What does $60/mo savings…. buy you?

It has been almost 2 years since I disconnected DirecTV and the sun still rises in the east and sets in the west.   Back then, my wife and I only watched about 5 channels of the more than 120 channels the TV package included.  It was if we were paying about $15 per channel on TV we actually watched! 

But now, the $70/mo something dollar cable bill is now more like $14/mo considering that we subscribe to Internet TV content from Netflix and Hulu.  So, I’ve been saving around $60/mo for almost two years now.  That is about $1440 so far and I feel like I’ve given up very little for this savings and certainly don’t miss any of the commercials. 

If dropping the cable company and saving around $60 per month doesn’t excite you, maybe focusing on what this savings can actually buy you will!  For example, let’s say you are starting a family and want to start saving for a college education for your new born baby.  Take that $60/mo and invest it into a college fund.  This is what it could look like:

The $720 per year savings only adds up to $12,960 in 18 years.  However, by investing it with an average annual return of 10% combined with the beauty of compounding interest, the college fund grows to over $36,000 by the time your child reaches 18 years old.  

Or, if you never have children and get married at age 25 investing in this same way over 30 years will earn you over $130,000 by the time you reach 55.  Not a bad chunk of $$$ to help supplement your retirement savings simply by relying on your Internet connection to be your cable company.

If you need to spend that money, $720 can be an extra mortgage payment every year or home owner’s insurance.  $60/mo can go towards a car payment or insurance for that car.  Need to lose a few extra pounds?  $60/mo buys you a really nice gym membership and at the same time keeps you off the couch.  An extra $20/mo can buy you a speed upgrade from your ISP and you still save $40 per month.

I don’t need to tell you in today’s economy, the extra $60 per month can go a long way towards other more important things.  I’m not suggesting that everyone cut their cable and go with Internet TV instead.  It is not for everyone at least not yet.  But everyone should know there are other options out there now and there’s an opportunity cost to every dollar that gets wasted on an excessive cable bill.

Hulu Plus now on AppleTV

One of my biggest gripes about the AppleTV is no more.  Hulu Plus is now available on the AppleTV box which means it has more capability of being a 'cable cord cutter'.  If you have an AppleTV box, there's nothing you have to do other than reboot the box for an update.  More information here.

MyPlate - Let the Internet help get you into shape...free

My grandfather used to say "if you want to lose weight, push away from the dinner table".  My parents taught me about "calories in/ calories out" and the nutritional value of carbs, proteins, and fats to create a well-balanced diet.  In fact, my Mom was a nutritionist and introduced all kinds of foreign meals to us as a kid.  Have you ever had 'beef heart meatloaf'?  It actually tastes worse than it sounds.

It is ironic that each generation is more informed about nutrition than the last but at the same time each generation is getting fatter especially here in the USA.  Calorie rich food today is more accessible today than ever before.  Yet, while most folks know what good nutritious food is and what is just empty calories, many of us still eat the junk.  Applying what you know to what you do is where it gets hard.  Getting into the mentality that food is fuel not pleasure is even harder.

One thing I have done to keep myself 'honest' about my diet is keep a food journal.  I challenge you to do the same for 1 WEEK and think the results my surprise you as they did me.  The tool I used is "My Plate" which you can sign-up for free at www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate.   Basically, you create a login, answer a few questions, and start entering foods you eat daily into the website.  There are millions of foods to choose from in the database which makes calorie counting easy.  It tracks your progress so you may achieve your goal.  After a few weeks of entries, I made some major changes to my diet and as a result I feel better and have lost some belly fat.  Give it a try!

The more I read about nutrition the less I think I know.  There's a ton of information out there to consume.  Low glycemic index foods are choices that I am into now and have seen some nice results there.  So, if you want to make some changes to your diet, create a journal and look into some new food choices and educate yourself the best you can.  You may be surprised by the results you see in the mirror, on the scale, and how you feel which is the most important thing of all.

How they compare - Verizon 3G/4G Data plan VS. RTC Internet DSL/Fiber

When shopping for high speed Internet service most consider two things:  Price & Bandwidth.  Other factors such as bandwidth caps, throttling, quality of service, reliability, portability, customer service, and a shared vs dedicated connection are considered by some but are more secondary in the decision making process.  However, these secondary considerations have direct impact on the primary concern.  For example, who cares how much bandwidth you can potentially receive if you are always having to share it with others?  Or, if you are saving $5/mo is it really worth it if the internet connection is down when you need it most?

But let’s say none of the above matters to you.  All you care about is how much bandwidth you get and how much you pay for that bandwidth.  Let’s pretend that all ISP providers are the same.  The cable company, the telephone company, and wireless Internet providers provide internet at “x” price.  Which is the better overall value?

In this case, I’ve collected data from 10 real users of Verizon 3G/4G Internet data service.  This is what I found over a 3 month period:
Minimum monthly usage – 21meg of data
Maximum monthly usage – 1,138meg of data (1.138gig)
Average monthly usage (10 user AVG) – 265meg of data
Average bill - $50/mo
Average cost per meg - $.189 cents

Data collected for RTC Internet includes a 60/40 mix of copper DSL subscribers and fiber optic Internet subscribers.  Data was available on a little over 5,000 users given the above mix.  Again, a 3 month period:
Average monthly usage – 22,700meg of data (22.7gig)
Average monthly bill - $47/mo
Average cost per meg - $.002 cents

In sum, the relationship between price and bandwidth is actual usage.  In this case, Verizon is 18cents per meg of usage.  RTC Internet is 0.2cents per meg which is almost 100 times less expensive than Verizon service.

Also, RTC Internet has no bandwidth cap.  So, this is how the bill would compare at various usage levels:

In sum, portability of service is costly outside the home which is the only advantage or Verizon 3G/4G service to RTC Internet.  The best bang for the buck is clear.

A visual history of catt.com over the past 15 years.

Catt.com has been my home page for 11 years now.  The site is almost like an old friend.  It has, is, and will continue to be “the” community portal for north west Georgia. 

 In the beginning, the site was pretty bad.  But most websites were in 1997:

It had a link to download Netscape.  Remember Netscape?
 

 A year later, the site lost some ugly but still wasn’t too appealing:

 A cool link to “Ask Jeeves” was added because….he knew everything right?

Here’s a major overhaul of the site:

This is a screen shot from 1997 and where catt.com started to become a legitimate news source.  This is the first generation of catt.com that we all know today.

The 2nd major overhaul was in 2005 which looks very similar to the site today.  While similar in design structure to the old site, it used a much more sophisticated code so that real-time news and other features could be implemented:

It should be noted that many folks over the years have worked hard to make catt.com this area's premier community website.   You know who you are....thank you.  Also, Catoosa County News and WDEF News 12 have been a big part of the Catt.com website as news providers and I appreciate their content contribution as well.

On July 1st, the 3rd generation of catt.com will be implemented.  Each revision is better than the next.    For those of you that have made catt.com your home page or at least view the site from time to time, I hope you find the website as helpful as I do.  Please comment and share your impressions of the old catt.com and the new!

DOJ investigates cable companies for antitrust of online video

Just when you thought nothing 'good' comes from the DOJ, it begins investigating possible antitrust (anti competition) from cable companies as it relates to Internet TV services such as Netflix, Hulu, etc.  Nothing may become of it but there is a possibility this could be good news for OTT advocates and consumers of online video services.  Could this be a beginning to a-la-carte TV subscriptions to go live online? Wouldn't it be nice to subscribe to your favorite 8 cable TV channels $2/mo each and have it delivered over your Internet connection?  An interesting article from the WSJ here.

Is internet TV right for you? Take the test!

Is internet TV right for you?  Take the test by clicking here!