Comments on: How has Technology Impacted your Finances Over the Last Decade?

By: Russel

Russel — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:41:20 +0000

I canceled the cable not so long ago and I’m surprised that I really haven’t missed it, My wife and I decided to buy a few DVD’s every month instead and now we get to watch a movie whenever we want. I canceled the landline and went with cell phones only, this saved us a fair amount of money but the real saving came when we canceled the cell contract and bought two prepaid cell phones instead. I bought a Net10 phone while my wife went with Tracfone, they are both good and we have saved so much that I’m finally getting a control on my credit card debt. We can’t give up the computers or the high speed internet as we both work from home; all the rest I can do without.

By: Best Flat Screen TV

Best Flat Screen TV — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:03:00 +0000

I think you are right. Sometimes you can pass certain technologies by as they won’t necessarily come back to haunt being the non essential nature of the technology.

It is a brave man who does this and I agree with some (if not all) of your choices. Just don’t tell either my wife or kids.

By: G.E. Miller

G.E. Miller — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 02:31:59 +0000

@Brian – live sports (mainly college bball and football) is the one thing that is keeping me a cable subscriber. Anyone know of alternatives? (I don’t like to miss a game)

By: brian

brian — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:18:42 +0000

I was actually able to ditch the satellite service with a PS3, Playon (www.themediamall.com/playon), Hulu and Netflix. Playon takes streaming content from Hulu and my Netflix account and streams it to my PS3. All I pay is $30 for the playon software (one time) and the cost of the Netflix ($10 per month with blu ray). Plus I can watch blu ray on my ps3 with my hd tv. Only thing I am missing is football!

By: Mega Champ

Mega Champ — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 06:49:18 +0000

Currently avoiding the 54inch Plasama is saving me lots of bucks, but i dont know how long i am gonna resist the temptation of buying it.

By: Wizard Prang

Wizard Prang — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:19:30 +0000

My 80GB Gen5.5 iPod (I did not want a Gen6) was purchased refurbished for $200 from Apple; indistinguishable from new, and worth every penny.

My Tivo was $150 with a $150 rebate. I paid $9 tax and $13/month, which is good enough for me.

I pay $82/month for cable, Internet and Phone service. I have no gaming consoles and do not rent DVDs (no time to watch them!)

Too many people are spending their retirement on cell phone plans and cable bundles and other “Entertainment”. Now _that’s_ scary.

By: Craig

Craig — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:50:15 +0000

@Studenomist

No problem. Netflix is a DVD mail service. They have several different pricing plans, the most popular is $9.99 a month to receive one DVD at a time and you can exchange it for an unlimited amount. Basically you go online and select what movie you want to rent. They will send you the movie of your choice through the mail for free. You then can hold onto the movie for however long you want. They supply the package and stamp for you to send the DVD back whenever you are finished. Then they automatically send you the next movie you have already set up in your online account. If you get 2 DVD’s a month, it pays for itself. I absolutely recommend it (for saving money). They have a huge selection of movies both in DVD format and in Blu-ray. The only negative for me at least is that it takes away from the experience of actually going to the store and picking a movie at random. That probably isn’t an issue for most people. here’s the link, go check it out. https://www.netflix.com/Register

Craig
http://www.budgetpulse.com

By: Studenomist

Studenomist — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 07:34:05 +0000

Sorry to say but I feel left out because I do not know anything about netflix, anyone willing to explain?

Caved on:
1. cell phone (hows a young guy to network with people?)
2. ipod (got to kill time)
3. laptop (read pf blogs)

Resisted on:
1. iphone (oh man what can I say, been soooo close but something always stops me. I keep on telling myself that I will drop it and break it so I do not buy one.)
2. television in general (I rarely watch tv so I do not have any advanced subscription or crazy lcd tv hanging from the ceiling)

By: Craig

Craig — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:04:02 +0000

Also, if you are looking for electronics. try http://www.frys.com/. I bought my 52″ TV off of there and probably saved $600. I had no taxes and got lucky that my TV had no shipping. There are other products like that as well.

By: Craig

Craig — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:02:47 +0000

I am big into technology and the latest gadgets myself and have definitely spent my share of money on most of these items and plans. Could I save a ton of money, of course! Did I need to spend money on a big screen TV or could I have had a standard. Do I need the PS3 when? I could get by happy with a lot of these things, but I also enjoy the experiences I have. I full well know that some of these items only last really 2-3 years. I purchase these items knowing how I will enjoy using them in the time period, and possibly saving up in the meantime when these become obsolete.

Cell Phone is mandatory now. Netflix is the greatest thing ever. I am a big TV/movies guy so TV is big for me. I love music and listen to my ipod just about every single day.

I’m sure as I get older I will put things more into perspective about my purchases and savings, but for the time being I enjoy the technologies I use as do most 20 somethings.

Craig
http://www.budgetpulse.com