Hello Magic Jack, Good Bye Verizon

I used to spend about $28 month which comes out to $332 a year on a basic land line phone connection with Verizon.  The most frustrating part of looking at my bill every month was seeing how little calls I actually made and 75% of my bill was just taxes and weirder taxes.  The most annoying part is Telemarketers!! even being on the DO NOT CALL list, your current companies would call and try to sell you stuff. For my lifestyle it totally didn't make sense to keep my landline especially since my internet service didn't require a landline.  But I didn't want to give up the occasionally long comforting conversations I'd have with friends and family. 

So that's where Magic Jack comes in!! I will give you fair warning, I am so so not a techie and  my more techie pals will say go with Vonage etc.  But to me, Magic Jack is like a simple mp3 player you just plug in and use it.  The first time you use it, you have to spend maybe 5 minutes registering it and that's it. From there you can keep the Magic Jack plugged in whenever you want your phone to be ready to receive calls.  If you're energy conscious like me, I only plug it in when I'm going to use it.   I plug it in my USB port, click on icon and give it a minute to load then dial or wait for incoming calls.

What I love about it is when I'm not plugged in, Voice mails just go to my email address and I can play the file from my computer if I'm too lazy to plug in my Magic Jack.  And I just give out my new magic phone number for any applications that require my phone number.  I hate wasting my cell minutes on telemarketers.

Lets talk cost this baby seriously saves me some money.  Firstly, the regular retail price is $40 and comes with the first year of service free.  After that you pay $20 A YEAR!!!!!!  I got mine on Amazon for about $32, I could have bought it on Ebay for probably cheaper but I didn't want to use any of my actual money.  So I got it on Amazon and paid with the Swagbucks Amazon Gift Card Earnings.  Basically, Magic Jack is the easiest $332 saved ever!

Note: I've read reviews about reception etc, but for me it works great. My quality of life has not changed one bit from eliminating my Verizon Bill.  Bonus is my peace of mind in having one less monthly bill to pay on time.  If you have a friend who has it, ask them to borrow it so you can test it without buying it.

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Update : Life without TimeWarner

I wanted to give you all an update on my life without BASIC cable from TimeWarner and my HD Antenna.  I do love my TV shows and I am really surprised at how much BETTER, my TV watching experience has been.  Not only does my Antenna give me clearer reception but my reception even went undisturbed during Hurricane Irene.  Back when I paid for Time Warner cable practically every time it rained my service went down.  So not only have I permanently cut $30 from my monthly bills but the icing on the cake, is my search for Frugal Entertainment has allowed me to watch even more shows and movies for free!

Heres How:

-Blockbuster Express Kiosks : I watch a ton of newly released rentals for free via their promo codes which post regularly on this site.

-NY Public Library: I borrow DVDs of movies and TV series box sets, and keep them for over a week all for free.

-Hulu: Most of my favorite TV shows like are for free on HULU.  If you need to watch older back episodes, you may need to get Premium.  Mostly I watch non basic cable channel shows on HULU like HDTV and USA network shows.  And you don’t need TIVO because if you’re a week or two behind, you can catch all back episodes of a lot of your favorite shows.

-Sidereel.com: Warning you definitely need a anti-virus program to watch shows on this website .  The Pro is it has all the popular Cable TV shows.

**A lot people talk about NETFLIX as an alternative but if you live in NYC and have a free Public Library Card there really is no reason to pay $7.99 for what you can watch for free.  Most shows on CBS, FOX, The CW, ABC stream for free a day or two after airing.  And as NYC residents, we all have a zillion Duane Reades in our neighborhoods or work neighborhoods to watch DVDs for a dollar or free with the many Blockbuster express codes out there. Not to mention Public Libraries.

Tip:  But if you really want to try it.. they always have a first time customer free trial.  If you’ve never ever done it before, then here’s an excellent deal scenario.  If you have a Swagbucks account, sign up through them and you’ll get 1000 Swagbucks for trying the 1 month free trial.  Which is super because on top of your month free trial you’ll get enough points to redeem for $10 worth of Amazon, E-certificate codes. 

If you don't have Swagbucks account, get one ASAP its awesome!

Swagbucks Link

Click on the link and start your signup!

Good Bye Time Warner Cable

For those of you living in Queens and Brooklyn, you problem can understand the absolute JOY I felt when I canceled my Time Warner Cable.  I paid $30/ a month for basic Cable channels, awful customer service and constant interruptions to service.  For about a one time purchase of an HD antenna that costs about $150 from Amazon ($75 for me after my Swag Bucks awards); I get even clearer reception on my HD TV than when I was paying for CABLE!  And to top it off, I even have more channels. The only reason I bought the more expensive outdoor antenna was for the Chinese Cable channels.  If you just want basic cable; the $30 indoor antenna I originally got, will more than do that job.  You do want to test it out first if you get the cheaper ones to make sure your apartment receives what you want.  Either way with HULU and all these free premium Cable TV episodes sites, I’m in total Frugal Girl Heaven.  I am just annoyed I didn’t learn about this sooner!

Savings: $360 year  (not to mention mental health improvement from not having to constantly deal with Time Warner Customer Service)

How To Clean Your Air Conditioning Filter

Being that we’re day 5 into a Heat Wave in NYC; I earlier this week I finally looked into how to clean my Air Conditioning Filter.  Ok background, I AM NO WAY a DIY house maintenance person.  But this was actually super easy and now not only does my Air Conditioner work much faster; but as many Personal Finance Articles attest to.. this will save you some $$ on your electricity bill.

Step ONE : Find your Filter

Step Two : Gently Tug out the Filter

                                           This is what a Clean One looks like

Step THREE:  Clean off the dust, I'll look like your dryer filter.  I suggest taking a paper towel and just gently running through the dusty areas.  If you've never done this before with your AC, it will look like think layer of dirty cotton.  So then I suggest lightly grabbing as much as you can and trashing it.  Obviously if you wet it, wait for it to dry before inserting back into your Air Conditioner.

Bye Bye Monthly Cell Phone Bill

 

I eliminated my cell phone plan and got a prepaid pay as you go plan. I love “Platinumtel” because it’s the cheapest for my needs.  I really only use my phone for quick meet ups and job interviews and the occasional meet up text.  Personally I don’t really talk so much as I email so I get the $10 prepaid load which at 5 cents a minute, gives me 200 min. The catch is every 90 days you have to reload at least a minuimum of $10.  For me Cost per Year is only $40!

If want to read more about their other plans heres the link below:

http://www.platinumtel.com/

You do have to get one of their cell phones as a one time cost.

At the time of this post, they have a super deal where you can get a free refurbished LG phone Regular price: 69.99 for free if you get their $100 card which you don’t have to refill for 365 days plus free shipping.  So for $69.99 (no shipping or handling fees or expensive taxes); you get one cell phone, $100 worth of service and the best part is you are not required to refill for a whole year!

http://www.platinumtel.com/phones/free-messaging-phone