Cost Savings

While we have both our condo in NorCal and what I like to refer to as our "vacation property" in SoCal, I have been findings ways to keep the cost of the vacation property to a bare minimum. I always cringe when it comes time to pay our cable/internet bill and when setting up these services down south it became a challenge to see what kind of deal I could get. I was determined that I would not pay more than $50 for both services. Because I was a new customer I was able to stay under $50, but that will expire in the next month or so. Planning ahead I started pondering about cable alternatives. Right now for 28.99/month I get the basic networks (NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, and WB), every foreign language news station in the LA area (Korean, Chinese, Hispanic, etc...), QVC and TBS. Sure there are a few more, but nothing worth watching. I realized that essentially I am paying 28.99 for TBS. I'll be honest QVC is always fun to watch, but really defeats the purpose of 'cost savings', especially if they are having a special on Bare Escentuals.

Not having a DVR I began utilizing Hulu to catch up on my favorite shows. Most shows are free, but I was getting sick of staring at my computer all day and then again at night. I had heard about the Roku system which allows you to stream applications such as Hulu Plus, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and Pandora on any TV. Their #1 selling model was $89 ($10 off) at Costco and included a 2-month subscription to Hulu Plus (a $16 value) so I decided to pick it up. I thought after 3 moths I would have saved enough money to pay for itself.  Best choice I've made in long time. I love it! It was simple to install, quite compact, E-A-S-Y to use and is all around AWESOME! I would highly recommend it anyone. Pair it with an antenna so you can get your basic cable (remember the Summer Olympics are only 79 days away) and let the savings begin!