Just gave Myself a $6000.00 Raise. It was easy (1 Viewer)

[Mark Sherman]

Heres How I did It. I quit Smoking ( its been a month so far ) and I got rid of Comcast ( I use an antenna now ). Scratch Tickets.


Smoking
I was up to a pack a day every day. Here in MA. The price of a Pack of smokes is about $7.00. Now Thats 7 a day times 30 days thats 210 a month or 2520 a year. YIKES.


NO CABLE.

I had the triple Play Phone, Internet and Cable. With all the taxes and fees I was up around 150ish a month, or 1800 a year. I got rid of that Now I use an antenna and get more Hi def channels ( 35 for FREE ) then I did with Cable.

With the internet I Live In a Town house and there are plenty of wireless routers that I can use ( for Free)



SCRATCH TICKETS.

I would Buy a few when I Bought a pack of smokes. (sometimes $5 sometimes $10 sometimes $20) Now that I dont smoke I dont get the Tickets.

Thats around another 1800 a year.



So Lets see. Smoking $2520.00

Cable $1800.00

Scratch Tickets $1800.00
____________________________

Total Savings............$6120.00

 

[ZacharyTait]

With or without permission?

Good for you on the smoking. I don't think I could live without cable.

 

[BrianW]

Mark, it's even better than that. You gave yourself a $6000 raise after taxes, which is more like a $8000 or $9000 raise in your paycheck. That's a really good raise!

Congratulations!

 

[Bryan X]

35 OTA HD channels? Wow! I'm lucky to be able to pull in 1 or 2.

The "little things" really do add up don't they?

 

[Mark Sherman]

Yup 35 OTA HD channels and thats with a $35.00 set of glorified powered Rabbit ears in My bed room. I Pluged the output from my ANT. To the Coax Behind My set in my Bed room which feeds the COAX Behind My Plasma in my Living room. That way I dont se my ANT. in my Living room.


Im getting another ANT to put in my attic to use along with what I have now. Add in a Multiplexer, snake a Line from my attic to My basement and Boom My whole house is wired.


as far as permission Yes I iave a great relation ship with my neighbor.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Boston's got a great OTA market. I paid for "basic cable" for ~$9/mo. for the bundled discount on my cable internet. But I also kept a wall antenna on an A/B switch. My Zenith DTA box would easily pick up double the number of channels I got from Comcast, in much better quality. It's not just that the stations are digital, it's that all the local affiliates have two or more sub-channels. Then there's the four PBS stations (WGBH, Kids and Family, the New Hampshire PBS, WGBX-44 -- which have have subchannels of their own), religious programming, local access, CW Boston, MyTV Dover.
In my case, my apartment was less than five miles from the Boston transmission towers, so I didn't even need a roof antenna. I got twenty something channels.

With a roof-mounted antenna, I know people in the greater Boston metro that get 40+ channels by drawing from the New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut TV markets as well.

 

[Mark Sherman]

I also get 4 ION Channels. and the best part is that one of them has that Show GET OUT which is a show about Really Hot Girls Traveling the world.


My Pic is better than before and thats all I care about. Now Im getting into more of the network shows. Such as House, Bones etc etc etc. But I still Love How I met your mother and 2 and a half men. amd the best part its FREE.


I watched all my football games today in HIDEF now Im watching the PIT, CLE Game IT looks AWESOME

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

If you can get the signal (my rabbit ears couldn't), watch MyTV out of Dover. My roommate and I used to watch "That 70's Show" reruns every night when we got home, with support from the country's most bizzare meterologist (and WZMY's sole remaining on-air talent) Al Kaprielian.

YouTube - Al Kaprielian Cult Hero

 

[Mark Sherman]

OH Yes I have seen AL he is Just out of his friggen Mind. Love that Man

 

[gene c]

If everyone analyzed their spending that way I'm sure many could also give themselves a sizeable "raise". I do it every few years. The last time it didn't amount to a raise but better allocation of resources (I sound like an accountant!) which is also important. Maybe it's time for another evaluation. I really need to look at my Dish Network service. I'm sure I need to change my hardware and channel package. This may actually cost you money in the long run because you will live quite a few more years! But it's a great trade-off. I wish you all the luck with this one. Remember, one day at a time.

 

[Patrick Sun]

And yet, I am willing to pay for the ability to time-shift my TV viewing (vs. being stuck racing home to watch something I wanted to see, lest I miss it, or need to go through other means like iTunes or hulu, network sites to catch what I missed).

 

[DaveF]

That's superb!

With that kind of savings, you can think about bigger picture concerns, beyond just more toys. If you have any debt (credit card, student loans, car loans), you can pay it off much more quickly.

Saving $6k a year, you can save for a down-payment on a home / condo / townhome in a few years.

If you're working on your own business (HT installs, wasn't it?), this can provide more cushion for the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur.

 

[LewB]

Congrats on quitting the smokes.

I wish I could put up an antenna and pick up ANY TV. Guess that's one of the pluses when you live near a big city.

As for the scratchers, I admit that I'm hooked. Unlike the Lotto or Mega, there is just enough positive reinforcement to keep you coming back. A $5 winner here, a $20 winner there. N.Y. Just introduced a $30 scratcher with a grand prize of $1M a year for life. Think I'll be able to pass on that one.

 

[Mark Sherman]

I want to pay down every thing my car, credit cards and sell my Townhouse to buy a real house so my system can stretch its legs. My friends came over to watch the game sunday. Jaws hit the floor when I told them that I didnt have cable and that was from an antenna.

Just Like the smoking I have to ween myself from "Cable" Mythbusters, Modern Marvels, etc etc etc. Its Been a month for both and I dont Miss it all to Much. with my scedual Im home By 4 some days. infact I was home at 2 last week ( I was in Boston AT 5:30) so I dont really Miss any shows. If I miss Lost then we have a problem. Other than that I watch the news then what evers on I might give it a whirl.


Im trying to mthink of other ways to squeeze more money of the top.

 

[DaveF]

Here's some ideas; some I do, some I don't

* Bag lunch instead of eating out: ~$1000 / yr
* Cook dinners instead of eating out on weekends: $500 - $3000 / yr
* what's your phone situation? cell phone & landline? drop one: $400 / yr
* Check your car insurance rates. Maybe $300 / yr
* $5 bargain-bin DVDs instead of new releases
* Second-run theater instead of new releases
* Becoming & remaining debt free will free up cash from interest payments

 

[Mark Sherman]

It is Just amazing how much one can "SKIM" off the top. I went out for a couple of drink with some friend of mine. Holy @#% drinking is expensive. I Buy a 12 pack and invite friends over for the game it SOOOOOOO Much cheaper

 

[gene c]

When you become debt free after taking the necessary steps to do so, it's amazing how fast the bank account rises when you no longer have to make all those monthly payments.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

I paid off my house in 2004. I had no other debt.

I sold that house at the peak of the market in May 2006.

I now am retired at age 55....having paid for a much nicer house here for cash.

Debt sucks.

 

[James L White]

Mark you actually saved far more than $6000 when you factor is what costs will be with having to care for all the illnesses caused by smoking plus you can't put a dollar figure on your life

sorry to get all technical there but I loathe smoking so when someone quits I get emotional about it
CONGRATS!!!

 

[Mark Sherman]

the one thing is that Now I am Hooked on Iced Coffee. Im Wired out of mind now and I love it.