That Smith

I have mentioned a few times before the discussions I’ve been having with my co-workers, and recently neighbors, about budgeting, saving money, and other financial matters. This is my first post in the series of financial discussions.

In talking with one of the above mentioned individuals, it appears this one, a female in her mid-30s to early-40s, makes enough money to meet her monthly obligations, but does not have much left over for saving. That which she does have left over is usually spent sometime the next month.

I’ve been talking with this individual because my situation is similar to hers. While I don’t own a house and do not have significant amounts of credit card debt, I have a student loan I’m trying to pay off and, like her, don’t have much left over after monthly expenses to put in savings. Essentially, we both have a net worth we are unhappy with.

In the case of this individual, the reason her net worth isn’t going anywhere is because she buys a lot of crap she doesn’t need. (She tells me several times a week that she needs to stop buying crap.) Since her and I have had our initial conversation, she has vowed to begin cutting back on perhaps an unhealthy spending lifestyle. I will continue to meet with her and will provide more details on her goals and progress as long as she is willing.

Since I’ve talked to her, I too have looked at where my tiny earnings have been going and decided to call tonight to get rid of our cable. Laura and I both decided that we don’t watch TV enough to be paying $45 a month for it, and when we do watch it, it is usually a TV show or movie that we already have on DVD.

When I called tonight the customer service rep with Cox offered to give us three months at 50% off if we would continue using their service and if we were willing to sign a six month contract. I declined so she offered 50% off for six months and a year contract. I declined that too so she offered a 25% discount for a year and no contract if I would change my mind. No dice, but maybe in a couple months.

I will report how the TV free life is going after they disconnect it next Monday (a free week of service!) and I’m thinking I will try “canceling” our internet connection with them just to see if they have any hidden incentives for that.

Photo: brewbooks