Saving Money with Soothsayer
part four, continued

Put up my 60 mile radius omni directional HD antenna last night, and I am able to pick up 14 channels; if I had a longer range antenna, according to TV Guide, I could get a whopping 26 channels. Anyway, just writing to say that this antenna does work, and so now I just test it by checking reception at various times of day and night to see if anything pixelates or becomes unwatchable... but after a few hours last night, things are looking good.

If you are familiar with HD broadcasts, you'll know that a station will broadcast multiple channels. As an example, FOX 11 broadcasts 11.1, 11.2, and 11.3. .1 is the normal channel, .2 is similar to TV Land, and .3 plays short videos.

So anyway, I'm picking up 14 channels, which is five more than what I was getting with the "basic local package" through our cable provider. I may not be getting the exact channels... no QVC or C-Span, for instance... but I'm picking up the main local stations and PBS, as well as those "extra" channels, so it's good.

Gail asked me if I was making the switch to Sling TV right away, but I told her I wanted to check reception on the antenna first. If everything is good, I'll cancel my cable service and use that monthly amount for Sling; this way, there's no money lost, everything breaks even.

So where's the savings in breaking even? I could argue that the savings would be in the service fees or communications taxes, or even prospective future cost increases. Of course, that doesn't mean Sling won't at some point increase their rates; after all, Netflix went from $8.99 to $10 a month after a few years. But in keeping with that example, a one dollar increase every few years is a lot easier to cope with than a five or ten dollar increase every couple years.

Another "cut the cable" savings I'm still working on is the cable modem rental. I don't know if anyone has been following that on Facebook, but I bought my own cable modem, to which the cable provider refused to activate due to security issues on their network, but they'ed be more than happy to sell me the one I'm currently using for $80, or a brand new one for $100. After checking online prices, I can buy a brand new one, same make and model, for between $35 and $60 dollars. I told my provider as such, to which they stated they would not activate those modems due to them being third party, and as such, a posed security risk to their network (even though they are the same make and model). I went ahead and shared with my provider a few different court cases and regulations put forth by the FCC stating that they can not prevent a consumer from buying and utilizing a modem obtained from a source not affiliated with that provider, as long as that device does not pose a risk to the network. Since I'd be obtaining the same make and model modem, there'd be no risk.

After going back and forth these past couple days, the provider contacted me to say they have frozen the rental fee until their legal department checks things out. So either way, I'm no longer paying rental fees. I cannot wait to see what their legal department's findings are on this.

So yeah, as reported in the post above, between Netflix / internet / Sling, our entertainment cost for the month will be about $70 a month, as compared to local package / internet / Netflix which is about $78 a month.

Over the past few months, I've slowly been condensing my horde of crafting materials while at the same time getting rid of a lot of things I just didn't need or want any more. I do that sometimes, getting rid of stuff; if I haven't had a use for something (or if I had forgotten I had an item), poof, it disappears.

This past week, while tending to things in the basement, I realized that if I simply moved my sheets of insulating foam from where they were (in front of the nerf gun wall), and if I bought a couple shelves, I could free up a lot of space... say, an office's amount.

With us having a new furnace, the basement is fairly warm, so there is no reason to have a work area in the basement and one upstairs. Having everything together, from tools to supplies, would definitely make creating so much easier. So, this past weekend, after much going back and forth / up and down the stairs, I have combines the two work areas.



Now I know things look a bit chaotic. I'm currently in the process of organizing. To the left of the picture is a solid shelf, where I'll be storing books, foam, and essentially anything that might slip through utility shelves. In the corner you'll see my green and black footlocker (my paranormal investigating stuff); on top of are works in progress. Next to that, on the bench, is my scroll saw (yay!), followed by a large matted area for me to cut an assemble stuff; the bins are holding numerous bits and pieces. Under the work bench is just basic storage, nothing of note. Next around the room we have shelf one, holding rolls of yoga mats, window screen, cardboard tubes, and other large pieces. Nerf wall for the eventual steampunk or prop conversions. Sewing and general art table, followed by a table covered in paints and markers and handheld art supplies. The cabinet is storing more paranormal stuff. What isn't seen is the remaining shelf, which is storing models and numerous other items that are in boxes. I'll be putting a large dry erase board on that back wall tonight (should have done it last night, but I was DONE).

As you can see, I have two florescent light fixtures above the work bench; two more will be going along the Nerf wall. With the solid shelf on the left, I am going to be putting a paint station on the top shelf, as there is a window right there, which will make for a good exhaust. I'll just have to do something to the exterior of the house so that there isn't any blowback onto the siding.

My first project in the newly combined work area: a samurai mask and helm. Finally figured out how to do what I want.

Saving Money with Soothsayer
February 6, 2018

Did you know you don't have to pay your entire electric bill? At least, if you have WPS as your provider (though I'm sure other electric companies offer the same).

If you haven't already, make an online account with your service provider. I suggest you do this with every bill you have... it'll help you in the long run, being able to see all your invoices and payments with just a click of a button. Anyway, make an account.

Once you do so, if you hunt around (I don't know the tab off hand), it'll ask if you want to participate in the payment plan. Even that might be the wrong word for it. What this does is, the system reviews your usage and bills from the previous year and calculates what you would have to pay month-to-month, averaging out your cost. So, instead of paying $150 in August and $300 in January, you'd be paying $225 each of those months.

I know, I know, this really isn't saving money. Some months you'll be paying a littler more, others a little less. But the thing is, it makes it easier to figure out your monthly bill... plus, if you haven't done so in a while, you may want to recheck your payment plan.

Over the last few years, I was paying $300 a month; this was based off of what we were paying for gawd knows how long. Recently I decided to re-evaluate my payment plan and found out I only needed to pay $216 a month. Holy crap, that's a nice drop! What happened? A lot, actually... newer TV, number of residents dropped, got rid of our chest freezer. Next year I expect to be paying even less, as we have a new energy efficient heater (rated at 96%).

I don't recommend buying a new heater unless you have to. We were lucky enough to have been hit with a bad storm, which fried our heater.

So even though this isn't cost saving, it definitely makes for better budget planning, and that'll help in the long run.