The Branded Daily Digest

Tag: Television

  • Tips to Saving Thousands of Dollars

    Tips to Saving Thousands of Dollars

    $1,000 sounds like a lot of money, right? It’s months of groceries, a plane ticket or an obscene amount of McDonald’s ice cream cones. But think of it this way, saving just $83.33 extra per month adds up to $1,000 extra per year. And if you put even more away, then you’re well on your way to saving thousands of dollars a year. To make that money faster, here’s how to save $1,000 in record time:

    Cut TV time by half.

    According to the NY Daily News, Nielsen reports that the average American is watching 5 hours of television a day. I challenge you to do what I have myself: Cut down on that number by half, at least. Why?

    1. The more TV you watch, the more commercials you see.

      Advertisements expose you to products and services you then want to buy. The fewer commercials you watch, the less you’re exposed to want and purchase.

    2. TV = Energy costs.

      Powering your television requires electricity, which costs money. You’d be surprised how much a little energy conservation can help you in saving thousands of dollars a year.

    Try this: Turn off the TV for several extra hours each week and crack open a book or bring out a family board game instead.

    (There are many other benefits, as well. I’ve discovered that reading before bed gives my eyes a rest from bright screens, which helps me relax and fall asleep better.)

    Quit the bookstore.

    Perusing Barnes and Noble is fun but dangerous. With new books costing upwards of $18 to $30, buying even a few adds up to over $60 real fast. Instead of walking into temptation, hit the local library. Libraries provide vast amounts of books, CDs, audiobooks, DVDs and more for FREE. With so many options, you’re sure to find great material…without the credit card bill after.

    If you’d rather own the book, check out second-hand shops and Goodwills first. I’m often shocked at the level of selection and incredibly low prices.

    Switch to LED Bulbs.

    Using energy-efficient bulbs is not only eco-friendly, it’s bank account friendly. The less energy a light bulb takes, the less money it costs to keep it lit.

    Newer LED bulbs are more expensive initially, typically $5 to $9 dollars more than old-school CFLs, but save you money in the long run. Check out the data. LEDs:

    • Are good for 25,000 hours vs. the older CFL bulbs at 4,000 – 6,000 hours (meaning you have to purchase and replace 5 CFL bulbs across the lifespan of just one LED).
    • Essentially last 25 years.
    • They are healthier because they don’t contain mercury, while CFL bulbs often do.

    Limit your Redbox Renting & DVD Buying.

    Redbox appears cheap. At $1.50 a day for DVDs and $2 a day for Blu-Ray, it doesn’t sound like much, right? But the cost sneaks up. With so much on our plates, it’s easy to let several days pass before realizing The Lion King is still sitting in our DVD player.

    If you rent Blu-Ray, typically return within 3 days and rent once a month:

    $2 a day x 3 days = $6

    $6 fee x 12 times per year = $72 a year on Redbox fees

    As with the bookstore, check your local library for movies first and save that money.DVDs are wicked expensive. Plus, with so many streaming options, they’re easy to do without. Currently, subscribed to Netflix? Find a flick on there. Always make the most out of what you’re already paying for.

    Learn the top grocery store hacks.

    Grocery stores have been designed to trap you into spending your money. Here are 3 basic tips to hang onto yours:

    1. Always buy “off brands”.

      Safeway oats instead of Quaker. Kroger peanut butter instead of Skippy. According to Business Insider, the store brand grocery products are approximately 25% less expensive than the national brands. For example:

      Name Brand Products: $275 per month x 12 months per year = $3,300 a year
      Grocery Store Brands: (25% off Name Brand Price) $206.25 a month x 12 = $2,475 a year

      Savings per year: $825

      Wow. Save nearly $1,000 a year right there.

    2. Make a shopping list.

      When I sit down and make a grocery list, even just for 5 minutes, it makes me enter the grocery store with a purpose. As long as I stick to my list, I come out with groceries I truly need…instead of a freakish amount of sugar-coated cereals and circus cracker cookies.

    3. Grocery Shop on Wednesdays.

      Most grocery stores double up deals on Wednesdays, offering sale prices from the week before and the week to come.

     

    Learn more tricks for saving major dollars here and make more to save more money by taking high paying surveys online. Paid surveys are an easy way to make extra money. Sign up with Branded Surveys today!

  • 8 Ways to Save Money on Cable

    8 Ways to Save Money on Cable

    What do you spend most of your “free time” doing?  If you answered honestly I bet at least half of you just said television (the other half said surfing the internet).  Don’t be ashamed.  Television viewing is at an all-time high and for good reason, it’s never been better.  So why not find out how you can watch all of your shows while simultaneously putting your best foot forward to save money on cable.

    If you pay for cable or satellite service, then chances are pretty good that you can find a way to save money on your TV service.

    Monthly savings can be as little as $5 or over $100. The key is to continually audit your level of service and see if the money you spend is committed to the features you use. If you have any waste, then remove it. Also, taking surveys for money can help cover any surprise costs.

    Bundle Services:

    This is an easy way to save money on cable. Bundling is when you subscribe to multiple services through one provider. The ‘triple play’ is a common bundle – telephone, cable, and internet.

    As far as savings, bundling typically pays off once you activate services. Contracts are usually required. Ask the provider if there is a penalty fee for canceling service before the contract comes to full term.

    The monthly price usually rises once the incentives expire. Ask the provider what the regular price will be once the incentives go away. You might have to adjust your TV service in order to keep the monthly cost lower than what you currently pay.

    Eliminate Service:

    Obviously, you can save money each month by eliminating your service. For some, this would be a drastic lifestyle change, but it’s not the craziest thing in the world to do.

    Eliminating service will cause you to lose access to some programming, like sports and news, but many TV stations will stream programming on their website. Other sites to watch TV content are Hulu and Stream TV Guide.

    This action will yield the most savings, but only if you don’t redirect your service money towards a different but more expensive hobby.

    Cancel Premium Channels:

    Canceling premium service, like movies or sports programming, is not as drastic as eliminating service, because you‘ll still have access to the service tiers you pay for. You just won’t have access to the a la carte channels that you pay extra for each month.

    Savings could total into the hundreds each year depending on how much you pay for premium channels. It’s also immediate and doesn’t necessarily alter much in the way of your daily TV life.

    In addition, most of the premium programming could be supplemented by viewing the shows online or with a low-cost movie club subscription.

    Change Service Providers:

    Changing service providers can be a good opportunity to save in the short term because most cable and satellite companies offer their best deals to new customers.

    Just be sure to pay attention to the cost of the service after the promotion period expires. If it’s more than what you currently pay, then you won’t save money. You might want to try a different method.

    Ask the provider if they will extend whatever promotion they are offering. Extending the incentives will increase your long term savings and keep the payment lower for a longer period of time.

    Get Rid of an Unused Receiver:

    Are you paying a monthly service fee for a receiver that you don’t use or use sparingly? If so then you can save immediately by removing it from your service plan.

    The amount of savings isn’t jaw-dropping — perhaps $5 to $8 per receiver — but keeping it and not using it is nothing more than throwing your money away.

    Share Satellite Service with a Trusted Person:

    I know someone that has several satellite receivers on the family plan, which are shared within a collective group of homeowners. This group then splits the monthly satellite bill, so a $160 bill means that each household pays $40.

    There are tremendous financial advantages to this, as you can get more programming for less money per house, but there are logistics to doing this. All receivers should be acquired legally and be reflected on the service plan. You’ll also have to get the proper dishes mounted and aligned at each location.

    In addition, if the service is in your name then my advice is to manage your group as you will be the person of record on the account. Make contingency plans for if someone flakes out or doesn’t pay the money on time.

    As far as cable subscribers, this is not an endorsement of splitting your cable feed and routing it between your neighbor’s and your house. There are a lot of complications to that, including the likelihood that tampering with the cable box is illegal in your city.

    Cancel Local Programming:

    If you pay for local channels then you are wasting money if you are capable of receiving your local stations with an antenna. Watching TV with an antenna and cable/satellite typically requires toggling between input sources. Some receivers integrate the antenna into the channel lineup.

    The whole process of going from an antenna to cable back to the antenna can be difficult for some but this is only a short term frustration. Monthly savings are typically $4-8 dollars.

    By using an antenna, you’ll gain access to digital sub-channels, which aren’t shown on cable/satellite.

    Get Rid of Your Provider

    That’s it. Bite the hand that feeds you. Get rid of your antenna, chord, receiver, etc. Take to the internet!

    Follow this Forbes article to quickly transition from dealing with unreliable service to a life of choosing just how much you want to pay.