Cutting Costs in Retirement

[wabmester]

Ever since retirement, I have to keep telling myself "a bargain you don't need is no bargain."

My big indulgence these days is buying a bunch of books online.  I use a Chase StockBack card (gives 1% back in SP500 shares) to go shopping at Overstock (about 18% cheaper than amazon for books) via a link from the stockback.com site (which gives me another 4% kickback).

I also find good book deals sometimes at bn.com, use a discover card for the 1% kickback, and go through the discovercard.com shopping site for another 7% back.

I too did the home cinema projector setup a couple years ago, but found that the fan was annoying.  I got a good deal on a Plasma as a replacement, but have been pretty disappointed with the color depth.  And amazingly, Plasma's have fan noise problems as well (they tend to run hot, and the bigger they are, the hotter they run).

Got rid of my Tivo and cable, and switched to Dish (echostar) satellite with a PVR receiver.   Just like Tivo, but no extra charge for programming info.

Also, check out walmart.com for a cheaper version of netflix.

 

[malakito]

I'm with you on the cell phones and phone card, Cut-throat. I know people who don't have two nickels to rub together, but everybody in their household (including each kid) has a cell phone. My phone bill is about $18 a month for local service, plus 3.47 cents a minute for long distance calls with my Sam's Club card. By the way, does anyone know of a cheaper LD rate?

Bob,

I use www.onesuite.com which is 2.9 cents per minute if you use the 1-800 number, or 2.5 cents per minute, I think, if you use a local access number.

Downsides: It's a prepaid thing where you go to their website and charge, say, $10 worth of LD in advance, then use it. You have to dial a 1-800 access number then the number you want to use.

Upsides: You can see your phone call history anytime on the web, just log into the website; you don't have to wait for your monthly LD phone bill (may be different if you use a calling card; I don't know.) You can configure it to automatically recognize several phone numbers so you don't have to remember or dial any PIN # when you're calling from home. No added fees of any kind (but you may get charged 55cents for using a pay phone.) Apparently pretty good international rates as well. You can print off what in effect is a calling card. You can set up speeddial numbers on the website -- up to 50, I think, so you can just dial "01" to get Grandma or whomever. I could go on, but you can just check it out for yourself at

https://www.onesuite.com/features.htm

If you decide to sign up with onesuite, you can get yourself and anyone you use as a referral 20 bonus minutes. If you want to use me as a referral you can; my "SuiteTreat" code is "malakito1". Hopefully that's not considered unethical on this board

A similar thing is www.bigzoo.com. I have heard both highly recommended in many different places; I chose onesuite because of the lower rate for where I live, plus they seemed to have nicer features.

malakito

 

[Cut-Throat]

disappointed with the color depth. And amazingly, Plasma's have fan noise problems as well (they tend to run hot, and the bigger they are, the hotter they run).

Got rid of my Tivo and cable, and switched to Dish (echostar) satellite with a PVR receiver. Just like Tivo, but no extra charge for programming info.

Wabmester,

Yeah I am going to get a LCD TV when the prices drop a bit more and the Sets get larger. My LCD computer monitor is very, very sharp - runs cool and is flawless so far. I have had it 3 years.

I have an antenna in the Attic for my TV and FM reception. An amplifier for the whole TV/FM network in the basement. I had my communication company install this unit and wiring for only about $400. Paid for itself the first year with no cable bill. In my metro area -reception is sharp as a tack. And no monthly bills except the electricity to run them!

 

[sgeeeee]

. . . I have an antenna in the Attic for my TV and FM reception. An amplifier for the whole TV/FM network in the basement. I had my communication company install this unit and wiring for only about $400. Paid for itself the first year with no cable bill. In my metro area -reception is sharp as a tack. And no monthly bills except the electricity to run them!

I'm glad to hear someone else who doesn't subscribe to cable or satellite. I was beginning to feel lost in this discussion. The previous owners of our house had been wired for both cable and satellite (maybe not at the same time) so I put an antenna ($13.00) in the attic and tapped into the cable already in place. We get more clear channels of crap available in every room than either of us want or need. We do enjoy watching movies, but have found that the local library has an endless collection of DVDs and VCR tapes that keep us extremely happy. They have classics and newly released movie collections. Occassionaly we go to the theatre to see a new release that has lots of special effects, but lately these have been universally disapointing. Hollywood seems to be under the assumption that if you fill a movie with enough special effects, a plot, good writing and decent acting are not required.

 

[John Galt]

We don't have cable or satellite either and don't miss
it too much. I will say that when I am traveling, it's
kind of a treat to have cable at the motel.

John Galt

 

[wzd]

No cable either. We got rid of it when the kids were so glued to it they were insolent when asked to do something. One day, my wife disconnected it and took the decoder back. That was about 4 years ago. We miss a few shows, but use netflix for DVD rentals. Since there is a local (Denver) warehouse or whatever you call it, we mail one back on tuesday, get the next on thursday.

Wayne

 

[wabmester]

Yeah I am going to get a LCD TV when the prices drop a bit more and the Sets get larger.

Me too. LCDs are on the classic cheaper/better/faster technology curve. I expect them to displace all other video technologies in the next few years.

At least until somebody comes out with a practical holographic 3-D projector....

 

[Bob_Smith]

I use www.onesuite.com which is 2.9 cents per minute if you use the 1-800 number, or 2.5 cents per minute, I think, if you use a local access number.

Malakito,

Thanks. That info is much appreciated. My wife just bought 1000 minutes at Sam's Club and when that dwindles down I plan to switch. This looks better in almost every respect. I will use your name (malakito1) as a referral when I buy. Thanks again.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Uh oh, a group of non-tv watchers.

Actually if I had any kind of decent tv aerial reception, I would probably not have cable either. But...but...I'd have to give up the sunday night ESPN games. Cant take that quality of life hit!

The walmart dvd thing is ok if you live near one of their distribution centers...I think they only have two. Netflix has a lot more, turnaround time is supposed to be lower on getting your new set of dvd's.

My old projector had a pretty loud fan, but it was mounted on the ceiling where it was hard to hear. The infocus unit I have now has a little fan, frankly I dont hear it when a program is running. Its no louder than my laptop pc.

I have a cheap plasma too, bought it 2 years ago. You definitely get what you pay for. My old McMansions master bedroom had this little recessed area opposite the bed that was just screaming for a flat tv. Ah the days of wanton consumption! The recent generation plasmas have no fans and much better PQ. The contrast on mine is awful. With a progressive scan dvd it looks ok in all except darker scenes. I'll probably end up making it my desktop pc monitor sometime soon, it'll suit for 16 color use quite nicely.

LCD's have their advantages, but fast movement scenes isnt one of them. The Flat DLP's that will be coming along in a year or two at lower prices might be the ticket.

Re: the dish network pvr vs tivo. I've had both, the dish network thing is ok but its no tivo. On the other hand, I got one of my two for free and only paid $150 a pop for lifetime service rather than the monthly fees. Didnt hurt that I'm friends with a former board member. After four years, I've gotten my moneys worth. I've taken my old tivo from directv to cable to dish network and back to cable, without the need for a new box. Given that the tivo 'insulates' you from the program source, I've been able to pick the cheapest provider of the channels I want while using the same remote control and not much visibility to the content source provider. It helps that my parents and my fiancee have one also, so any of us can go to the others house, pick up the tivo remote turn on the tv and watch a show with complete familiarity. Middleware for television, if you will.

I guess the quality of life thing is very subjective. For me, creating what amounts to a movie theater experience in my living room for what most people pay for a low end 50" tv makes the cut. Getting over a dozen dvd's a month for the price of buying one, with no hassles, also does it.

 

[unclemick]

Adult toys are - well - adult toys.
My last big one was a new pickup truck(drove the econo box into the junkyard). Isn't the idea to cut the 'boring expenses' so you can subjectively indulge in what floats your boat?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Malakito - cool find in onesuite. I've been using the 2.9c cards from sams as well but they're a pain to use. This is much easier and cheaper since i have a local number.

I used your referral code, thanks for the tip!

 

[sgeeeee]

Re: Cutting Costs in Retirement

For you home theatre enthusiasts . . . I was just listening to NRP on the car radio and they were having a report from some kind of large electronics trade show. The reporter was talking about an 80" flat panel display that Samsung was showing off.

The display is apparently not available for sale yet, but I thought I would give you guys a heads-up in case you need to start a remodeling project to make room for the new display.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Hah. At this point i'll have to buy it at a yard sale in 2011

 

[John Galt]

I am kind of a closet Luddite, and really don't care if they never come out with anything new again. We do have four (4) TVs in the house and a couple of VCRs.
Total investment in the whole works is $120. We either
got 'em as gifts or bought at auctions, etc. Same with
books. We probably have a thousand, but never buy a new
one. With furniture, clothing, household equipment/tools, etc.
we ask these questions:

Can we do without it?
If not, how can we get it used/cheap?

We apply the reverse side of this coin to objects we already own and no longer use, i.e. . how to turn the item into cash quickly? Keeps the clutter down
too.

John Galt

 

[flipstress]

...  The video portion employs an Infocus X1 dlp projector...size is limited to how bright the room is and how far away from the wall the projector is... throws enough brightness to make a 100" picture in less than medium light...

Hi, TH. I found your post very helpful--thanks for sharing!

My house is small and I do not have much blank wallspace. I have one room in which I may be able to implement the projector-plan you suggested.

My question is: how far back does the projector have to be from the image wall to project a 100" image? Really, I'd be happy with an 84" or 72" image.

I suppose I could borrow a work projector and try it out in my room.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

13 to 15 feet should give you 100" diagonal in 4:3 with the average infocus consumer home theater proj like an x1. Other projectors may vary in image size.

Infocus has a calculator, just go to their site, click down onto a home projector and look for the link to calculate image size and distance.

I've fiddled with paint and screen materials, but honestly just throwing it on a textured white wall (medium orangepeel) looks fine with no fuss.

Supposedly Sony has a new screen material that rejects white light but accepts red/green/blue with improved gain. Unfortunately they're looking at $500 for a regular size screen and I didnt pay much more than that for my x1. If you want to get a good pic during the day without blacking out your windows, look for a model with higher lumens, at least 1500 and preferably 2000+. Avoid anything with low contrast ratios, look for 2000 and up. Some presentation projectors pretending to be home theater projectors have far lower contrast ratios and you'll have to crank up the brightness to see whats going on in dark scenes. Then get blasted by daylight scenes.

Given that for $750 plus a few doodads you get a better picture than a $3000 big screen, and it takes up a lot less space, I'm still very happy with the x1. Which has been replaced and I think a lot of the experts are still favoring the x1 vs its replacement (I think its the 4800 or 4805?). The one benefit the new one has is "native" 16:9 projection. I think that matters a lot more to purists than to mooks like me that just want a big cheap picture.

 

[Hyperborea]

I use www.onesuite.com which is 2.9 cents per minute if you use the 1-800 number, or 2.5 cents per minute, I think, if you use a local access number.

Sure, give it a try - some people find it ok. I tried it about 1.5 years ago and was very disappointed. I had a lot of difficulty getting connected to the local dial number, I would have dropped calls, I would have calls made where I could hear the caller saying "Hello, hello, who's there?" but they couldn't hear me, and about 50% of the connected calls had poor audio quality.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Those things happen to me too, but rarely. I find that if I call during peak times, I get a busy signal from the local number, or the number i'm calling rings busy when nobody is on the phone.

About 1 in 10 calls has an echo or low volume for the other person. My end sounds fine.

I'm thinking they're using voice over IP (voip) technology like vonage or packet8. Would explain the low cost and the occasional funny business.

But I do like being able to yap all I want all month for a typical cost of about eight bucks.