Bye bye cable, Hello money!
Here’s an article I recently wrote on how my family cut the cord with Time Warner Cable last year and how great it’s been going!
How We Saved $100s in 2011
Do you find yourself wishing you had more money? What about more free time? If so, I’ve got an option for you to explore which can do a bit of both. My option: DITCH CABLE TV.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” you say. Or maybe it’s more like, “Noooooooo!”
I’m not telling you to throw out your tv. Instead of cable, get your shows and entertainment through a device referred to as an “internet tv device” (aka “set top box” or “streaming player”). The most popular of these devices are made by Roku, Apple, Google, Boxee, Sony, or Logitech. They are small, electronic devices that connect to your tv and pick up shows from your home internet connection (many of them do so wirelessly).
“But where do you get your shows?” Well, that depends on the set top box you choose. The most common sources are websites like Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, iTunes, and so on. Plus you can listen to streaming music (Pandora), check the weather, and play games.
“Okay, but how does that save me money?” What does cable cost you per month? $40? $60? More? Here’s the breakdown of what my family currently has:
One-time Purchases
- Roku 2 XS set top box = $99
- Over-the-air antenna from Wal-Mart = $15
- Amazon On-Demand = We bought 1 season (25 episodes) of a show for $15
Ongoing Monthly Expenses
- Hulu Plus = $8/month – 100s of popular tv shows to watch whenever you want via Roku, PC, smartphone, or tablet. Many shows have every past episode available too.
- Netflix streaming = $8/month – 1000s of movies and tv shows (including kids shows) also available on any internet device.
Total for the first year = $321
Total for every year thereafter = $192
What do you pay for cable again??
We love the Roku too because it’s got a simple-to-use remote with motion control so you can play the Angry Birds game that’s included!
“What about sports!?” Ah, the one negative: no SportsCenter. However, so many big sporting events are on CBS, NBC, FOX, and ABC. The $15 antenna flawlessly picks up HD TV over-the-air. Plus, there are services available on the internet tv devices like NHL Game Center, MLB.tv, NBA, and UFC.
“What did you say about free time?” I used to LOVE cable, but since I ditched it, I don’t have the ability to sit and veg out and flip through channels like I used to. Eliminating that time suck has allowed me to be more productive and spend more time with my family!
Banana Sandwiches
Here’s my family’s latest obsession for breakfast: banana sandwiches! They’re a great source of carbs and can have a lot of healthy toppings. Plus they’re fun for the kids. Here’s what I like:
Banana Sandwich
- Banana (duh)
- Blanched Almond Butter*
- Raw honey**
- Organic cinnamon
- Cacao nibs
Another tasty option is to take the same above ingredients (except use frozen bananas) and blend them into a smoothie.
* – Blanched almonds have been peeled, thus they’re much easier on the stomach and better for people with food sensitivities
** – Raw honey (not the typical honey from the store that’s loaded with sugar) has many great properties including seasonal allergy prevention. Your best bet to find some is your local farmer’s market or a bakery like Five Points.
Incredible Free Educational Opportunities
Last year I stumbled upon the free Introduction to Databases online class offered by Stanford University. It was one of a couple free classes they were offering for the first time. In my opinion, the class was a HUGE success. It was a 9 week course that covered about 15 topics that had hours of video lectures and interactive assignments for each topic. There were a few quizzes and two tests. It was the real deal!
I’m very proficient in my overall database knowledge, so it was great to review some basics, but they also delved into complex topics that certainly taught me quite a bit! There was an incredibly well-designed FAQ section to the website where the students could help each other with problem topics. Oh yeah, did I mention there were ninety thousand (90,000!) students who enrolled?! 25,000 submitted assignments and 6,500 (including me!) got a Statement of Accomplishment for completing the whole course. I can’t express enough about how first class this course was through and through. Plus, the professor, Jennifer Widom, has added a few videos since the course ended so students can learn even more!
The coolest part is, Stanford is back at it again! I signed up for these two classes, but unfortunately I don’t think I’m going to have time to take either. But, if you have any interest in them, you should definitely sign up!
Game Theory Online – starts March 19th
Probabilistic Graphical Models – starts March 19th
Here’s more information on the whole program as well as a list of other classes: Coursera
I’d love to hear if anyone ends up taking one of these courses!
Motivational Quotes
One of the many e-mail I receive during the week is a daily “Free Thought” from BeFreeForMe.com. It’s typically a brief quote and I always find it worthwhile reading. Today’s quote is very appropriate for me and my constant struggle with wanting everything to be perfect:
If you wait to do everything until you’re sure it’s right, you’ll probably never do much of anything.
- Win Borden
I’d also like to share the quotes I’ve posted around my office. They are thoughts that motivate me to stay organized, positive, and driven. Hopefully you enjoy them!
If you don’t pay appropriate attention to what has your attention, it will take more of your attention than it deserves.
- David Allen, author of Getting Things Done
I like my data raw, and my analysis well done
- @cariaso (no idea who this is, but LOVE the quote)
Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.
- Abe Lincoln
A ship is safe in the harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.
- William Shedd
Failures are lessons you learn on the way to success.
Nobody can make you mad or hurt your feelings. You do those things all by yourself.
- Ann Landers
Finally, here’s a collection of great pieces of advice. Take all of it to heart and act upon it!
Update:
I want to link to the other things I’ve got posted on my office wall, as I think they’re both incredible pieces of work:
Paleo Breakfast: loaded scrambled eggs and fruit salad
Dish 1
- 3 eggs from Jacob’s Acres Farm
- scrambled w/tbsp coconut oil
- 1/4 avocado
- spinach
- onion
- sundried tomato pieces
- Trader Joe‘s salsa (not pictured)
Dish 2
- frozen strawberries
- organic blueberries
- fresh mango
- sliced banana
- cacao nibs
- shredded coconut
- 1/3 c coconut milk (not pictured)
Breakfast is easily the hardest thing to change when adjusting to Paleo because everything we used to eat had grains in them. But, adding some fun toppings and mix-ins to eggs and fruit can really spice them up and make them taste even better. With all of this good fat (see: coconut, avocado), I was left satiated and feeling alert and energetic the whole morning.
29 Ways to Leap Out of Debt
As much as I like sharing my own thoughts on this blog, I often can’t say things better than the experts do, so in those cases, I just want to pass along the great information I’ve discovered.
I wrote a few years ago that, except for our mortgage, we’re debt free. The hard work was done by my wife and I, but we owe all of the planning and motivation to Dave Ramsey. I’ve written about him before and I’ll write about him again because he’s a fantastic resource on finances, insurance, and other important disciplines. I’ve read his first book, attended two of his live shows, and listen to his radio show/free podcast on a regular basis. He’s funny, straight to the point, and very motivational.
People may disagree with my eating habits, but can’t we agree money is a common problem we all have? If you’re not out of debt, trust me, it’s the best decision you’ll ever make. It’s such a relief to not have that burden, plus you can more nimbly handle any financial / life problem that comes up. There are many excuses out there as to why people can’t get out of debt, but just listen to his radio show and hear all the amazing sacrifices others make to get out of debt. It’s incredibly encouraging. And as Dave says, “if you don’t like being debt free, you can go right back into debt if you want to.”
Here’s a link to his 29 Ways to Leap Out of Debt. My favorite part is that only one of those 29 suggestions would make him any money at all. He’s not in this make money off of people – he passes on proven ways to win with money. Check out the list and make yourself more familiar with Dave!
8 Reasons Why You Eat What You Shouldn’t
Our oldest daughter, Bree, isn’t even 4 yet, but she’s getting to the age where her food allergies come into play in social settings and it becomes a great opportunity to teach her about consequences. We are her parents and we know what is best for her, but soon she’ll be at friends or relatives houses when we’re not and different foods will make themselves available. Lucky for us, she doesn’t have any anaphylactic allergies, but she has differing levels of intolerances for (at last count) about 30 different foods.
This past weekend she was at a birthday party at Sky Zone where there was pizza and cake. Jill planned ahead and made a really yummy gluten-free peanut butter and chocolate dessert, so that covered the cake part. However, when Bree saw everyone was sitting down to have pizza together, she wanted to have some too (can you blame her!?). We haven’t had many moments like this, so we were curious what would happen too.
Bree ate the pizza and did like it, but within an hour she said she had a stomach ache and later on that night she was in the bathroom a few times. Everyone likes the taste of yummy foods, but when you eat those that harm you, you start to learn, no matter how young or old you may be.
This situation reminded me of a very apt and accurate article written by the Paleo stud, Mark Sisson. Below is a quick summary of the article, but I highly recommend you read the whole thing here in order to understand the details:
8 Reasons Why You Act Against Your Own Better Judgment
- You’re missing something from your diet and your ancient genes are misinterpreting the modern cravings
- You’re missing something from your diet and your modern self is misinterpreting the ancient cravings.
- You’re addicted to wheat
- You’re addicted to sugar
- You’re stressed out
- You’re training too much without adequate fueling
- You’re not getting enough sleep
- You fear being socially isolated due to your food choices
I think #1 and #2 are really fascinating, biologically. Most people would deny #3 as being crazy, but the biology behind that supports it too. In fact, I think all of them are fascinating from one perspective or another. #8 is what Bree has to deal with at parties, but I know I deal with it at work too. I’ve heard comments that Paleo as “interesting”, but I’ve met very few (bordering zero) people who are willing to take the leap and find out how much it really helps them. My only hope is if I keep writing about our successes that it will encourage others to give it a shot.
Goodreads
