Thursday, February 25, 2016

Modems, cable, and streaming, oh my! The Trials and Tribulations of Cutting the Cord.

My obsessive compulsiveness often shows through with my acumen with spreadsheets.  In other words, I itemize, sum, box, highlight, and average probably (a lot) more than a normal person.  Last night my typically mellow husband barked repeatedly for me to get off the laptop's spreadsheet and go to bed.  Ultimately I did, only to pick it right up again in the AM.  :)

However, this particular weirdness has its benefits when trying to weigh the costs and benefits of cutting the cable cord.  As I've said in an earlier post, I am actively pursuing getting rid of my costly cable for television viewing and replacing it with streaming as well as purchasing a modem rather than renting it.  I've been really busy lately and unable to follow through.  Wait no more, I've picked up the cause again with a vengeance and in the process even became sort of an expert in modems.

We've hit a couple of stumbling blocks.  Most modems do NOT come with a phone jack and none of the approved Time Warner Cable (TWC) modems on their website had a phone jack.  As of now, we want to keep getting our phone service from TWC.  However, that means that we need a modem with a phone jack.  I've been told that there is an FCC rule that says we cannot be charged for modem usage if it's for a telephone.  That is not the case for cable television.  To whit, I am subsequently charged a monthly fee of $8 (which adds up to a whopping $96 each and every year--until they raise it again!!).  After lots of searching on-line forums and websites, in a last ditch effort I called TWC.  (I tried the on-line chat, but that was just canned responses, and was not that helpful.)  Once I finally got a human being, the customer service rep was actually very helpful.  She said we can purchase an additional modem for the internet and replace the current one that is rented for a phone-only modem.  Problem solved!! (She also gave us a short list of approved (but not on the website) list of modems that have a phone jack.  However, they were waaaay expensive and not at all worth it.)

Here's a brief summary of the cutting the cord costs and benefits:  (There's lots more spreadsheets, but I'll spare you--for now.)


TWC:
Ours:
Estimated Savings:
TWC Monthly Cable Costs w/Modem
Hardware/Streaming
Monthly Savings Year 1
Monthly Savings Year 2
$74.73
Cable
$19.80
amortized p/month

$40.93

$60.73

$7.00
est. tax/fees
$29.00
aprox. 2 streaming services p/mo.





$8.00
modem
$48.80
total p/month
Annual Savings Year 1
Annual Savings Year 2
$89.73
per month
$585.57
total p/year

491.16

728.76

$1,076.76
Cable Costs per year



Long story short, I'll be saving a butt load the first year (about $500), and even a bigger butt load the second year (well over $700!!).  (The second year, for the purposes of my analysis, I've considered the one-time purchases of hardware, to be paid in full in one year.  This is because most hardware warranties are only one year though some of them are two years, and it's a relatively low cost.  The second year is just the monthly rental costs of streaming, which we haven't decided which way we will go, so it's just a guess.)

More details of what we purchased, will purchase, why, and how much, to be detailed in a future posting!!

An cord cutters out there????

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Don't Miss FREE Vision Screenings and an Excellent Vision Resource

FREE vision screenings monthly (except July and December) at the highly respected SUNY College of Optometry.  Vision screenings vary day and time by month.

SUNY College of Optometry is a wonderful resource for all kinds of vision issues, from comprehensive eye exams to eye therapy and much, much more.  Plus, they take most insurance.

Located at 33 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036, overlooking Bryant Park.
Phone:  877-570-5222
www.university.eyecenter.org

For the remaining of 2016 FREE vision screenings are as follows:

March 22 - 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm

April 19 - 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm

May 9 - 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm

June 22 - 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm

July - NONE

August 30 - 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm

September 12 - 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm

October 11 - 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm

November 9 - 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm

December - NONE

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Incredible FREE Gym Classes!!! Don't miss them!

http://www.unionsquaresweatfest.nyc

From February 20th - 25th, Union Square Sweat Fest will sponsor tons of amazing and diverse exercise classes.  Some are offered at a discounted rate and many are FREE!! Plus, there are often snacks and freebies included!!

Some of the classes are first come first served and others need to be reserved. Don't miss out! See you there!!

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Awesome Frugal Hack of the Day - Shop Less

Do yourself a huge favor and go shopping as infrequently as possible. By doing so you won't be impulse buying, feel like you are missing out when exhibiting self control and not getting what you want (though you never wanted it before you just saw it). 

Trust me, it works. 

I've been known to send my husband to the dollar store to pick up a spatula.  Why?  Because he'll come home with just a spatula while I guarantee that I'd easily spend $10 or $20 on various other must have items. LOL.