Technology...It's YOUR friend!!!

Okay, I've recently been re-evaluating how much money I spend on some of my "bills". So I took a look at my Comcast, Verizon Wireless, and ACN (home phone) bills. Now take into consideration that I also use Comcast for my internet connection. I know I'm not the only person who is pissed that Comcast seems to have a monopoly over the middle-Atlantic cable market. I also know that I'm not the only person who is not interested in the dish (bad weather may mean no signal).

So I took at look at the following alternatives to save myself some money:

1. VoIP phone service...Voice over IP phone service basically allows you to use your internet connection as your phone line. Meaning, your voice travels over the internet to the other person's phone rather than the phone line. Pretty cool technology but I was a little apprehensive at first. But through one of my classes I learned more about it and became comfortable with going that route. So I am going to sign-up for Vonage. Now, Vonage offers a plan for unlimited calling (long distance included) with a TON of features for $24.99 per month. This beats my unlimited ACN plan by more than $40/month (after taxes, fees, and whatever else they're charging me for that makes absolutely no sense on my bill). So, that's -$40 per month.

2. Verizon online DSL. Comcast's internet service is pretty good I must say. I don't have any speed issues. And I do a little more than just surf the web while at home so I need a pretty speedy connection. However, Comcast's Internet service is expensive. I believe the base price is like $40/month. BUT, that doesn't include the fee for renting their cable modem which is like $5/month. And don't try to network a couple computers in your home over their connection without a router because the second IP address required will cost you another $5/month. So if you have two computers, one internet connection, and no router, you're paying $50/month. Might not seem like a lot in the big picture, but if you have comcast cable as well, your bill is easily in excess of $100 monthly. So, I took a look at Verizon's DSL service and found that I can get their DSL service for around $30/month for a year. The speed is supposed to be comparable so I shouldn't have any issues with slowness. That's -$20/month.

Unfortunately, I still haven't found a worthwhile and cost-effective replacement for Comcast cable. But I'm sure that pretty soon someone will emerge with a quality television service for cheaper than what Comcast charges. And I can't push my monthly plan for Verizon Wireless any lower b/c if I do I'm guaranteed to go over my minutes. So I'm stuck with that bill right where it is for the time being. And since I'm probably gonna cop a Treo 650 around June, I'm sure my monthly plan price is gonna increase because I'll need reliable Internet service for my phone.

So overall, I'll probably save about $60/month (which by the way, is $720 annually) by making those two moves. And that (if I use it the right way instead of doing all the stupid sh&t I normally do) could be used to make a lil bit more money.

So anyway, I say all this to say that investigating a little bit into the new (and cheap) technologies out there may save you a decent amount of money while still providing you with quality service. I thought I would share this with everyone since I kinda had a breakthrough when I realized all this stuff and did the numbers.