Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Oh dear, internet service (part 2 of 2)

So, who knew that all of the internet/DSL providers are running at about $50/month now? I remember when DSL first came out years ago and it $20/month. It's no wonder why people live beyond their means...rates for basic services go up and up and people have to have every new gadget that include monthly fees. Society is out of control!

I was able to talk my provider down by $5 but not without a fight. Did you know companies have special software that keep track of their customers? Anytime you call in, they have the ability to see if you are a "difficult" customer. This last time I got a very stern operator. They knew I was an angry customer, so they matched me accordingly. I'm not kidding here, I learned about this in my last computer class for business.

When I moved into my house last year, I intentionally waited over 6 months to get internet service. Knowing that I could access it at my parent's house, work and school, I wasn't too worried about it.  I had to finally break down and get it because I signed up for online classes.

I still don't have any television. My area does not have free local channels like a lot of other cities. I refuse to spend a lot of money on tv because I am hardly home. Call me old fashioned but I don't even have a newer style flat screen tv. I have an old tv passed down from one of my Aunts and a dvd player I got for free from a friend. Granted, I do subscribe to Netflix and get 2 dvd's at a time for entertainment. I also go over to my boyfriend's house to watch tv and take advantage of the DVR he has too. I'm not going to lie, I watched the season premier of What Not to Wear last week, thanks to the satellite dish service he pays for.

It blows me away, when will this plateau? I just want to live comfortably in my own house with extra cash to have fun with. Learning to budget is a lifelong process, I think. I've done pretty well this last year and I hope I keep it going smoothly.

What are your thoughts? Let's open conversation!

Monday, August 12, 2013

Oh dear, internet service

You ever have one of those days where you open up a bill and all of a sudden it's increased substantially? I think satellite, phone, and internet services are notorious for this. Consider the following a rant and I am not apologetic. For the last twelve months my internet bill has been $29.99 by an undisclosed provider. They raised it to $49.99! When I first signed up, the sales man relayed to me as long as I call before the twelve month promotion was over, I could keep that $29.99 price. Well, I went through the silly amount of phone operators and the best they could do was lower it to $39.99. I really hate it when people deceive me and I really don't like it when companies take advantage of the little people. I went ahead and made a sharp decision to cancel it. Yup, I dug myself a hole and now need to find a new provider. I'm hoping I don't have to go back to this company. The service was great but there's no reason to charge people an insane amount of money. They can do that in my area and get away with it, unfortunately. This afternoon is going to be fun-filled, poking around for prices and different options. Would anybody like to join me? Call me a rebel, but if I have to go without, I will, and just on the case of principle, too!