In a recession, so they say, kinda world we have had to make some changes to our daily lives. Especially when we took a $600 pay cut and the expenses went $400.
Like everyone else….
Yup brown bag lunches, cut out the clothes dryer, eating out is almost zilch and we are learning how to make all kinds of things from scratch. Okay the scratch part is just because we like to cook and baking is fun. Plus, its great FREE entertainment for everyone involve, including the dog.
But of course there wasn’t much room to wiggle in the budget. Yes, before anyone asks I am using coupons. The other plus/minus is that the kids are only here on the weekends. Plus due to money, minus because we don’t get to spend as much time as their dad or I would like to, but that’s another story in itself.
My next step was to look over the budget and see what else I can eliminate, cancel, do without, or change. First thing to go was the wireless internet for the laptop. This was used for a really boring security job, but as that job was gone we didn’t need that particular internet. (Yes I kept the home internet. I have a business that I need it for, plus my fiancée is in school. Secondly, there are two kids who need to become familiar with how to use the internet besides for just playing games.)
The next thing that I changed was my health insurance. As my employer does not provide any health benefits, I am always looking for great coverage that doesn’t cost me that proverbial arm and leg, with a good prescription plan as well. The awesome part is that I am back to my normal price for prescriptions. I LOVE Anthem, I can’t stand Humana.
Plus I recently noticed on the declarations page that we were not receiving any kind of student discount on our auto insurance. *GASP* So naturally I called Progressive. Well it turns out they do not give discounts while in school, but they do reward you for having an extensive education. (Progressive, please note that I have two bachelor degrees. Thank you) Of course this just makes me want to go back to school. Not that I really needed the encouragement, but hey it never hurts. (Yes Dear, I will now go study for that test. No Dear, I am not expecting you to hold your breath. You may if you feel so incline though.)
As I mentioned earlier, we have also starting trying to use coupons. Here’s my problem with that. The coupons in the paper or online are for never anything I want. So no, I don’t see how there are several hundreds of dollars of coupons in the paper. I do not have a baby, so I do not need diaper coupons, or baby food. Sorry, but I will not by the expensive brand of dog food just to save fifty cents. Don’t get me wrong I have the brands that I like, but I try to buy generic where and when I can allow myself.
Well, after looking at our expenses, my fiancée and I came up with another idea. We tossed it around for a month or so, getting feedback from various people. We even hinted at it with the kids on their two cents. Although I will have to say my office mate summed it up with one phrase when I told her what we were thinking of doing:
“You are brave.”
We canceled the cable.
Now to be honest, I canceled the cable television because the price was going up again, just like it did last year. It would probably go up the following year. I decided we were done. I turned in the DVR box the following business day and good bye cable.
It’s now a week later and we are going out of our minds. LOL, actually we are not. We have found all of television shows ONLINE. We still pay for internet, but hey that beats another sixty plus dollars on budget that we didn’t need. Add in Netflix, and we have it covered. The kids still have cartoons (in fact we watched Spongebob Squarepants tonight), we have better movie selections (watched Marmaduke as well) and we have also been able to watch HBOs True Blood. WOHOO, you don’t have to pay for HBO!!! Oh and let’s not forget, History and Discovery Channel, along with USA, are online as well!
I’m sure to some this is nothing new or exciting, but I love it. The extra bonus?
I don’t have to watch so many commercials. Better yet, neither will the kids!
