Re: Cutting my cable bill expense

On Sun, 02 Oct 2011 10:22:13 -0500, amdx <amdx@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On 9/28/2011 2:26 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:56:16 -0500, amdx<amdx@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

My cable bill is now $140 dollars, includes tv, internet, and phone.
We just added a second cellphone and will soon drop the landline, ah,
I feel like a 20 something.


Poverty is more than a mind state.

I don't consider myself to have poverty in mind, assets or income.
I ignored this comment until now, but I'd like you to expand on this.
Thanks, Mikek

Sure. It has many implications, some of which are applicable to your
question. I assumed you were having financial difficulties and needed
to cut expenses. With about 15% of the US population living below the
poverty level, the problem is not uncommon.
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/poverty.html>
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/data/incpovhlth/2010/highlights.html>
I have seen many people and families, who are living near the official
poverty level, spend an inordinate percentage of their income on
entertainment items and services. In my never humble opinion, the
problem is not so much a hereditary poverty mentality, but simple
math. Many such people have little clue how to spend money, calculate
expenses, or distinguish between a bargain and a rip-off. For
example, the $140 per month may not seem like much money to some, but
if annualized, the $1,680 suddenly becomes a serious expense. If a
two year contract is required, $3,360 is even more ominous. Inspiring
you to do the math, using a distorted tag line from the 1960's poverty
fighters, was my intent.

Optimizing monthly expenses is an important part of budgeting. Many
activities have a very high per-hour cost. For example, cable or
satellite TV typically costs about $75/month. Many busy viewers watch
about 2 hrs of TV per day. That's about $1.25/hr. You could do much
better with Netflix or renting an occasional DVD. My Verizon cell
phone previously burned about $75/month for about 400 minutes of use
per month. That's about $0.19/minute. I'm now on a prepaid PagePlus
plan, which only costs me $0.05/minute.

In other words, do the math, and perhaps you may see some more
economical alternatives.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@xxxxxxxxxx
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
.

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