The Frugal Bostonian

If you have an older television, it might not be designed to receive digitial broadcast.  What that means is when the current analog broadcast is completely switched to digital only, your television will go black.  The government postponed the conversion until June 2009.

Fortunately, you do not need to replace the entire television, you can get a digital converter.  It is a piece of hardware smaller than a box of cereal (sizes may vary, mine is about the size of a frozen dinner).  The government will give you a free coupon for $40 off the price.  (they ran out of coupons a few months ago, but got more and reopened the program).  The coupon is like a gift card, its a piece of credit-card sized plastic you surrender at purchase.  I used a coupon to buy my converter box; the cheapest I could find was $49, so after tax and with the coupon, I paid about $12.

Go to https://www.dtv2009.gov/ to get your coupon, fill out the information and it will arrive in the mail.  The web site will also explain the whole digital switch-over.  If you have cable or satellite, you don’t need a converter, but if you have any old televisions that are getting over-the-air reception, you might want to get your converter now.  When you hook it up, you may also need a digitial antenna, the cheapest one (which I bought) is $9.99 at bestbuy.

Someone asked me what I do with all those vegetables I get at Haymarket.  I make quiches, which I bring to work for lunch.  I used to use those premade crusts that you unroll.  But once I  did not have any on hand when I wanted o make quiche, so I searched online for a recipe.  I found one at cooks.com for Julia child’s cuisinart pie crust.

Since I am still not sure of the etiquette of the internet, I am not going to post the recipe here, but you can google it.  It only requires a stick of butter, flour, salt, vegetable oil, and cold water, and takes less than ten minutes to make (everything gets tossed in the cuisinart for a few pulses).

Once the dough is made, I split it in half and separately wrap each ball of dough in plastic wrap.  I let it chill for a few hours, then roll it out (put it between sheets of plastic wrap while rolling for best results - just pick up the plastic to get it in the pie plate.  I cook it in a hot (425 degrees) oven by itself for about 12 minutes.  After it prebakes, toss the quiche stuff in and finish cooking.

I have not purchased a pre-made crust in ages.  This one tastes better, is easy to prepare, and has only those ingredients I put into it (i.e., no preservatives).  Since it only takes a few minutes to prepare, as long as butter and flour are on hand, I am ready to make a quiche or pie. 

The internet is a giant cookbook (subject of a future post), and this is one recipe that I am pleased to have found.

I’ve chronicled my long drama with the cable tv folks.  In a nutshell, I thought I was paying too much for what I was using.  I asked to reduce the television portion to fewer stations for a lower price.  Thereafter followed much mumbo-jumbo about how my phone and internet were part of this “package,” and how I was really “saving money” by having an overpriced service I didn’t use.  Finally, someone offered phone and internet for $40. I gladly drove 10 miles to dump the cable tv box back at the company headquarters.

Here’s what I did to keep my television from going completely black:

• I bought a converter box with one of those $40 coupons the government was giving out.  The cheapest one was about $52, so I paid about $12.
• I bought the cheapest digital antenna I could find; it cost $8.99 at bestbuy.
• I hooked up the converter to the television, and the antenna to the converter box.  These both use the same type of cord as cable tv (cords were included with the equipment).
• I hooked up the new-to-me dvd player directly into the television.
• I turned it on, let the setup feature take over, and 5 minutes later, I had great television reception.  The dvd player also works, using the “line in” feature on the tv.

It all works!  The picture quality is excellent, actually better than cable, this is not like old-fashioned rabbit ears.  I get all of the major boston network stations, a bunch of pbs stations, and a few other things (religious programming, kids, movies).  The tv scanned for stations, so I can again press the ‘up’ or ‘down’ buttons to get to the next station.

I wish I had done this earlier.  The cost of the antenna and converter box was significantly less than a single month of cable.  My television is a very low end model, but it does the job.

If you don’t feel like cable tv is good value for the money, but want access to the broadcast channels, give this a try.   Buy the lowest-cost equipment and see how it works (the low-end antenna might not do such a good job in the suburbs).  If you don’t like it, you can return the antenna and converter to the store (keep the packaging, it needs to be returned in saleable condition).

At the tail-end of the drama, the cable folks offered me “basic” cable for $15.  I am pretty sure their version of “basic” is the stations I am now picking up over the air for free.  Had they offered this to me initially, I probably would not have gone to the trouble of buying and hooking up new equipment.  Before you downgrade to “basic” cable tv, try your own digital antenna (there is no difference in picture quality, at least on my tv); you may be able to get it for free.

For the moment I am still getting phone and internet from the cable tv folks.  But this will not last for very long.  I am sufficiently unhappy with the whole experience that I am actively looking into other internet and phone vendors.  The $40 for phone and internet is still too much, but I am paying alot less than before.

I am now enjoying my free television, and I like the fact that the television can go anywhere - it’s no longer tethered to the cable wire!

Every week I find my mailbox stuffed with supermarket fliers.  As I was perusing this week’s flier in anticipation of tossing it in the recycling bin, I noticed a separate page with two coupons for free McCafe drinks at McDonald’s.  It’s really a free coupon for a medium iced or hot drink, no need to buy anything else.

I was walking past McDonald’s today and got a free medium iced mocha.  According to the register, the cost for this drink is $2.79 (plus tax!).  I handed the cashier the coupon (hand in the coupon when you order, so it gets rung in as a promo) and got the drink.

I did not really care for this particular drink, and would probably not order it again.  But, it was nice to try it for free.  I am going to try the hot version with the other coupon.  There are apparently four different McCafe drinks, and each comes in hot and iced, for a total of eight drinks.  If McDonald’s sends me more coupons, I am going to try them all. 

The bottom line - check fliers for freebies.  A free coupon is a great way to have a treat.

I currently have a telecommunications package from the cable company: phone, internet, and television.  I don’t use the television much, but need the internet.  I’ve done a few posts about the saga of trying to reduce service to what I actually use at a reasonable price. 

I had yet another lengthy conversation with the people at the cable company about reducing the level of service.  Finally, I was offered a new package: phone and internet for $40.  After taxes and fees, it should cost less than $50 per month.  This is what I requested months ago.  It’s still too expensive, but getting better.

The television goes black on Monday.  I need to return the cable box and get my own digital antenna (I just ordered one at bestbuy for $10).  I am optimistic this is going to work, or I am going tv-free.  I will be spending some time this weekend getting the dreaded cable equipment out of the house and hooking up a new-to-me dvd player.  Supposedly the internet service is going to be faster (something none of the customer service reps mentioned previously), so I need to power cycle the modem to get that started.

When I started talking with the cable people, I was paying more than $100 a month for tv, internet, and phone.  With this latest adjustment, I should be paying less than $50.  That’s a savings of more than $50 a month.  I can think of lots of things I would enjoy more than the television for $50 a month.

The cable folks kept asking what I did not like about the television service.  In addition to the expense, I told them i loathed the arrangement of channels.  There did not seem to be a way to limit the stations that appeared to those I was paying for.  The channels were all over the place, from single digits into the 400’s.  The remote (from the cable people) seemed to operate on “delay,” so simply getting to a station was annoying.  And, most of the programming did not interest me. 

If you want to reduce your cable costs, keep calling!  They do keep notes of each call, so you can always call back and tell them you’ve reconsidered and want whatever was on the table last time.  I am hoping that with the much-discussed problems with the economy, the cable folks start making it easier for people to buy just the services they want at a reasonable price rather than a “package” of stuff.  Otherwise, folks facing reduced income are going to shut the whole service down and the cable people will get nothing.   I am so annoyed by the whole experience that I will keep researching alternatives (the $40 rate is a promo for 12 months, I want to have other options when it’s up).

Goodbye Cable TV!!!

I was hunting around in the “beauty” section on craigslist (in the “Services” catagory toward the bottom of the page) and saw a posting looking for a free manicure / pedicure with a salon trainee.  I sent an email, and got a message a few minutes later scheduling an appointment.  I looked up the salon online - it is an established place on Newbury Street (I would be unlikely to pursue such an opportunity in a private home or other non-public place).

I showed up at the scheduled time - this was not “training day,” regular customers were getting manicures and pedicures with regular staff.  I got both a manicure and a pedicure.  The technician was excellent, and I really liked the salon (it was much nicer than where I usually go).  This salon charges $35 for a pedicure and $18 for a manicure, for a total of $53 for both services.  The place I usually go to has a $28 special for both.  My only cost today was a tip ($12) to the technician (I did not “have to” tip, but it was the polite thing to do, and i still paid about 1/3 of what I would have paid at my “usual” bargain place. 

Here’s what was different from the usual salon experience:

• I had to sign a “waiver” acknowledging that I was getting the services for free by a trainee, and if I was dissatisfied in any way, I could not publicly communicate about that fact (I liked the service, and I am not naming the salon, so no problem here).
• Someone came around a few times to “check how things were  going.”
• I filled out a survey at the end.
• It took about 2 hours, when the usual time would be 60-90 minutes for both.
• The quality was the same as what I would have expected if I was a paying customer, but IT WAS FREE!!!

I got a great manicure/pedicure out of this, and discovered a new place (I have not been going to the usual place because I don’t enjoy the atmosphere, and I have not found a frugal alternative).

I am amazed that these types of opportunities are still out there on craigslist; I got a luxury service (on Newbury Street) for alot less that the bargain place I usually frequent. 

It would have been more frugal to skip the free services so as not to have to spend money on the tip.   But I consider the $12 money well spent, I got a luxury service cheaply, the technician made a little bit of money, the salon got some free publicity (I will be recommending it to friends).  I suppose this is the way us “frugal folk” do our part to stimulate the economy (and I got the $12 from the money I made at a focus group earlier in the week).

Two months ago I had a small victory in getting my cable tv/internet/phone bill reduced by $20.  But when the new bill arrived, I could not understand the charges -it’s not clear what I am paying each for internet, phone, and cable.  The cable company does this on purpose; describing how much each service costs should not be so difficult. 

I called the cable company to request that my plan be reduced to the $15 “basic” television package.  (According to the bill, I am being charged $33 for something called “enhanced” cable on top of the “basic” fee.).  The customer service rep responded with a bunch of mumbo-jumbo claiming that if I changed to “basic” television, the internet & phone cost would increase to $70.  Then they offered some other sort of a reduced rate.  I’m tired of this,  I don’t want a “bundle”, “package” or other “deal,” I simply want the option of buying only the services I want at a reasonable price.

As soon as I can get another company to provide internet and phone, I am cancelling my service with this company.  This will be alot of aggavation, something my current cable company is counting on.  When I figure it out, I will post all the details, in the hopes that more people seek other providers.

Two weeks ago I found a posting on craigslist looking for people who listen to the radio to participate in a paid focus group.   I sent an email to the posting.  A week later I received an email advising that I had been accepted, and advising me when and where to appear.

The focus group was held about two weeks after the email.  I showed up and spent about 90 minutes with nine other civilians talking about Boston radio stations.  Really easy, somewhat fun.  It was in a function room of a bar/restaurant.  Each participant was handed a $50 bill at the end of the session.  The folks running this group only wanted information, they really don’t try to sell anything.

If you want to join the fun:

• Check craigslist (volunteer and etc. sections) for focus groups.
• Be honest about your demographic information and your likes/dislikes, you’ll be found out if you show up to discuss radio stations and you don’t actually ever listen to the radio.
• Have fun.  Everyone is usually friendly, and you’ll learn something about the subject of the discussion.

My 14 years old automobile was looking worse for the wear due to all the snow and dirt this season.  But, the radio antenna was stuck in the “up” position, and I was afraid to take it to the automatic car wash for fear the antenna would break and I would no longer have radio reception.

So, I took the car to the do-it-yourself carwash.  It cost $3.00 for 4 minutes of high pressure water and soap.  This was enough time to get the dirt off the car.  While this is not as good as a “professional” car wash (I did not have a bucket and rags, and it was too cold), it looks alot better. 

There’s  a coin changer to get tokens to run the machine (three tokens for one 4 minute cycle).  All I had was a $5 bill, so I had two tokens left over.  I used them to vacuum.   The car is also nicer inside.

Here’s the frugal part; for $5.00, I cleaned the inside and outside of the car.  The cheapest car wash I know is $5.00 with the purchase of 8 gallons of gas.  It does not include vacuuming, though.  I did about as good a job as the automatic car wash (neither is as good as a detailing place).  I am more comfortable in the car, its cleaner, and I would not be embarrassed if someone needed a ride.

Keep you car clean so you’ll enjoy it more, $5 is less than the price of a value meal at mcdonald’s, and the car wash is better for you!