Small Sacrifices
We have had a lot of wind storms in our area this winter. During one of them, our roof TV antenna was blown down and is hanging by a thread on our roof. We now only receive about half the TV stations we used too. So my wife and I discussed our options:
- Pay someone to put it back up. We decided against this since the wind is so strong in our area - it would probably end up being an annual occurance. Plus it was kind of an eyesore up there on the roof.
- Sign up for a satellite provider (we cannot get cable in our area so that is not an option). This would cost us an extra 25-35 dollars a month, money that we would have to pull from making extra payments on our debt.
- Take the antenna down and live with fewer channels. This is the option we are going with.
Now, this is not a huge sacrafice. Sure, we will miss some of the channels we used to get. But the idea of paying $35 a month for satellite bugs me - especially when we think that by not doing it we can put an extra $420 a year toward debt.
What small sacrifices are you doing to save more, invest more, or reduce debt?
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Melissa said,
Wrote on March 29, 2008 @ 5:38 pm
I also am a Dave Ramsey fan and we are in baby step #2. I meticiously search through the paper every week to find coupons to save on groceries. This has really saved us a lot of money. Just today I saved $12 on my grocery bill!! Its funny how being on a gazelle intense budget changes the way you think about the little things. Sure to most people your 25-35 satellite tv bill is not that big of a deal but when you are fired up about getting out of debt - its HUGE!!! But as DAVE says “Live like no one else so that later you can live like no one else”.
cinzea said,
Wrote on April 2, 2008 @ 10:15 am
Do you have an attic? You can put your antenna in there. Don’t you have any friends or aquaintences that you can barter with and get your antenna restored? Why must you settle and do with less? Isn’t life hard enough as it is?
Just a thought.
JD said,
Wrote on April 4, 2008 @ 12:48 pm
Thanks for the input Melissa and cinzea! I’m just trying to stay focused on paying off debt. We may put an antenna in the attic - I have a friend I have been talking to who can do that kind of stuff. We are thinking through our options. I’m just excited right now about paying down debt and I don’t want to stray away from that. Thanks again for the comments!
Funny about Money said,
Wrote on April 4, 2008 @ 9:58 pm
I’ve used inexpensive rabbit-ear antennas for years. They bring in all the broadcast and UHF channels. I understand that when they change over to digital you’ll be able to use rabbit-ears for that, too–assuming the TV is DTV-ready or you have the box.