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EPISODE 22 ~ SAVE MORE: Cut the Cord: Cancel Cable, Save Big And Watch Anything You Want

Save more money with The Easy Money Show

Now let’s talk about one of my favorite ways to “save more,” namely by cutting the cord, canceling cable. Americans spent an average of $103 a month —$1,236 a year— on cable television in 2016 and the prices are only going up. People are so intrigued and yet so confused about cutting the cord that my next guest produces an entire podcast and blog about how to do it right. Please welcome Dennis Restauro of Grounded Reason to Easy Money. Hi Dennis!

I think you were intending to do a broader podcast and blog about technology, but Grounded Reason really grew when you talked about canceling cable. Talk about how the podcast and blog took off, because I think it proves there’s a ton of rabid interest in cutting the cord!
When I started my podcast and blog, I didn’t know the first thing about blogging. I started it as a hobby to improve my writing skills.  By the end of the first year my blog was getting over 100,000 page views a month. Since then it’s become a very fulfilling part of my daily life, where I interact with people, guide them to the answers they seek, and hopefully help them solve a few problems along the way.

Your blog and podcast were my main source when I wrote a recent Washington Post piece about how to cut the cord. So let’s get into the steps I learned from you, the master. Number 1: If you want to cancel cable, first you need an HDTV ANTENNA, right?
Actually, all you need is a regular antenna. Manufacturers are using “HD Antenna” as a marketing term. Since 2007, local TV stations have been broadcasting digital signals so crisp that the reception is better than that of cable TV. Plus, despite all the hype about shows on niche networks, 19 out of the top 20 TV shows in 2016 aired on over-the-air broadcast networks. That’s why step one is to buy an antenna or dig out an old one. You can use the old rabbit ears or get a modern digital TV antenna so sleek it will match your decor or so skinny you can mount it out of sight.

Number 2, you need decent internet speed AND price. What should people be looking for?
To stream high definition TV shows, you need a speed of at least 10 Mbps (Megabits per second) —per TV set. If you live in an area with 2 or more providers, you should be able to get that kind of internet service for no more than $40 a month. You may have to do the dance and switch from one provider to another once your introductory period is up to maintain this low rate. Also be on the lookout for fees that aren’t included in the base rate.

Third step: Tell us about HDMI cords. What are they, how much do they cost, how do you hook one up and what do they do for you?
This is really the poor man’s solution, but worth trying and if you’re happy, you need go no further. The very cheapest way to watch internet shows on your TV is by connecting a laptop to your television set with an HDMI cord. Cost: as little as $3.50. It may sound complex, but it’s just like connecting an external monitor to your computer. You can then watch individual shows —and often entire seasons of shows— that the television networks have posted on their websites. Channels like CNN even offer live video feeds updated every few minutes.

Step 4: I’m a fan of websites that tell you where you can watch your favorite shows without cable. Do you find them useful?
They’re useful for finding new shows to watch. But these days digital TVs have great menus of their own. So you may not need outside services like Untangle.tv, Fan.tv and JustWatch.com.

Number 5: Check to see if you already have a smart TV. I myself was “this close” to buying another Roku box and then the guy at the store told me my TV was probably already internet ready. Is this a common mistake??If you purchased your television after 2009, there’s a good chance it can already stream television shows via the internet. Many modern televisions are “internet ready” with apps like Hulu and Netflix embedded in them. The problem is that sometimes a particular TV does not have the particular apps loaded onto it that YOU want. SO be sure to check because loading apps onto a TV is not simple like loading them onto a smart phone.

6: See if you can stream shows through your Blu Ray or gaming consoles. Once again, the idea is to use the technology you already have.
If your television isn’t pre-loaded with internet apps, you may have an external device that is. Many Blu-Ray players can stream shows and cost as little as $50. This is how I got started. Alternatively, recent editions of gaming systems like Playstation, Wii and Xbox can also stream videos.

And now, at step 7, you can finally consider spending a little money on a player. I think people should choose their player based on what shows they want to watch, because they all have different strengths. Do you agree?
Most players these days can access most programming, so this isn’t as important as it used to be. But if you have niche viewing habits, check to see if the device you’re interested in can access your shows. Some examples of players:

Amazon Fire ($40-$90) is a favorite of the editors at PC Mag because it supports so many different media services.

Apple TV ($149-$199) integrates seamlessly with other Apple devices.

Google Chromecast ($35-$70) Allows you to watch YouTube videos (and more) on your TV.

Roku ($29-$121) is easy to use and offers access to the most different channels.

Tivo Bolt ($300-$400 + $15/month). This device is more expensive because it streams video, but also skips commercials with a single click and does all of the other things that made “Tivo” into a verb.

And, finally, step 8, the last step. is to add streaming services. I like to divide these into “mainstays,” “Live” and “Premium.” So let’s talk about the mainstays first. These are services like Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix. How much do they cost and what do they offer?
• Amazon Prime ($99/year) offers hundreds of free shows, its own original programming, plus the ability to pay for shows and movies on demand. Many people already have Prime for the free shipping, so this shouldn’t even count as a cost for them.
•Hulu.com ($8/month) offers ABC, Fox and NBC shows, in case you missed them live with your antenna plus many cable networks from Comedy Central to SciFi Channel.
•Netflix ($8-$12) has the largest selection of television shows of any service and produces its own popular programs like Orange Is The New Black and House of Cards.

Now let’s talk about Live options. These are new and exciting and solve the perennial problem of how to watch many sports without cable. What are some names and prices?
• DirectTVNow ($35/month) provides 60 channels, from A&E to the Weather Channel but is so new that users report bugs to work out.
• PlayStation Vue ($30-$65) works with its own devices and others and includes base packages plus add-ons you can tailor to your tastes.
• Sling TV ($20/month) includes 30 or more channels, depending on your package, and with no contract so you can cancel any time.
•YouTube TV ($35/month) is You Tube new’s streaming service and is still adding metropolitan areas and channels.
•Fubo-TV ($35/month) offers a lot of sports options and is the newest of all.

And, finally, there are the Premium streaming services, which are the same as premium channels on cable, right?
Yes, and keep in mind that these can also be added to some of the basic options above. So check which is a better deal before buying them ala carte.
HBO Now ($15/month) is available on nearly every device.
Showtime ($11/month) can be added to Amazon, Apple TV, Hulu Roku, and Playstation Vue.
Starz ($9/month) is available via Amazon Prime and a dozen other venues.

This is all great info, Dennis. Thanks so much! Dennis has also provided a guest blog post with even more cord-cutting advice. Plus I will link you to his excellent Grounded Reason podcast and blog.

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EPISODE 22 ~ FIND YOURS: Savings Bonds: How To Find Your Family’s Lost Savings Bonds

Find unclaimed money with The Easy Money Show

At last count, the U.S. Treasury’s Bureau of the Public Debt was holding 44.7 million matured, unredeemed savings bonds worth $16.3 billion dollars that the rightful owners have failed to cash in. One or more of those bonds could belong to your family.
Some definitions: ”Matured” means they have finished earning interest.”Unredeemed” means the owners haven’t cashed them in. When you consider that savings bonds take 20 to 40 years to mature, it’s easy to see how people could forget about them.
I’m sorry to say that finding your family’s unclaimed savings bonds isn’t as easy as it used to be. Until a few months ago you could go to the government’s cleverly named “Treasury Hunt” website and do a search right online. When I launched Easy Money that site was listed as “temporarily down for repairs.” I kept inquiring and checking back and guess what: Now there’s a notice saying that “Treasury Hunt” is no longer available.
Could it be that the government no longer wants to make it easy for YOU to claim YOUR money? After all we have a huge deficit and debt and it wouldn’t hurt the feds to have an extra $16 billion dollars lying around. If this pisses you off, I suggest you complain to your members of congress and senators.
Meanwhile, it IS still possible to find and claim your family’s lost savings bonds. It just takes a more old fashioned effort. To inquire about unclaimed savings bonds, you submit “Fiscal Service Form 1048, Claim for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed United States Savings Bonds.” I will link you to the form from EasyMoneyShow.com/22.
The form asks for information like bond number, face amount and issue date, but if you don’t have those, I suggest you submit it anyway. The form ALSO asks for the name of the bond owner and their social security number, which is the only information you used to have to provide online. So I’m hoping that the Treasury Department will still be able to find missing bonds using that information.
This may sound like a hassle, but it’s worth it. I helped a Pennsylvania family search for their unclaimed savings bonds. First the Jerry Williams found more than $500 dollars worth of savings bonds in her own name. Then she found more listed for her husband. And then, while I was at their house they found still more savings bonds for her daughter. In all, this one family found about a thousand dollars worth of savings bonds.
I hope that encourages you to try filling out the form. And you should check back every couple of years. The Treasury Department adds another half million bonds to its database EVERY month as they mature!

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EPISODE 22~ GUEST BLOG: Cut The Cord: How To Cancel Cable And Save Big

By Dennis Restauro

Grounded Reason has over 200 pages on cutting the cord and getting rid of pay TV. The links in my cord cutting guide are either the most important articles on cutting the cord, or articles that answer questions I’m often asked. There is a lot of content on the site explaining how to cut the cord and replace your pay-TV subscription with cheaper alternatives. I’ve compiled the pages that will answer nearly any question you will have when it comes to cutting the cord.
Continued…Read more

Guest Name: Dennis Restauro
Guest Title: Host, The Grounded Reason Podcast
Guest Website: www.groundedreason.com/
Guest Podcast: Grounded Reason on iTunes
Guest Bio: Dennis Restauro is an IT Specialist and has worked in Information Technology for over 20 years. After realizing the closed off, insular culture of IT, he started Grounded Reason to broaden the public’s understanding of modern technology. Grounded Reason’s mission is to help everyone realize the money-saving and life-changing power of tech in today’s modern world.

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EPISODE 21 ~ TOP TIP: How To Prevent Cancellation of Your Insurance Policy

If you make too many auto or homeowner’s insurance claims, you could get “non-renewed.” It’s a ridiculous corporate word that means your insurance company decides not to insure you anymore because you’ve become too high maintenance or too big of a risk. Maybe you’re gotten several recent speeding tickets or you’ve made a string of petty homeowners’ insurance claims. Non-renewal only happens at the time your insurance policy expires. The company must give you a reason and advance notice that you’re being dropped. The precise number of days varies according to the law in your state. If you feel the reason for non-renewal is unfair, you can appeal the decision to your state insurance commissioner. Better yet, slow down when driving and reserve your insurance for times when you really have suffered a significant loss. That way, you can usually avoid non-renewal in the first place.

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EPISODE 21 ~ MAKE MORE: Selling On Instagram Can Make Your Home-Based Business Soar

Let’s get ready to learn more about creating and selling your own handicrafts —NOT on Etsy— but on Instagram. I never would have thought of this, but it makes sense. Go where the eyeballs are! That’s exactly what my guest Candace Hatch did. Candace, welcome to Easy Money!

Candace, tell us the name of your company and what you sell on Instagram.
My company is called LiliLane. I was planning on only selling girls headbands. When I first started, I told my husband, I will get tired in a week, but it snowballed. After a bit, I wanted to challenge myself. So I started doing skirts for little girls and then it has just grown. Now I do all sorts of clothing including pants, swimsuits, etc.

And to prove that anyone can do this: Candace, what kind of sewing skills did you have when you got started?
I had no idea how to sew when I started! My husband had to thread the sewing machine for me for the longest time because I didn’t know how to do it. I sew in a room in my house.

OK… so, I have to ask: what possessed you to start a handcrafted sewing company when you didn’t know how to sew?!
When I started, it was more about needing to feel valued financially in our family. I felt like my husband, Cliff, was the only one to work. I felt in a rut. I have always been very self-sufficient, and I thought even if I only made $20 a month… I needed to say I was contributing money to the family. Plus being in the military and moving a lot, it can be hard to stay in one job.

I think when people think of selling handmade items online, they think of Etsy. Why Instagram?
You shouldn’t necessarily go where everyone is going. Some people have great success on Etsy but I didn’t like the fees they charge and I wanted my own website. Went on Instagram instead which has been amazing. They are awesome for small businesses. You can do sponsored ads through them and there is a huge following for small shops. It’s mostly trendy moms between 18 and 35 and they love it. I now have about 25,000 Instagram followers.

No that you’ve been at it for more than 2 years, do you find the work easy or hard?
I would say it is hard work, but if you work it the right way it is easy — and so enjoyable. It is still fun. I love doing what I do. It lets me be creative. There are days I want to throw my sewing machine at the wall but 9 out of 10 days it is still fun.

What kind of hours do you have to put in?
I work about 8 hours a day, so pretty much a full time job. But you can make it fit your lifestyle. I take the kids to the zoo or the aquarium and then stay up late at night. I sew whenever the kids are asleep. I have 2 young children. A lot of times I stay up ’til 2 am. It takes about 3 weeks from the time orders are placed to the time they ship.

Have you made any mistakes that our listeners can learn from?
Don’t over stock. I have spent too much on fabric a million times – especially holiday fabric. Fabric I use is from amazing company in Durham and they make amazing prints with all water based inks. But the fabric is $30/yard which is expensive. Definitely have to be careful. I would be embarrassed to show you my wall of fabric now.

Now tell us about some of your biggest triumphs. I understand some well-known people have purchased your kids’ clothes?
The first time it happened to me it was a reality star. They are great promoters for your brand. A very famous football player’s wife purchases my items for full price and daughter wears them. That is a real thrill. Later, I was asked to include my clothes in gift bags at the Oscars and I was featured in Glamour UK!

Wow! And now you’ve hired other seamstresses and your clothing is in some brick and mortar stores as well. How did that come about?
Need answer about how this came about and which stores!

LiliLane sounds like a smash success. So Candace, I have to ask an impolite question I ask all my guests: what kind of money are you making at it?
I think my first year I made about $12,000 which I was very excited with, considering it was just fun money. This year I made $30,000 and it is going up every month. I now make about XX a month. I did not call myself money-savvy 2 years ago but I am now!

What has this additional income meant for your family?
It is huge. We are looking at buying a new house and I will be able to pay half the mortgage. It’s done so much for us. We aren’t millionaires but the financial help it has given us is beyond anything I imagined. The other day my daughter had to tell school why mom was special and she said because I make clothes that other girls wear. That tells me she notices what I am doing for the family and that makes me proud.

Time for some advice for people who might want to do what you do. First, you say don’t take everything to heart. What do you mean?
I would say anyone going into small shop community especially in clothing or tshirts – small shops are amazing but also very catty and cliquey so make sure you don’t take everything to heart. And if you have a bad experience with a customer just grow from it. You can’t let people tear you down. Let it go off your back.

On the other hand, you say that other people can be very helpful. Tell me about the Facebook groups that have helped you.
There are tons of groups on FB of mom bosses which is what we call ourselves and they have been very helpful. I would look up You Tube videos and ‘makers and mom bosses’ on Facebook. I asked a lot of questions and learned a lot.

And, finally, you say, make sure to put money away.
It’s easy to get into situations when you are first starting out and getting a bunch of orders and making money and go out and blow it all on craziness. It’s definitely a struggle to make sure you are putting away money for taxes and paying yourself. You can’t look at it all as extra money. You need to put money away for supplies. You learn as you go.

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EPISODE 21 ~ SAVE MORE: Wholesale Groceries: How To Get Them By Forming A Grocery Buying Club

Save more money with The Easy Money Show

One way to “save more” on food, household and personal care items is by forming a grocery buying club. They’re also sometimes called co-ops, but no matter what the name, multiple families are banding together to buy groceries wholesale.

Buying wholesale means you’re buying your groceries from the same distributors who usually sell to grocery stores. You’re cutting out the middleman. A refrigerated 18-wheeler literally pulls up and makes a delivery.

The typical grocery buying club savings is about 25 percent. Jen W. of New Hampshire says she saves her family of three about $200 a month. Larger families report saving as much as $500 a month. Wholesalers who sell to grocery buying clubs recommend having seven to ten families in your club. But it’s really up to you to determine how many families you need in order to meet the minimum order required by your wholesaler. Jen’s wholesaler requires a minimum order of $350 and she finds she can easily meet that with just three families in her club.

Grocery wholesalers list their products in catalogs or on their websites. They can typically supply anything except fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy. The best buys are on bulk products like pasta, rice, flour and sugar. Club members purchase jumbo sizes of these products and divide them up for maximum savings. Natural and organic products are often available because many co-ops started out catering to that niche.

Usually members of the club divide up the responsibilities. One member compiles the order; Another member collects the money; Somebody else volunteers their home to receive the delivery.

I checked the price of buying 5 products through a wholesaler versus at a regular grocery store and the savings were impressive, especially because I checked all organic products. The regular store price for my items was $36.65. The wholesale grocery buying club price was $28.04, for a savings of $8.61 or 23%. And remember, if your start a grocery buying club, that savings will be multiplied times an entire shopping list. There are wholesalers in all parts of the country who sell to buying clubs. I will link you to a website that lists many grocery wholesalers, so you can inquire about starting a buying club.

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EPISODE 21~ FIND YOURS: How To Find Unclaimed Money For Your Business —Whether It’s Big Or Small

Find unclaimed money with The Easy Money Show

Let’s talk about how to search for unclaimed money for a small business —or a big business, for that matter. I emphasize small businesses only because there may very well be an owner/operator who will directly benefit from finding his or her own unclaimed money.

There are probably more entries in state unclaimed money databases for people than for businesses, simply because there are more people! But unclaimed money listings for businesses tend to be bigger! In other words: worth looking into! Here’s how you do it.

Number 1: Go to MissingMoney.com or unclaimed.org (remember, .org) and search the state where the business is or was based.

Number 2: Enter the full business name in the Business search box, if there is one, OR in the last name box.

Number 3: Now, reverse the name and plug it into the same box. So, to use an out-of-business example, you would type in Circuit City AND City, Circuit.

Number 4: Now try plugging different parts of the company name into the first name AND the last name box.

Number 5: Try running the two words CircuitCity together and also try searching under common misspellings of the business name.

This may sound tedious but it only takes a couple of minutes and it works! Here’s proof: a letter I received from the president of a small investment business, after giving a speech to his company about unclaimed money.

“Dear Elisabeth, you know your stuff! I’m pleased and amazed to report that I had my assistant search our company name on the unclaimed property websites you recommended. Sure enough, she found 6 different listings totaling nearly $30,000! Next time I’m in DC, I owe you and your husband a nice dinner out!”

So… search the name of your small business today. Or, if you’re an employee, search the name of your BIG business and turn over anything you find to the company. They may even give you a finder’s fee! Let me know what you find!

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EPISODE 20 ~ TOP TIP: Junkmail: Contact The Direct Marketing Association To Stop It

Each American receives one ton of junk mail per year.  To help you picture that, two average-size horses weigh one ton. If you are jinxed with junk mail, if the envelopes seem endless, there is hope. The Direct Marketing Association maintains a list of consumers who don’t wish to receive what it insists on calling “direct mail” or “advertising mail.”  Ideally, you’ll sign up under every name – and every spelling of every name – under which you receive junk mail.  It’ll take a couple months and then, boy will you notice a difference! The DMA website also has other helpful tips for reducing junk mail. I will link you to the Direct Marketing Association website where you can sign up.

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