I don’t know where you get Internet from or what you pay for it but I would say that if you are paying for some realtviely pricey service such as AOL (which I have never used but I understand is expensive), or if you’re getting cable TV broadband (which I don’t have either but I understand is expensive too) you should be able to get an inexpensive alternative without dropping out totally.
Thoughts:
If you really want broadband most DSL is a lot cheaper than cable TV, assuming you have a choice.
Dail up service is cheaper than either of those.
It has already been mentioned that many (most?) public libraries provide free service, and you can get your email from one of the free email services such as yahoo or juno (and there are others too). This way you don’t spend anything, and you can access them anywhere!
When things are tight, they’re tight. 6 years ago, it would cost me 23 dollars to fill my cars gas tank. That’s 21 gallons. today, I still have the same car. It now costs me over sixty dollars to fill that same 21 gallon tank. That’s almost three times what I used to pay. When it came to cutting back, I had the choices of doing without the following:
Cable TV
Model Railroading
Surfing the internet
Eating out several nights a week
Buying premium brand foods
Cable TV? Gave it up. I watch videos and dvd’s.
Model Railroading? Still do it, though I’ve cut back some.
Surfing the internet? Still do it. I have a 3 meg high speed service. I can download a 6 megabyte file in less than 10 seconds.
Eating out several nights a week? Gave it up. Eat out only a couple times a month now.
Buying premium brand foods? Gave them up. I now buy the low priced stuff.
So I gave up cable tv, eating out, and premium brand foods so that I could continue with my model railroading and internet surfing and also have gas for the car. Those three things I gave up don’t sound like much until you consider the cost.
Cable TV = 90 bucks a month
Eating out several times a week = 160 bucks a month
Not buying premium brand foods = a savings of almost 150 bucks a month.
That’s 400 bucks a month I freed up to use for my gas, my food, my internet and my model railroad.
Good point. The last time I went to Burger King to feed myself and my 14 year old, it was over $12. And we really didn’t get that much - a couple of “meals” with an upgrade on one to a shake instead of a soda. If we get BK once a week - that’s over $600 a year on fastfood alone. That would buy me 30+ Peco turnouts (with shipping). Hmmmm. Sorry, kid, it’s linguine with red sauce tonight ($3).
We have eliminated over 1000 dollars a month by deleting non essential items such as walmart. We dont use throwaway items like paper plates very often. We actually do housework and cook from basic materials like a recipie for a beef broth stew based on sirloin beef that feeds two for 3 days on less than 8 dollars worth of food.
The biggest expense is the energy, we have that leveled off across 12 months instead of paying in full monthly and that helps alot in high demand months which consume a great deal of electricity and gas. Some utilities like water, we pay that annually once a year so that the city owes us 12 months or more of trash and water. That helps alot.
Actually, they’d save more if they cut out the lattes, leasing vehicles that are beyond their means to buy, eating out all the time, and recreational shopping. I won’t bore you with tales of people who make in excess of $100K/year and complain they can’t make it. When I was still in the work force, I knew people like that. They lived in 3000 square foot McMansions, drove Beemers or $40,000 SUV’s, swilled lattes like there was no tomorrow and didn’t save a dime out of their paychecks.
As for gas prices, I was in the Netherlands in 1996 on business. At that time, I was paying $4.50/gallon (about 3 times or so the US price) for unleaded for the rental car. Well… actually the company ended up paying for it, but you get the idea. I’d hate to see what the Dutch are paying now. In addition to the Netherlands, I’ve driven in the UK, Spain, Germany and Austria. Where gas prices are concerned, we have it easy.
I am only 13. So its not like I am a economics expert but I think I am pretty smart for a 13 year old. If the economy is really this bad. Why then are all the Resteraunts packed?? Also in the long run maybe you will not have as much cash in your pocket because of gas prices. But if you bought a hybird car It would in the long run cost as much because of the higher price to buy the car rather then a regualer gas efficeint comparable car. So bottom line is most likely gas prices are expensive. But it most likely is not killing you unless you spend every dime you own erisponsibly. Just my opinion. Tim
There’s no need to leave altogether. Some Internet Service Providers provide a limited amount of free service. For example, NetZero provides up to 10 hours a month for free. I use them as a backup service because they are country wide and provide toll free service in my mother-in-law’s home town while the larger services like AOL don’t. 10 hours a month is enough to keep up with the forum and to check emails.
It takes years to see any net gain from their purchase, their mileage increases are from stop-and-go driving (using regenerative braking to help charge the batteries) and if you’re lucky, you’ll hit that break-even point before you have to replace the battery pack - I understand purchase to be in the $5000.00 range.
Yes I have also heard that battery packs tend to run around $5000 a peice. I still think if you want a decent small fuel effecient car you would be best of with a Hyundai. 13,000 for one or 22,000 roughly for a Hybird??? Happy Modeling. Tim
I always like the ‘apples to oranges’ comparison of North American gas prices to other countries. First, few of the ‘other’ countries have any oil or gas fields within their borders and all has to be imported or transported long distances. Second, many have few or no refineries and gasoline must be imported doubling the already inflated price. Third, …taxes.
D&HRR whinning? Maybe he is just politely saying good-bye…temporarily we hope.
If I needed that heart assistant device for 250,000 dollars and extend my life another 3 months fighting infection?
No thanks. Hand me some morphine, cigerretts and some schnapps along with hospice thank ye.
We slashed thousands from our debt. We made it this far. Yes China and other nations are catching up to the USA and flexing thier muscle trying to earn union wages instead of 10 cent pay.
Good God, that’s appalling! What cable were you paying $90 a month for? I should say it was a wise decision to give that one up. When I had cable I paid half of that, and got 120 stations. I say "When I had . . " because I switched to satellite.
Advice to everybody on this matter: switch to satellite. Cable TV is legalized larceny. With satellite you will get the same stations for lower monthly cost (How much lower depends on how much your cable provider is soaking you) and the dish and receiver and inexpensive, and the installation is usually free. The two national satellite providers, Dish Net and DirecTV, are essentially identical in offerings and pricing. And oh yeah, spectacular reception. Go look.
Good decision, and not just economically. I think that will improve your health. I think if I ate out “several times a week” I would weigh 400 pounds.
Another good decision. I don’t how many of you guys out there know the packaged food business, but trust me, you are not likely to suffer any degradation of quality by buying store “private labels” instead of “national brands.” The private labels are all “co-packed” by the major national brand producers.
Sorry to see any go. The collective knowledge provided by every one on this fourm is invalueable.
ATT has a DSL deal for $12.00 P/M for the first 3 months. See of they provide DSL service in your neck of the woods. Otherwise dial up of about $6-9 P/M.[:(]