Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Stop the presses...
Old 12-14-2010, 03:56 PM   #1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
REWahoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,021
Stop the presses...

...at least when it comes to printing my copy of the daily newspaper.

As far back as I can remember there has been a daily newspaper in the REW household. As subscription prices increased, we did cut back to the Friday-Sunday option a couple of years ago, but we still got the local paper.

A month ago the paper announced they were going to begin giving us weekend subscribers a bonus issue and include a Thursday delivery at no additional charge. When the quarterly renewal came last week I discovered the rates were going up more than 15% - to $195 a year. That did it for us - no more daily newspaper.

Guess I'll have to throw a plastic cover over my laptop so I can read the news online while eating my morning Cheerios...
__________________
Numbers is hard
REWahoo is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 12-14-2010, 04:03 PM   #2
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
samclem's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: SW Ohio
Posts: 14,404
I don't feel like a get great value from our local paper, but I still subscribe. The ads are good on Sunday, but the real benefit is having some dedicated muck-rakers to watch the city council, zoning board, local govt, and all the other stuff I can't do personally. I pretty much just subscribe to help pay for folks to shine light on the local dealings. The Dayton Daily News does only a substandard job of this, but it's better than nothing.
samclem is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-14-2010, 04:15 PM   #3
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Rustic23's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Lake Livingston, Tx
Posts: 4,204
We quit a couple of years ago, however, we just started it again. Our border collie use to run out and get the paper. When we quit, we had to lay him off. His unemployment checks stopped coming so I started the paper again to give him something to do.

Wahoo, if you live near a college you might call around and see if you can get a 'School Rate'. I know some people in Huntsville, Tx, that are getting the Houston Chron. for $80 a year! At least that is what they tell me.
__________________
If it is after 5:00 when I post I reserve the right to disavow anything I posted.
Rustic23 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-14-2010, 04:38 PM   #4
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Midpack's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: NC
Posts: 21,304
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rustic23 View Post
We quit a couple of years ago, however, we just started it again. Our border collie use to run out and get the paper. When we quit, we had to lay him off. His unemployment checks stopped coming so I started the paper again to give him something to do.


We quit newspapers years ago too, LBYM and to save a tree or two. YMMV

My 88-year old parents will never stop 'taking the paper.' And that's fine too.
__________________
No one agrees with other people's opinions; they merely agree with their own opinions -- expressed by somebody else. Sydney Tremayne
Retired Jun 2011 at age 57

Target AA: 50% equity funds / 45% bonds / 5% cash
Target WR: Approx 1.5% Approx 20% SI (secure income, SS only)
Midpack is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-14-2010, 04:45 PM   #5
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
haha's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
It is hard for me to sit and read a paper or anything else at home.(Other than my computer screen that is!) I sometimes buy a Seattle Times when I am having lunch in the executive dining room at Mickey-D's.

Ever since college reading the paper without being out depresses me. And I cannot tackle the Sunday paper; just not going to happen at home or away. When I lived in Berkeley I would sit and read the Chronicle in a coffee shop. I loved McCabe, but the rest of the experience depressed me.

Ha
__________________
"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
haha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-14-2010, 04:45 PM   #6
Moderator Emeritus
CuppaJoe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: At The Cafe
Posts: 6,873
I re-started a Kindle subscription at 5.99/mo. after months of misquotting Bogie, "I'm uninformed." It has no ads, few obits (which wasted a lot of my time) and no crosswords. I get the crosswords from either a free paper or a page-a-day calendar. The Kindle deal can be stopped and re-started instantly and they give refunds right away.
CuppaJoe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-14-2010, 04:49 PM   #7
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Rustic23's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Lake Livingston, Tx
Posts: 4,204
I thought of an e subscription, but the dog is really h3ll on the reader! Besides I have to put it on the curb in the morning so he can go get it, and I never had paper to start the BBQ grill.
__________________
If it is after 5:00 when I post I reserve the right to disavow anything I posted.
Rustic23 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-14-2010, 04:50 PM   #8
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
73ss454's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: LaLa Land
Posts: 4,698
Heck, I didn't even know they still made a newspaper. I thought they were something you went to a museum to see.
73ss454 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-14-2010, 04:52 PM   #9
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Rustward's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,684
We used to get the weekender, Fri, Sat, Sun. When the circulation started going down, a Thursday edition was added to the weekender, and recently Wednesday was added -- and they don't call it weekender any more. They are doing everything they can to keep the numbers up. You can get Sunday editions in the grocery stores two for the price of one. They are all struggling.
Rustward is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-14-2010, 04:54 PM   #10
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Midpack's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: NC
Posts: 21,304
Quote:
Originally Posted by 73ss454 View Post
Heck, I didn't even know they still made a newspaper. I thought they were something you went to a museum to see.
They will disappear in time, just a question of when. Our local small town (pop 29K) paper is so thin now, it's sad. There's nothing to it Mon thru Friday at least. If it wasn't for the plastic sleeve, it would probably blow off the driveway and down the street...
__________________
No one agrees with other people's opinions; they merely agree with their own opinions -- expressed by somebody else. Sydney Tremayne
Retired Jun 2011 at age 57

Target AA: 50% equity funds / 45% bonds / 5% cash
Target WR: Approx 1.5% Approx 20% SI (secure income, SS only)
Midpack is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-14-2010, 04:55 PM   #11
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Rustward's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,684
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rustic23 View Post
Our border collie use to run out and get the paper.
Reminds me of one Sunday when a neighbor rang the doorbell. He had two newspapers in his hand and wanted to know if I was missing a paper because his dog had brought his and two others to his door.
Rustward is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-14-2010, 04:57 PM   #12
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Midpack's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: NC
Posts: 21,304
Dogs rule!
__________________
No one agrees with other people's opinions; they merely agree with their own opinions -- expressed by somebody else. Sydney Tremayne
Retired Jun 2011 at age 57

Target AA: 50% equity funds / 45% bonds / 5% cash
Target WR: Approx 1.5% Approx 20% SI (secure income, SS only)
Midpack is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-14-2010, 05:02 PM   #13
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Rustic23's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Lake Livingston, Tx
Posts: 4,204
If the neighbors have not picked up their paper before we go for a morning walk, Bandit, will retrieve it! He just does not understand why that is a bad thing.

Actually, I get double credit for starting the paper, DW likes to do the Sudoku in the morning.
__________________
If it is after 5:00 when I post I reserve the right to disavow anything I posted.
Rustic23 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-14-2010, 05:39 PM   #14
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
W2R's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,500
Quote:
Originally Posted by REWahoo View Post
...at least when it comes to printing my copy of the daily newspaper.

As far back as I can remember there has been a daily newspaper in the REW household. As subscription prices increased, we did cut back to the Friday-Sunday option a couple of years ago, but we still got the local paper.

A month ago the paper announced they were going to begin giving us weekend subscribers a bonus issue and include a Thursday delivery at no additional charge. When the quarterly renewal came last week I discovered the rates were going up more than 15% - to $195 a year. That did it for us - no more daily newspaper.

Guess I'll have to throw a plastic cover over my laptop so I can read the news online while eating my morning Cheerios...
Aw!!! I'm so sorry to hear it.

I have such fond memories of reading the Sunday paper when I was a little girl. Growing up, and making my way as a young woman, I always wanted to get the paper but felt I couldn't afford it. Then I got to the point where i could afford it, but with career and family felt I didn't have time to read it. Now, finally I have the time to read the paper AND I can afford it. But somehow the news media have evolved, or maybe I have. I get my news elsewhere. If your laptop gets too splattered (like mine), and if you have a good sense of humor, you can always listen to the TV news.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.

Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
W2R is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-14-2010, 06:33 PM   #15
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
travelover's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 14,328
Our paper went from 7 day home delivery to Thurs, Friday and Sunday only. It is augmented with a daily e-edition on line, included in the subscription price. They also offer a second version on-line, for free.

Ironically, the free edition is updated constantly plus has all the content of the pay for edition. I only continue to pay as the paper has done some great corruption investigative reporting and I feel like I should support them to continue their work. If not for them, the crooks would still be in office.

Initially I really missed the paper version on the days it is on-line only, but now I've adjusted.
travelover is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-14-2010, 06:44 PM   #16
Full time employment: Posting here.
dessert's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Southern Louisiana
Posts: 519
We still susbscribe to a 7 day newspaper. Somehow it just always was enjoyable to read the paper over a morning cup of coffee. We are considering not renewing next year because we might not be home enough and we will have to keep stopping it while we are away. We'll just see when the renewal time comes I guess.
__________________
Officially retired........Class of 2011
dessert is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-14-2010, 10:33 PM   #17
Moderator Emeritus
Nords's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Oahu
Posts: 26,860
Quote:
Originally Posted by REWahoo View Post
Guess I'll have to throw a plastic cover over my laptop so I can read the news online while eating my morning Cheerios...
Just make sure you swallow before reading the "Funny Joke Thursday" posts.

We haven't taken a paper in several years. We still get a weekly ad flyer, and that supplies us with just enough shredded newsprint to keep our vermiposting worms covered.

We let Business Week magazine lapse a few years before they went under surrendered to Bloomberg. We just stopped our subscription to Scientific American. If I could, I'd change the address on my lifetime U.S. Naval Institute PROCEEDINGS magazine subscription to my daughter. And now that Class of '82 is hitting their 50s, our alumni magazine gets grimmer every month.

But we're keeping our Family Handyman subscription for its full-color centerfolds of the latest tools. I swear I only get it to read the articles...
__________________
*

Co-author (with my daughter) of “Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence.”
Author of the book written on E-R.org: "The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement."

I don't spend much time here— please send a PM.
Nords is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-14-2010, 10:37 PM   #18
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
thefed's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,203
Quote:
Originally Posted by samclem View Post
I don't feel like a get great value from our local paper, but I still subscribe. The ads are good on Sunday, but the real benefit is having some dedicated muck-rakers to watch the city council, zoning board, local govt, and all the other stuff I can't do personally. I pretty much just subscribe to help pay for folks to shine light on the local dealings. The Dayton Daily News does only a substandard job of this, but it's better than nothing.

very off topic- but i was sitting in a meeting with my biz partner and someone brought him some paperwork on a building that is supposedly right on the corner of downtown-downtown dayton...built in the 90's, 11 stories i think with a granite exterior...he was involved in the construction and it cost them around 55mil to build...up for sale right now at 7.9mil. is the city doing that bad...or is this an isolated incident
thefed is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-14-2010, 11:24 PM   #19
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
samclem's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: SW Ohio
Posts: 14,404
Quote:
Originally Posted by thefed View Post
very off topic- but i was sitting in a meeting with my biz partner and someone brought him some paperwork on a building that is supposedly right on the corner of downtown-downtown dayton...built in the 90's, 11 stories i think with a granite exterior...he was involved in the construction and it cost them around 55mil to build...up for sale right now at 7.9mil. is the city doing that bad...or is this an isolated incident
Downtown Dayton has some significant issues, but I'd be surprised if a typical commercial building there had lost 80% of its value in 20 years. Maybe he put more money into it than it was worth?

The surrounding 'burbs are doing fine and are largely disconnected commercially and culturally from the city center. Dayton proper might bounce back someday, but it has been dysfunctional for decades (terrible schools, badly run government, anti-business policies, etc) . NCR, a legend in Dayton history that did a lot to build the town, moved its HQ to Atlanta last year. It was a real shock, from all accounts neither the company nor the city did much to prevent it or handled the situation very well.

Beautiful old homes in Dayton, many now condemned. I'd like to learn someday what drove the place down.
samclem is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-15-2010, 04:40 AM   #20
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Pittsburgh, PA suburbs
Posts: 1,796
I cut out the daily paper a few years ago. Several times in a row, when I was on vacation and had notified them well in advance to put the papers on hold, they kept delivering them. So they would pile up in my driveway, announcing to the world that the occupant was not at home, until one of my neighbors started picking them up. My neighbors on either side both know I am away over Christmas and New Years, but I did not see why I needed to alert them and give them a newspaper-picking-up job if I went to the beach for 3 or 4 days or out to my aunt's for a long week-end.
I skim the local paper online. I also skim the NYT online and subscribe to the WSJ, again online.
WhoDaresWins is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Stop Snowing already!!!! freebird5825 Other topics 86 01-12-2009 03:32 PM
Stop looking for capitulation mark500 FIRE and Money 8 10-25-2008 12:40 PM
They'll stop at nothing!! ScaredtoQuit FIRE and Money 15 05-01-2007 07:43 AM
tourist stop Khan Other topics 5 12-11-2006 11:01 AM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:37 PM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.