The Save $3,700 Challenge - February

THE SAVE FEBRU ARY $3,700 February is here, and so is another great way to save! CHALLENGE Are you ready to cut the cord on unnecessary expenses? SAVE $60O THIS YEAR BY GETTING RID OF YOUR CABLE TV & LANDLINE IIIIIII| Before you dismiss this idea, read on a bit more! Giving up cable and landline expenses doesn't have to be as hard as you think. The goal here is to save about $600 over the course of this year by finding cheaper ways to get the same services you already enjoy. If you can replace high-cost services with similar low-cost alternatives, what's not to like? Let's take a look at how you can save big by getting rid of cable and landline: IIIIIIIIIII| THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF TV GETTING RID OF CABLE SETS PER AMERICAN HOME library for movie rentals, staying connected to free broadcast TV, and taking advantage of various Internet-based alternatives. 2009 Digital cable subscribers pay an average of $75 per month, or $900 per year.' Yet you can replace much of the functionality of traditional cable cable, you with services like Netflix and Hulu, whether you really need all of the which currently cost less than $10 channels you're currently getting. per month. These services allow Maybe you can cut back on your you to watch many of your favorite plan and still save hundreds of shows, and you can even hook dollars. Even if you have to give up them up to your current TV. There are lots of ways to adjust to process, might it still be worth it if life without cable, including making better use of Redbox and your local end of the year? If you decide not to get rid of can still reevaluate access to a couple of shows in the 2000 it allows you to save $400 by the (E CABLE SAVINGS) 84% Replace traditional cable with Netflix and Hulu, 1990 which currently cost less than $10 each per month. OF U.S. HOUSEHOLDS SAVINGS ON CABLE: $400! SUBSCRIBE TO PAY-TV SERVICES $977 the average amount consumers spend per year on AUDIO AND VISUAL EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES.2 GETTING RID OF YOUR LANDLINE :On average, Americans spend $1,226 :on telephone service each year.? • And 53.8 percent of American households have both a cell phone • and landline. If your household is one of these, you can cut your phone • bill significantly by giving up your landline. As cell phones can now be • quite reliable substitutes for landlines, SUBSTITUTE CELL PHONES FOR LANDLINES 1 IN 3 HOMES (34%) making this change is more practical than ever. If you're not willing to HAS A CELL PHONE AND NO LANDLINE3 • give up landline service, or if your household is one of the 10.2 percent • of American households that only has a landline, you might benefit • from switching to a VOIP provider. VolP stands for voice over IP, and it • functions similarly to a landline. The • difference is that it uses the Internet 10.2% OF HOMES HAVE A LANDLINE AND NO CELL PHONE to transmit your calls. The main benefit of VolP is that you 53.8% OF HOMES • can usually find cheaper deals than HAVE BOTH LANDLINE AND CELL PHONES³ you can for landlines. There are many • providers to choose from, and some • offer plans for less than $10 per • month. Some may even charge as • little as $20 per year. 2.0% OF HOMES HAVE NO TELEPHONE SERVICE³ SAVINGS ON LANDLINE: $200! ||| IIIIIIIII| IIIIIIII| SAVINGS: $600 OR $54.55 PER MONTH CashNetUSA. EMoney's on the way® REFER ENCES: 1. Consumer Expenditure Survey. (2012, Sept.). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 6 Dec. 2012, from http://www.bls.gov/cex/2011/Standard/age.pdf How Much Time Do Americans Spend on Food? (2011, Nov.). Economic Research Service/USDA. Retrieved 6 Nov. 2012, from http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/149404/eib86.pdf Americans Spend $151 a Week on Food; the High-Income, $180. (2012, Aug. 2). Retrieved 6 Nov. 2012, from http://www.gallup.com/poll/156416/Americans-Spend-151-Week-Food-High- Income-180.aspx Seasonality Chart: Vegetables. (2012). CUESA. Retrieved 14 Jan. 2013, from http://www.cuesa.org/page/seasonality-chart-vegetables 2. 3. 4. 2.0 TVs 2.4 TVs PER AMERICAN HOME 2.9 TVs PER AMERICAN HOME PER AMERICAN HOME