CyberCJH's Blog

SmartMoney recently put together a list of ten things not to buy in 2010. Most of the stuff in this list seems to make sense.

1. DVDs : Netflix and Cable Video-On-Demand services are taking hold.
2. Home Phone Service : Go cell-phone only. Consider Skype.
3. External Hard Drives : Switch to online backup services.
4. Unpopular Smartphones : Fewer developers are likely to create applications and other products that cater to those phones.
5. Compact Digital Cameras : These cameras produce pictures that more accurately represent what’s in their viewfinders, but they cost a lot.
6. Newspaper Subscriptions : Replaced by a growing online media presence – much of which is accessible for free
7. CDs : Uh, hello. This is a no-brainer.
8. New College Textbooks : Shop for used textbooks to save up to 90%.
9. Gas Guzzling Cars : Gas prices are going back up.
10. Energy-Inefficient Home Appliances : The government is offering a federal tax credit of up to $1,500 on energy-efficient home upgrades through Dec. 31, 2016

I agree with all of them except numbers 2 & 3.

Home Phone Service : For us, it’s still not cost effective to drop the land line. We use it too much, especially when Tina works from home. And, we’re getting such a good deal with BellSouth right now that it wouldn’t make sense to switch to a VoIP service which would, probably, end up costing more. So, we’re keeping the Home Phone Service for 2010, and probably beyond.

External Hard Drives : I don’t trust online back services. I mean, I trust them to back up with music and even my pictures, to an extent. But, images of old bank statements and tax returns? Please. Those need to stay in my control, not someone else’s.

What do you think?

written by cybercjh

So long, wamu.com. So long, Washington Mutual.

You’re currently in the process of being amalgamated into one of the most evil financial entities on earth.

Starting Sunday, wamu.com will redirect itself to chase.com.

You were unfairly, unjustly and quite possibly illegally forced to sell yourself out to Chase. I will miss you. You were my favorite bank. But, now you’re in the hands of the supreme and evil overlord of the banking industry.

I’m sorry to see you go.

written by cybercjh

We drove up to the Vero Fashion Outlets in Vero Beach on Saturday.

Wow, what a sea of vacancy that place has become. When we first moved to Florida 3 years ago, it looked like the outlets were at almost 100% capacity.

Now, there are only about 53 stores filling the 77 that exist at the outlet mall. That’s a 31% vacancy rate. Sign of the times, I guess.

But, it was an otherwise great day. It was hot, but not ssooooooooo hot and the sun stayed in most of the time, so we didn’t bake. Emma slept almost the entire time we were there except for a few moments in The Children’s Place where we had to retreat into one of the fitting rooms so she could have something to eat.

written by cybercjh

In October of last year, I called BellSouth (who once was AT&T in big letters but now at&t in little letters) to tell them our monthly bill was just too high and they needed to do something about it.

At the time, we were paying …

• Local Service + Calling Features = $41
• Unlimited Long Distance = $23
• 6 Mbps DSL = $43
• TOTAL = $107

I asked them to lower the bill otherwise I would look into alternate services. To my surprise, they were more than willing to work with me and lower my bill to …

• Local Service + Calling Features = $24
• Unlimited Long Distance = $17
• 6 Mpbs DSL = $43
• TOTAL = $84

So, that phone call chopped 21% off of our monthly bill.

But today, I see our bill is up to $97. Apparently, whatever promotion we were on expired. So, I called them up again and asked what they could do to lower our bill. Much to my surprise, they lowered it even further than before.

• Local Service + Calling Features = $26
• Unlimited Long Distance = $13
• 6 Mpbs DSL = $23 for the next 6 months, $38 after that
• TOTAL = $62 for the next 6 months, $77 after that

So, for the next 6 months, we will save 42% off what our bill was last October and 28% after that.

Hey, better in my pocket than in their coffers. The guy told me to call back around the third week of December as they’ll probably be running new specials around that time. I wonder how low I can get our bill down too.

written by cybercjh

Yay! We’ve been talking about it since March and today, we finally consolidated our cell phone plans into one FamilyShare plan.

We (me, Christina & Fely) are sharing the FamilyShare Select 1,400 plan. Our annual savings (compared to paying separately as we were currently doing) will be around $480/year. Not to be sniffed at.

If, after a couple of months, we realize 1,400 minutes was overkill, we will downgrade to the 700 minute plan. This will save us an additional $200/year if we decide to do so.

That brings our total annual budget cuts to $2,766. That money will buy a lot of diapers, wipes and formula.

written by cybercjh