, cleaning products, gifts, home decor, etc. will save you money and bring many other benefits along with it.  We make products such as homemade laundry detergent, toothpaste, deodorant, all-purpose cleaner, homemade dishwasher detergent, etc.  We also stopped buying cards & gifts and choose to make our own now – the results are more personalized, unique, and special than their store-bought counterparts.
  • Use Coupons – When we do buy things we always shop around and seek out coupons.  This is especially useful when shopping on the Internet, before I make any purchase I simply go to Google and type in “Coupon *product I’m buying*”
  • Ask for discounts – I tell my wife all the time, you never know until you ask!  Just a few weeks ago, when putting in my paver patio I saved over $300 by simply asking for a discount due to the volume of my purchase.
  • Decrease use of heat & AC – we used to keep our house at 70 in the winter and 74 in the summer.  Now we keep it at 64 in the winter and have actually been able to keep our A/C off every day this summer except for two!

Feet shod with the preparation of Sound Financial Counsel & Education

  • Adopt a financial mentor – when I truly began to get a hold on my finances at the beginning of this year I found myself in need of some solid financial advice from those who were already standing where I wanted to be.  I decided to adopt a few financial mentors and they continue to be an ENORMOUS blessing in my life.
  • Read personal finance blogs – they’re free and chocked full of sound money advice.  A few great ones to get you started are Frugal Dad, Bible Money Matters, Get Rich Slowly, Five Cent Nickel, and The Simple Dollar
  • Read personal finance books– if you are like JD Roth and you like the smell of books, or you simply love the feeling of a good book in your hands then get started with a few goodies.  I recommend:
    • The Total Money Makeover – by Dave Ramsey
    • Your Money or Your Life – by Vicki Robin
    • The Richest Man in Babylon – by George Clason
    • The Treasure Principle – by Randy Alcorn
    • 10,001 Ways To Live Large on a Small Budget – by the writers of WiseBread.com

Shield of Contentment

  • Simplify your life – break free from the culture of temptation that marketers have been driving at us for decades, and choose instead to return to a simpler life.  Ride your bike more, walk more, read more, turn off the TV.  All of these things may seem like sacrifices at first but after being exercised by them Mrs. Jabs & me have realized the true blessings of a simplified life.
  • Determine your needs – what do you need at a most basic level?  Water, food, shelter, and love – everything else is a bonus.
  • Determine your wants – our wants can be endless so it is incredibly important that we realize this and quickly determine what we can do to keep them in check.  What kind of food should we buy?  How big of a house?  What clothes should we wear?  These questions, like many others in this post, will be answered differently based on your income, debt, age, and relationship status so be sure to answer them specific to your position.
  • Find a balance – now that you have separated you wants from your needs, focus on finding that balance where you have what you need, are living below your means, but still comfortable.

Helmet of A Proper Money Mindset

  • Sacrifice now to benefit later – this is actually my entire financial philosophy in a nutshell.  The concept is simple and revolves around my view that it is better to scrimp & save now than it will be when you’re in our 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, & 90’s!
  • Embrace compounding interest – to motivate yourself, calculate how much interest you are paying to big banks and do whatever necessary to reverse that cycle and start paying yourself first.
  • Spend less than you earn & avoid debt – this isn’t rocket science and does not require explanation.
  • Save/invest increasingly – Grow your savings every year, even if you are currently paying debt.  Always pay yourself at least 25% of your extra money each month.
  • Give generously – it truly is more blessed to give than to receive.  Since implementing an automated charitable giving plan earlier this year, my wife & me have never had a better grasp on our finances.

Sword of Cutting Expenses

  • Turn off your TV – I mentioned it earlier in the post and I am purposely mentioning it again.  It is hard to impress upon you the many benefits of canceling your TV service.  I am much more productive in my side hustles, I spend more time with my wife, I accomplish more around house… especially in the way of my “honey do list”.
  • Reduce grocery costs – grow a garden, make more homemade food, stop eating out, buy in bulk, eat locally, preserve the harvest by freezing it and by canning it.
  • Reduce your consumption – I’ll say it again… turn down/off your furnace and turn down/off your air conditioning.  At first we thought this was uncomfortable but found we adapted to the temperature quickly.  Now that we no longer use our A/C we are always very cold when we go into a building that has it in use.
  • Carefully check your monthly bills for errors – I was able to save $160 over the course of two months because my utility company was over charging me.  I am not sure whether this was done on purpose, but regardless, by checking the bill and looking it over carefully I was able to save a lot of money.

I hope you were encouraged by this article, and that it helps to equip you with the whole armor of personal finance so you can protect yourself from the wiles of debt, advertising and commercialism.  Let us fight the good fight of faith and strive to win the daily battle to gain control over our personal finances!

Control Credit Card Debt

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For many Americans paying with credit cards is now commonplace. Once the monthly balance cannot be paid in full credit card debt creeps in like a homewrecker – and this is where many people find themselves today, in credit card debt.  In some cases, people are filing for bankruptcy due to their excessive credit card debt.  With so many different things dependent on a person’s credit score, this can be devastating to young families, leaving them without the means to make big-ticket purchases like replacing a refrigerator or stove.

Credit card debt in America

45% of Americans have credit card debt.  8.3% have a balance of over $9,000 on their card accounts.  The average credit card debt is $2,000.  Surprisingly, 23% of Americans do not even have a credit card.

Matt’s note: Betsy and I belong to that surprising 23%. 🙂

These statistics are compiled in part from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances taken every three years.  The 2007 survey showed that revolving debt, which includes credit cards was $904 billion out the total consumer debt of $2.6 trillion.  This figure includes student loans, auto loans, mortgages, and other non-revolving debt.

The numbers may not mean much to you, but if you’re part of that 8.3% perhaps you should take notice.

8.3% may seem like a small number, but the average income for those people is only $48,600 per year.  That $9,000 along with other living expenses and non-revolving debt is usually a lot of money.  On top of the large debt amount are the interest rates credit card companies charge each month for the “privilege” of using their money.  The average credit card interest rate is 16.80%, so if you are paying only minimum payments each month a lot of your debt could be interest charges rather than the principle on the account.

So the general idea – and necessity for some people – is to be part of that 32% or even the 23% in some cases rather than the 8.3%.  This may not be easy to accomplish, given the rising cost of food, fuel, and other necessities, but it can be done.  You have to develop a plan and stick to it, resolving to control your credit card debt, or eliminate it altogether.

Build your debt reduction plan

The key to controlling your credit card debt is in controlling your spending overall.  Of course, American society does not make this easy since our economy relies on spending.  However, in this case, you can’t think of the Country’s economy, but rather your personal economy.  If you have the willpower, you can get a grip on your finances rather quickly.

  • Put your credit cards away for one month.  Instead of pulling out the plastic to make purchases, use cold, hard cash.  This does not include a check.  It’s important for you to see where the money goes, and how fast it can disappear from your pocket.  The only exception to this rule is in paying bills that require a check, like your mortgage or the rent.  Write out the checks and deduct them from your bank account before you withdraw any money to spend.  In using cash instead of your credit card or checking account, you will have a better idea of your spending habits.
  • Free up more cash by reducing other expenses.  Take a closer look at some of the amenities you have.  You may consider changing your cell phone plan to a less expensive one, cancelling or changing your cable/satellite plan, and buying less expensive brands for groceries.  Conserving energy will also put a few more dollars in your pocket.  Take that money you are saving, and use it to pay off debt – especially those high interest credit cards.
  • Buy only what you need, not what you want.  Knowing the difference between your needs and your wants is important.  For example, you need food, but you don’t need dinner in an expensive restaurant.  Transportation is a need, but not in a $50,000 BMW.  Clothing for your children is a need, but not the $100 designer jeans for your 10-year-old that is still growing.

Impulse buying is the biggest culprit in creating credit card debt.  Those purchases are usually wants, not needs.  If there is something you need, then buy it.  But if it’s something you can do without, keep your money in your wallet.  If it is something that you really want, only buy it if you can pay cash for it without compromising your ability to save for retirement or pay off debt; but until you have no credit card debt you should avoid those purchases, no matter how much you want them.  If you stick with your plan, you can be a member of that 32% that does not contribute a single penny to the $904 billion in revolving debt, and you’ll have more money in your pocket to boot!