Since we have three students in the house, well minus one now that I have graduated, we really need internet. Going to the library isn't out of the question, but many people use it so there is a wait and also you only get a little time on the computer. When researching this can be a problem. My last paper took hours and hours of research time, mostly online.
The first thing that you want to do is look at the different providers in your area. Verizon Fios for us is FAR more expensive than Comcast, but in different parts of the country things change and there are more choices in some places. Look them up! The difference in price can be huge.
Another thing to check is to see if they have "student packages". These are usually only a limited time offer, from Fall semester until the end of Spring Semester, but can be a big help. Also, check daily for good deals. We got our internet and telephone for 50.00 a month (which comes to over 60.00 with all the taxes and surcharges). Internet is becoming a necessity it seems. Right now one can still live without it, especially if their college has facilities or their local library, but it does appear that everyone wants you to have an email address, including possible employers.
I think that the free email services are well known by now. While an address usually comes with an internet package, there is also Hotmail, yahoo, and Gmail plus others that are not as well known. I recommend having two, a professional one, usually with your name in some form that is easily recognizable and one for the sort of mail that gets you spam. My experience with Gmail sorting out spam has so far been excellent. I have rarely found anything of importance in the junk folder. I have one address for all my professional needs, and then I have my original which is connected with blogs such as this one, a Facebook page, recipe and coupon sites etc.. That also makes it easier to be sure that you don't miss that important email that is offering you an interview or giving you a job.
As it may have been noticed, I have yet to take advantage of the "ad sense" program here. I will be doing so at one point though because it will help to earn real money. Also, there is a program called MyPoints where you can earn points through clicking emails, making purchases from affiliated stores, using their grocery coupons, filling out surveys and getting friends to join. The link I provided will not be a referral for me though, as they seem to have suspended that particular way of acquiring members. They also have other ways. You will get mail that you don't want though, but that is what happens with many of these programs. You might want to make a different email for this.
With MyPoints you are collecting points for gift certificates or to make donations to causes, but with Inbox Dollars (and this link IS a referral link, if you click and join I will also get credit for your usage) you get actual money. It isn't a lot, particularly if you don't have a lot of time, but it does add up and could make you some pocket change. If you are really up for it, I am sure that much more can be made, but it takes time on the computer. They also offer grocery coupons and affiliated stores that will help you add to your account.
Lately I have been ignoring the emails because I have been so very busy something had to go. Since I am now just job hunting, I have a little more time to click through the ads and things. The hardest part to remember is to look their first before making online purchases! I have some anxiety issues about shopping in malls and such, so during the holidays everything but the stocking stuffers come from internet purchases. Yes, the shipping can make it less frugal, but if you are finding really good deals, which sometimes includes free or reduced shipping, it can be frugal. There area also some places where you can order online and have it shipped free to a local store for pick up. Payless shoes used to do that, but they seem to be closing down all around. I do believe Best Buy also has this program. So, you find a sale, you see if one of your pay sites is affiliated with them, enter the store through that site and you can find great sales, free shipping and also get points or dollars for the effort.
A final note on this for now. Be aware! Anyone asking you for money to join is probably misleading you at best, completely fraudulent at worse. Any site asking for your social security number or demanding a telephone number (this is usually optional, not mandatory) should also be approached carefully if at all. I never give out that information unless I am absolutely sure of the site I am using, such as the FASFA site for student loans. Also, the federal loan and grants site is a government site with .ed.gov as the end of the address. Any others are going to make you pay for something that you can easily do yourself, so do not fall for it!
Now I am off to update my accounts and start making some money again. Have a great day everyone!
Showing posts with label special services. Show all posts
Showing posts with label special services. Show all posts
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Bills, what to do?
I am pretty sure that everyone here knows to keep their heat down and if you can afford it, on a timer. You know to unplug appliances and chargers that are not in use, and to keep all of your appliances running efficiently. Maybe what you don't know is that many local utility companies have energy saving programs.
One example is when we moved into this house we had a very gross and old refrigerator. We dealt with it because we didn't have a lot of extra money, but at the time, this was before the housing bubble, we could save a little for improvements. Not much, so I looked into my electric company's energy saving project. They sent a person to my house who put in three or four florescent bulbs (this was 15 years ago, so they were very expensive) and even better, subsidized a new refrigerator for us that was better on electricity! We got a lovely Maytag refrigerator that is the right size for our household, brand new. We paid 250 dollars for it, on time payments. They even took away our old one which would normally have cost us an additional 20 dollars for the city to pick up. I strongly encourage you to look at your companies and see if they have this service available and then do it. If you are in a really bad spot like we are for now, the co-pay for a new appliance, if it is offered, may feel out of your reach. I get it, no money is no money, it doesn't matter how much it will save in the long run. Still, see if there is somewhere you can cut back for a few months and make payments if at all possible.
Both utility companies (electric and gas) offer special rates for people under a certain income level. You will find the program on their web site or maybe another source that has services listed for your area. If you are on food stamps (SNAP) you are usually automatically eligible for this lower rate.
You may have noticed that I have left out internet, cable and phone. That is because everyone has different needs. Personally I really believe that now we really need to have SOME access to the internet, if not at home, then at a cafe or library. If your needs are small these are excellent ways to check email and a social program or two. In our case we really needed to have internet in the house due to my research heavy workload at college and even more pressing, that both of my girls require a lot of access for their schools too. It is assumed that you have easy access to the internet. As an aside, my oldest daughter's professor actually assumed that all the young adults had data plans and smart phones! My daughter uses a flip phone. I thought it was strange because it is a community college, which is where people often go to cut college costs.
We found a plan through Comcast that gave us a land line phone and a limited bandwidth internet for 50 dollars a month. It has gone up about 12 dollars in the years that we have had it, but so far it hasn't changed. We don't have cable television, but we do pay 8 dollars a month to stream Netflix which helps us not rent movies that inevitably go back late, and we can watch what we want without paying 100 dollars a month for basic cable which, let's face it, kinda sucks now. I do wish we had BBC, but that is neither here not there, it is a small sacrifice. For cell phones we went about it this way. Our first phones were pretty cheap, but with all the payphones disappearing and my youngest daughter's school not allowing them to make phone calls from the office, they are sort of becoming a necessity. So, we got the inexpensive phones and use a pay as you go plan. 25.00 for three months. Each phone call is 25 cents a minute and each text is 20 cents. This is taken from the 25 dollars, so no surprise bills. My oldest pays her own, which is very helpful. My younger child knows that she must be very careful with using her phone and she has had to remind her friends that she can't just text all the time. It took a while, but they finally figured that out. When I got my student loan I paid the 100.00 for a year of time for her and myself. Since we only use it for important things for the most part, it isn't hard to keep the costs low. So, 75.00 for three months worth of time. not too bad. I would rather not "need" this, as just a decade ago I had our phone turned off as a luxury because we had ready access to a pay phone. Not any more. My husband needs it for work, I needed it at first because I was away from home and my youngest was in elementary school and I felt safer with her having one on her because of the school's policy on using the phone at the school. If you feel you can do without, then by all means do!
Weatherize. I know, we all know this, but it is important. There are less expensive ways of doing it. They aren't necessarily attractive, but they work. A long sewn up tube of a nice heavy cloth filled with sand or rice makes an excellent device for placing at the bottom of your doors. I do not know about you, but I remember my Gramma having these, with faces on them! You can also stuff newspapers in cracks to alleviate some of the loss of heat or cold.
One example is when we moved into this house we had a very gross and old refrigerator. We dealt with it because we didn't have a lot of extra money, but at the time, this was before the housing bubble, we could save a little for improvements. Not much, so I looked into my electric company's energy saving project. They sent a person to my house who put in three or four florescent bulbs (this was 15 years ago, so they were very expensive) and even better, subsidized a new refrigerator for us that was better on electricity! We got a lovely Maytag refrigerator that is the right size for our household, brand new. We paid 250 dollars for it, on time payments. They even took away our old one which would normally have cost us an additional 20 dollars for the city to pick up. I strongly encourage you to look at your companies and see if they have this service available and then do it. If you are in a really bad spot like we are for now, the co-pay for a new appliance, if it is offered, may feel out of your reach. I get it, no money is no money, it doesn't matter how much it will save in the long run. Still, see if there is somewhere you can cut back for a few months and make payments if at all possible.
Both utility companies (electric and gas) offer special rates for people under a certain income level. You will find the program on their web site or maybe another source that has services listed for your area. If you are on food stamps (SNAP) you are usually automatically eligible for this lower rate.
You may have noticed that I have left out internet, cable and phone. That is because everyone has different needs. Personally I really believe that now we really need to have SOME access to the internet, if not at home, then at a cafe or library. If your needs are small these are excellent ways to check email and a social program or two. In our case we really needed to have internet in the house due to my research heavy workload at college and even more pressing, that both of my girls require a lot of access for their schools too. It is assumed that you have easy access to the internet. As an aside, my oldest daughter's professor actually assumed that all the young adults had data plans and smart phones! My daughter uses a flip phone. I thought it was strange because it is a community college, which is where people often go to cut college costs.
We found a plan through Comcast that gave us a land line phone and a limited bandwidth internet for 50 dollars a month. It has gone up about 12 dollars in the years that we have had it, but so far it hasn't changed. We don't have cable television, but we do pay 8 dollars a month to stream Netflix which helps us not rent movies that inevitably go back late, and we can watch what we want without paying 100 dollars a month for basic cable which, let's face it, kinda sucks now. I do wish we had BBC, but that is neither here not there, it is a small sacrifice. For cell phones we went about it this way. Our first phones were pretty cheap, but with all the payphones disappearing and my youngest daughter's school not allowing them to make phone calls from the office, they are sort of becoming a necessity. So, we got the inexpensive phones and use a pay as you go plan. 25.00 for three months. Each phone call is 25 cents a minute and each text is 20 cents. This is taken from the 25 dollars, so no surprise bills. My oldest pays her own, which is very helpful. My younger child knows that she must be very careful with using her phone and she has had to remind her friends that she can't just text all the time. It took a while, but they finally figured that out. When I got my student loan I paid the 100.00 for a year of time for her and myself. Since we only use it for important things for the most part, it isn't hard to keep the costs low. So, 75.00 for three months worth of time. not too bad. I would rather not "need" this, as just a decade ago I had our phone turned off as a luxury because we had ready access to a pay phone. Not any more. My husband needs it for work, I needed it at first because I was away from home and my youngest was in elementary school and I felt safer with her having one on her because of the school's policy on using the phone at the school. If you feel you can do without, then by all means do!
Weatherize. I know, we all know this, but it is important. There are less expensive ways of doing it. They aren't necessarily attractive, but they work. A long sewn up tube of a nice heavy cloth filled with sand or rice makes an excellent device for placing at the bottom of your doors. I do not know about you, but I remember my Gramma having these, with faces on them! You can also stuff newspapers in cracks to alleviate some of the loss of heat or cold.
This sort of has to do with the trash. Go to www.freecycle.org and look up your area. Not only can you find things you may need second hand, but you can also list things that you want and, more importantly for me, things you want to give away. We recently had someone looking for clementine boxes! I have also found homes for my broken pottery, old toys and a fryer that was pretty gross. Yes, I was honest and told them that it was gross, dishonesty is a bad thing anyway, but especially here. If people get taken they tend to not trust you. We have found homes for many things that normally would have been thrown away, and since our trash costs, well, you can see where this goes.
So, look up your utilities, see if you can downgrade your cell phone and internet connection and take advantage of special pricing and programs to help you save money. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle! It is not only earth smart, but money smart too. Good luck!
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