Financial

We finally made the decision, we are cutting the cord! We are joining millions of families that have made the decision to move away from cable and thus far, it has been amazing.

Enough was enough. I realized one night that we weren’t watching TV that much, so why have a massive TV channel option, if we watched, maybe 10% of the channels? And it was at that moment, that I looked up our monthly bill and almost fell out of my chair, as it was now $220 a month.  After a little research and chatting with our cable provider a few things were really clear to me in my thought process:

  1. I wasn’t going to get all of my Sporting events that I am use to viewing.
  2. I was going to need to add a Digital Antenna.
  3. I needed to look at another device, i.e. Roku to supplement other 3rd party providers.
  4. The cable company didn’t care or try to keep us as a customer.

1) Sporting Events – I love sports! I live for College Basketball and Football. There is nothing better than watching football on a Saturday, but here is the realization with kids, I wasn’t getting to watch many games. At best, I got in 1 – 3 College Football games in a year and I did get most of my basketball games, but a lot of times I was recording them and watching them after the kids went to bed. So my argument to keep cable for sports, quickly went away.

2) Digital Antenna – I wanted to keep local channels, just in case we needed local coverage. There were many websites that provided options and data on which would work best. I did have 1 limitation that I was faced with and that is that I didn’t want a rooftop or exterior antenna, due to the fact that our plan is to move. So I wanted/needed something that would be mobile and easy to use and setup. I settled with the Mohu 50 after a lot of research and so far, I have been impressed. I have been able to watch golf and the Kentucky Derby with minor issues. But all in all, it has worked just fine and I am out $70 for the antenna.

3) Devices and 3rd party providers – We have a Sony Blue Ray player with web apps, such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon, MLB, etc. so we were covered with being able to watch all of our shows that my wife and I enjoy and also the shows that boys like. I get my sports fix with my MLB package so that I can watch the Astros and this becomes a win win situation.  And then another app came out called Sling TV and they offer ESPN and a lot of the cooking shows that I enjoy, but Sling TV isn’t available on the Sony Blue Ray. After conversations with a buddy of mine, he convinced me to get a Roku and man, that has been awesome! There are so many more channels that we’ve opened up a whole new library of kids shows and other shows for my wife and I to watch, that I really don’t see the need to ever go back to cable. But, from a cost stand point, a new Roku player was $100, we have Netflix at $8/month, Hulu Plus $8/month, we already had Amazon $99/yr and then I got the MLB package for $125. See the breakdown below for a better comparison)

4) Cable didn’t care that we were leaving – I called and chatted with reps from the cable company, explained my desire to cut the monthly cost, significantly and their best offer was cutting our bill by $20 month, which didn’t factor in taxes, etc. so really the $20 a month savings, was closer to $10. There was a time when cable companies would get creative and try to keep customers, but I think that those days are long gone. So, they didn’t fight to keep me and they could have kept me as a basic cable subscriber for the right offer, but they didn’t try to keep my business and I didn’t feel bad turning in the equipment. Now, our monthly bill is $50 a month, down from $220 a month, for a savings of $170 a month.

I get it, I really see why people are cutting the cord more and more everyday. It makes sense, especially if you aren’t watching tv. But let’s look at real numbers on monthly costs:

ServiceMonthly CostYearly CostOne Time FeesSavings
Cable Service$220$2,640$170/month or $2,040/yearly
Netflix$8$96$0
Hulu Plus$8$96$0
Amazon$0$99$0
Digital Antenna$0$0$70$0
Roku$0$0$99$0
MLB Package$0$125$0
Totals$236$2,957$169$2,040

The reality is actually even simpler than the cost savings, we are reading more at night, spending more time as a family and less distractions and we are getting outside more. I know, it isn’t normal to say that we are unplugging and cutting the cord, but we have and we have loved it. In quick numbers, because I like to look at real term facts and measurements. By saving $170 a month, just from cable, we will be able to pay off 2 more credit card bills in less than 1 year! There, I said it, there is another benefit to cutting the cord, financial and getting out of debt faster.

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Changing leavesJust like the leaves are changing and the seasons are changing, I am finding the need to make some changes in my life too. And today seems like a greT day to start.

1) lose weight – I need to lose 30 pounds atleast, but probably more  I want to be around for my kids.  So today I walked about 10,000 steps, and continued to modify my diet by implementing a morning Beachbody Shakeology Shake.

2) find a church home – This has really bothered me, just as much as the being overweight.  I miss the church and fellowship that I had when I was in Texas and it is something that I want my kids to  have as they grow up.

3) better financial position – This is a constant struge for most Americans.  One minute I feel that we are moving in the right direction, the next I am up all night worrying.  My wife and I are really focused on getting out of debt and have been throwing all the extra cash that we can at paying down credit card debt.  But, if we can get all of our debt paid off in 2 years, we should be able to save enough to pay for all 4 years of college for both boys and increase our 401k contributions from 8 to 12%+!

4) technology- My job and life revolves around technology  so this is going to be hard.  But I really want to cut back on my usage and dependency on technology.  This is crucial because I constantly get emails, text messages, calls, etc and everytime one of those messages comes in at night, it takes away from my kids.

These are a lot of changes and I realize that.  But i have asked several friends and my wife to help keep me accountable and focused.  So as the seasons are changing and the leaves have started to slowly change colors, I too am changing and I hope that these changes are for the best and for my sons.

 

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Here is a phrase that most will never say, “Happy Tax Day”. Ok, maybe the spouses of CPAs, but that might be it.

Well, I did my financially responsible thing this morning, I mailed off my check for the taxes that we owe. At first, I was really upset that we owed. Then, I looked at that we did well financially this year. And then I got frustrated again with myself, because I like to get our taxes close to zero. The last few years we have had a ping pong effect. We went from owing, to getting back a large sum, to getting back a smaller sum, to this year owing.

I’ve had a few conversations with my CPA already about next year. We are on track to give even more this year, even with paying down our credit card debt and also paying off our tax bill, we are in a good position. If things stay the course, we are looking at 3 more credit cards being paid off in the next few months. Then, we tackle the big ones.

So, as I think about the day and reading the recent job numbers and how many are looking for work, I feel blessed to be in a position that we did well financially last year and hope to do even better this year. But this year, hopefully we’ll be able to mitigate some of our taxes.

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Murphy’s Law, if it can happen or go wrong, it will.  And if it does go wrong, it usually goes wrong in a bad way.

Now, there are two ways to look at this, glass half empty or half full.

Last night I got an email from my CPA saying that we owed a considerable amount this year. Now, I write this and I’m waiting on confirmation back from him on a few things, so the number should go down some. BUT, my first thought was holy crap, how are we going to pull this off? Half empty. First thought was not that we were fortunate enough to get raises give more money last year, etc. It was how are we are going to pay this off? I went to bed worried. I went to bed thinking how we could shave off of our budget to cover this?

I woke up this morning, stressed out. I woke up concerned. But I woke up.

I woke up to hearing Baby A calling my name. Not screaming, but saying “It’s morning Daddy!”

We’ve been blessed beyond belief. We have been able to save, build a little of an emergency fund, which we will have to use some of it more than likely to pay off the tax bill. But we’ve been blessed. And as I was making coffee for me and a cup of Apple Juice for Baby A, as Baby B and my wife slept, I realized that sure, Murphy’s Law likes to hit at really bad times. Sure, I could use that extra money that I’ll be paying to the government each month to pay down credit cards. But maybe this is a chance for us to get creative? Maybe this is a time that I pickup a few extra websites and make a little side money? Maybe now, we are in a better place financially and can look at Murphy’s Law as a slight speed bump in the road of life, as opposed to the doom and gloom that we once did.

I’m choosing to look today at Murphy’s Law as a glass full of stuff, that from time to time, we just have to deal with.

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