Changes in Spending

There have been a lot of changes in this house over the last few months.  The first area we began to tackle was our finances!    My reading and discussions of the book, “Simple Compassion", began to challenge Eric and I in the area of spending.  We wanted to limit our “needs” to hopefully use some of the savings to meet someone else’s “needs”.  

Of course, after making some of these changes, we discovered that my husband would have 12 furlough days this year.  We were discouraged that the savings would not be used in the way we hoped.  I struggled with this in my heart for a time period, but have grown content and quite thankful that our changes had us prepared us for the financial constraints of this time period in our household. 

So what were some of the practical things we did to tackle those monthly bills?

We changed our energy provider. I spent some time researching the energy prices of local area competitors.  We locked in a good price for 2 years and have saved money!  It also helped that I became an electricity Nazi and kept it much hotter than normal in the house all summer long and we are keeping it colder this winter!

The internet connection was downgraded.  And yes, there are times that the streaming isn’t as fast as I’d like.  But somehow, we have managed.  I wanted to get DSL.  It is the cheapest in this area, but sadly there isn’t a company that provides it to our location.

Even with our “slow” internet, we have phone service via a VOIP provider that I discovered on my hunt.  Our phone service is provided through Phone Power and we have been quite happy!  Best of all, we pay about $8.33 a month for UNLIMITED local and long distance US calling!  WOO HOO!  (If you look into it and decide to try Phone Power, send me a note because I can get credit for email referrals)

We also began to look at other regular bills, like my haircuts.  I get my hair cut about 5-7 times a year.  Even though I only get a basic cut and blowdry, the pricetag was quite high at the lovely salon I visit.

As we were looking at this particular bill, we were convicted about some of our other spending habits.  Over time, we had allowed the standards in the house to change.  There was a time when the budget had NO flex and I went to the Hair Cuttery and didn’t even pay for the $5 blowdry.  Now, the standard included a regular cut and blowdry at a pretty expensive salon.

And this led to a realization that the standards had changed in a lot of areas, so we continued to slash. 

Do I need a Starbucks drink every time I am walking around Target?

Are our weekend trips to the Bagel Bin becoming less of a treat and more of a habit?

Can “pizza out” become “pizza in”?

And during this season in particular…can we change our gift giving to be less costly and more thoughtful?

Little changes add up quickly!

But the BEST financial change was giving up the cable bill.  We decided that we would no longer pay someone to make that “tube” light up the family room anymore. 

We had given up the TV for a year in the past and still remember what a GREAT thing it had been.  Yet we let it creep back in to our house and gave into that channel flipping habit in the evenings  again.  Admittedly, I am the main culprit.  In my exhausted mental state in the evenings, I often crashed on the sofa and watched an episode (or two) of Law and Order in some fashion.  (SVU, Criminal Intent, etc)

So we got rid of cable.  We decided that we wouldn’t even pay for basic service of local channels anymore.

And it was hard.  OH BOY it was a bit tough. At first, we replaced it with a lot of time on the computer and laptop screens. 

But slowly, we began to notice a change. 

My husband began to READ BOOKS.  (well, at least a few)  We began to find ourselves sitting on the sofa, in the quiet of the evening, just talking.  And we found that this phenomenon began to occur regularly.  

I’ll never forget the first Saturday without the Disney channel.  I came downstairs and instead of finding the kids glued to Playhouse Disney, they were all playing together in the family room.  What a joy!  It cemented the decision that very morning!

After a month or so of nothing appearing on “that box”, we got a digital converter box given to us by my in-laws and have enjoyed the ability to watch local channels again.  But we don’t take advantage of it much.   The channel flipping habit was already broken!

The biggest change has been that our television watching is more purposeful and MUCH LESS overall.  The only two shows that we both enjoy are, “Project Runway” and “Castle”.  We have the ability to watch, “Castle” on Monday nights through the converter box, but we use the internet to watch, “Project Runway", the night after it airs (though the season ended over a month ago now, so we are done).

And that is it.  Two shows.  One isn’t even on anymore, so we only have one show these days.  One hour of TV a week and LOTS more time to do other things.

The kids watch videos, but no more TV shows.  Ever.  No Playhouse Disney.  No PBS.  Not that any of those were bad, but we would find ourselves channel flipping just to find something.  Now we are more purposeful in what and when we watch.

The other day a woman at the store began asking K (age 8) if she enjoyed a bunch of Disney TV shows for kids (Hannah Montana and a bunch I never have heard of)  and K just shook her head, confused.  She had never heard of them either.  THAT was another moment that sealed the decision!

Basically, television watching has become a VERY SMALL part of our lives and I think it has been beneficial.  It was amazing to realize how much time I spent just flipping channels so I could "zone out” in the evenings.  We have filled that time with things that I consider to be more worthwhile.

Overall, this time period of financial savings has been a helpful change in spending.  It will be even more helpful in the coming months since we just purchased a vehicle!

But without a doubt, the impact of little to no TV on our marriage and family has been IMMEASURABLE!  Neither of us has any desire to go back to cable.