Reality Check is a recurring feature here on RLF where I will look at one of the monthly spending categories I listed when figuring out our monthly expenditures, and break it down a little further, exploring options for cutting the expenditure down. Today's expenditures: cell phones.
We have been with our carrier, T-Mobile, on a family plan for years. I can't even tell you how long. My husband, my oldest son, and me are on the plan together (our middle-schooler doesn't get a cell phone until he reaches high school). It is such an old plan that it doesn't even have a fancy name. We share 400 minutes a month and my son has 400 text messages a month. Total bill with all the taxes is right around $81/month.
We use the cell phone for all our long distance, and even so, with three of us on the plan, we never come close to the 400 minutes. I guess we aren't chatty types. My husband uses his cell phone the very least (maybe if he could actually feel the phone when it is set to vibrate, he'd answer it more often...but that's beside the point); in fact, on the bill we received right after my layoff, he used three (3) minutes!
I researched a variety of plans from a variety of carriers online and talked with representatives from T-Mobile and TracFone (which I was considering getting for my less-than-talkative husband), and was unable to come up with a cheaper plan. This is primarily because no one offers a family plan with such a low number of minutes anymore. If we had moved my husband off of the family plan onto a prepaid plan, T-Mobile's plan ($10 for 30 minutes that expire after 90 days) was better than TracFone's, but it still would have saved us only $20 every 3 months. However, we won't do that now because my husband stepped up the pace, and used 27 minutes on our most recent billing cycle.
Sometimes it seems like a disadvantage, having already been trying to live reasonably frugally prior to the layoff, because there are fewer "luxuries" to trim. Really, the only way we could cut down our cell phone bill would be to get rid of cell phones altogether. I'm not ready to take that plunge just yet. With a teenager who will be driving this summer, and who is already supremely busy, having that easy way to be in contact is a mind-easer.
Showing posts with label layoff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label layoff. Show all posts
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
It's All Personal
One down...
I made it through my first week of unemployment. For the most part, I love the freedom of being in total control of my schedule, though I feel like I am trying to do too many things at once (those of you who know me know that this is the story of my life). I'm trying to remain upbeat; reminding myself that we have some "time" to figure out my next step has been a little challenging, however.
One thing I've been thinking about this week is how personal the topic of frugality is for each of us, regardless of our financial situation. What works for some will not work for all. I read an e-mail newsletter earlier this week about unemployment, and how to survive it, and some of the things that the article said were "must-dos," like cutting cell phone, internet, and cable TV, are things that we are not willing (at this point, at least) to do. And, in our case, and many others, having a cell phone and internet connection is pretty critical to searching for a new job. I think my husband would tell you that cable TV (and TiVO) are second only to air, water, and food. The first things we cut (newspaper subscription, eating out, etc.) might not be the first things you cut in a similar situation.
That's how it should be. I'm not going to say that anyone should do anything in this blog...I'm gonna tell you what I do, how we handle things, and let you decide. That's the beauty of the blogosphere.
I made it through my first week of unemployment. For the most part, I love the freedom of being in total control of my schedule, though I feel like I am trying to do too many things at once (those of you who know me know that this is the story of my life). I'm trying to remain upbeat; reminding myself that we have some "time" to figure out my next step has been a little challenging, however.
One thing I've been thinking about this week is how personal the topic of frugality is for each of us, regardless of our financial situation. What works for some will not work for all. I read an e-mail newsletter earlier this week about unemployment, and how to survive it, and some of the things that the article said were "must-dos," like cutting cell phone, internet, and cable TV, are things that we are not willing (at this point, at least) to do. And, in our case, and many others, having a cell phone and internet connection is pretty critical to searching for a new job. I think my husband would tell you that cable TV (and TiVO) are second only to air, water, and food. The first things we cut (newspaper subscription, eating out, etc.) might not be the first things you cut in a similar situation.
That's how it should be. I'm not going to say that anyone should do anything in this blog...I'm gonna tell you what I do, how we handle things, and let you decide. That's the beauty of the blogosphere.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Keeping a Schedule
I know this isn't necessarily a "frugality" topic, but, one thing that drove me nuts when my husband was unemployed for the better part of two years (!) following the 9/11 attacks was how his schedule totally changed from when he was employed. I don't think it did anything for his confidence during that time, and it certainly made it so going back to work was a bit of a readjustment.
So, armed with that memory, I have decided to keep my schedule as similar to what it was before the layoff as I can. For me, this is not too hard because I still have to get up and get the boys off to school. But, instead of rolling out of bed when they do and heading right back to bed once they leave, I am getting up before them and showering and doing everything in my morning routine (scripture study, emptying the dishwasher, eating, etc.) that I did before. I do my hair and makeup every day, regardless of whether or not I plan to leave the house. I dress nicely, not as nicely as I would to go to the office, but in clean jeans and a sweater (and not the same one I wore the day before). It makes me feel better and have some semblance of normalcy. Today, when I go to the bank to inquire about refinancing, I'll be dressed as if I were going to work.
Being the Type A person that I am, keeping busy so far has not been a problem. I try to accomplish something on my household chore list as well as several things on my seeking employment list each day while the boys are at school. I have also decided that once the boys are home from swimming and we've had dinner, the to-do list is shelved. I didn't bring my work home from the office when I was working, and I still need that downtime in the evening.
So, armed with that memory, I have decided to keep my schedule as similar to what it was before the layoff as I can. For me, this is not too hard because I still have to get up and get the boys off to school. But, instead of rolling out of bed when they do and heading right back to bed once they leave, I am getting up before them and showering and doing everything in my morning routine (scripture study, emptying the dishwasher, eating, etc.) that I did before. I do my hair and makeup every day, regardless of whether or not I plan to leave the house. I dress nicely, not as nicely as I would to go to the office, but in clean jeans and a sweater (and not the same one I wore the day before). It makes me feel better and have some semblance of normalcy. Today, when I go to the bank to inquire about refinancing, I'll be dressed as if I were going to work.
Being the Type A person that I am, keeping busy so far has not been a problem. I try to accomplish something on my household chore list as well as several things on my seeking employment list each day while the boys are at school. I have also decided that once the boys are home from swimming and we've had dinner, the to-do list is shelved. I didn't bring my work home from the office when I was working, and I still need that downtime in the evening.
Monday, March 2, 2009
The First Change
I made my first layoff-related change today, cancelled our subscription to our local newspaper. This is something I really wrestled with. I've subscribed to a newspaper ever since I left home to go to college. Reading the paper is a part of my morning ritual. For a long time, though, our newspaper has been making cuts. Features, entire sections of the paper, reporters, columns, etc. They never print results for my favorite sport, high school swimming, in their print edition unless it is a championship meet. In short, for a long time I have been getting less content for the same amount of money. Even the size of the page has recently been reduced by an inch. This morning's edition weighed a whopping 4.4 ounces.
So, I called this morning and cancelled it. The operator tried to get me to stay on by offering me a 30% discount for one billing cycle. Nope, not gonna cut it. He then tried to get me to just suspend it for a while, in "protest" for the changes they made. Uh-uh. I am saving $182 per year because I will still pick up a Sunday newspaper at the newsstand (for the grocery coupons, of course).
So, I called this morning and cancelled it. The operator tried to get me to stay on by offering me a 30% discount for one billing cycle. Nope, not gonna cut it. He then tried to get me to just suspend it for a while, in "protest" for the changes they made. Uh-uh. I am saving $182 per year because I will still pick up a Sunday newspaper at the newsstand (for the grocery coupons, of course).
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