Posted on Friday, 26th July 2024 by

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I visited a recently listed custom-built ranch home in our neighborhood and couldn’t find the controls to operate the kitchen appliances including the electric stove top. Everything was monitored and remotely controlled; as we moved one room to another, music emanated from recessed ceiling speakers.

This home has an EV charging station in the three-car garage, is professionally landscaped, has automated Hunter Douglass custom hardwired blinds, custom high-end whole house pre-wired remote camera access, Savant Security Systems, and is beautifully furnished and decorated! Yet, Mary and I couldn’t imagine living in such a home even though it was gorgeous inside and mostly one floor living.

Automation Gone Wild

The price was outrageous, $450 a square foot! I can’t see the current owner getting anywhere near their asking price but who knows in today’s market. Plus, it didn’t have a basement and the average home value in this area is typically less than half their asking price.

They placed a six-foot tall standard electronic equipment rack loaded with control and computer modules in the attic above the garage. Several dozen control, audio / video, and sensor cables are routed from the rack to every room in the home. They didn’t heat or cool the area! The ambient operating temperature for this equipment could easily be exceeded in either direction causing the equipment to fail. Then who do you call? Ghost busters I suppose.

A buyer would require a comprehensive operations manual and training on how to operate, maintain, and control everything! Not something I want to do even though I have an extensive electronics and computer background, no thanks. It would drive me and my wife crazy. In the sales perspective, they list the audio / visual initial installation cost at $161,000!

Cable Subscription Costs

Our cable bill is considerably higher than most of our monthly bills and I’ve tried to negotiate a lower price or change from Xfinity to Verizon without success on numerous occasions over the past year. Every time I talked with Xfinity, they would say I can go to a lower-level plan with less channels, but the price is close to what my current legacy plan costs, $306 monthly including Netflix!

Phone numbers can easily move from one provider to the next. However, if you use your cable company’s email address, many hesitate to change carriers. Email addresses are frequently used for online account user IDs and listed as contact information for every service we use from health care, banking, utilities, and so much more. Fortunately, I use my AOL and Gmail account email addresses but that is only half of the battle.

Last Wednesday I called again to reduce my internet speed of 1 Mpbs and 200+ channel count by half. The savings amounted to around $20 after they removed Netflix from the package! No savings at all considering I’ll be left with half what I had originally and now I would have to pay $14 separately for my Netflix streaming account. They informed me that any change to my legacy account requires a move to one of their updated new and apparently more expensive options.

Verizon is roughly the same costs with additional problems, they have to route their fiber optics cable under our driveway and through our lawn sprinkler lines to set up the service.




Cable Channel Confusion

We only use a handful of the 200+ channels we currently have, and seldom watch NBC, CBS and ABC, except for local news. The commercials are too distracting.

Most of the time we use Amazon Prime, Netflix, HULU, and Masterpiece streaming services, and watch: cable news channels, Discovery, HGTV, History, Lifetime, TLC, Bravo, Hallmark, Science Channel, and National Geographic.

Xfinity bundles their news offerings with sports channels which we don’t want or need and that increases the package fee dramatically. The way they bundle plans allows these companies to extract more from us all. It’s like going to the market and they only offer mayonnaise packaged with ketchup, mustard, and relish, and you only want mayonnaise. Great for the companies, but a rip off for their customers.

Alternate Route

There are ways to cut the cord using either paid and/or free TV streaming services. To get around the prospect of losing your email address, retain your current Internet provider and cancel TV services. Internet service averages about $80 per month, plus WIFI modem costs another $15.

After another frustrating round with Xfinity this week they quoted me a monthly price of $136.87 including all fees and taxes for 500 Mbps Internet, their modem with WIFY and one land line home phone. No TV service. They made no attempt to entice me to keep my TV services with them, none at all.

Indoor Antennas & Paid TV Streaming Services

An indoor digital antenna hooked up to your TV’s coaxial antenna connector tunes in local TV channels in most major metropolitan areas or you can subscribe to streaming services such as Sling TV, Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV , and others for a fee.

YouTube TV offers 100+ live channels, Unlimited DVR space, Special features like Key Plays View, and 6 household accounts and 3 streams for $72.99 per month. This service carries most of what we want, and we would keep Amazon Prime and Netflix. Our total cost would be $209.86, not counting our other streaming services and just under a hundred dollars a month less than what we are now paying.

I have one of our TVs set up with a digital antenna; we receive about two dozen stations including ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, many in high quality digital format. Because we are located in Southwestern PA, we also pick up a number of the West Virginia and Ohio stations.

The paid TV streaming service you select depends on what you watch, match up the channels you desire to the streaming plans offered. These paid plans can run anywhere from $25 to $100 a month or more.  As you can see, the costs can increase substantially based on what you pick.

Free Streaming Services

There are free streaming services: Freevee, the Ruku Channel, Hoopla, Pluto TV, and Tubi to name a few. These no-cost options include ads. Ruko Channel includes thousands of free TV shows and hit movies, Roku® Originals, 400+ live TV channels, kids’ entertainment, Premium Subscriptions, and more.

None of the free services I checked out include local TV, you would have to use an antenna for that. Change the input on your remote to Antenna to tune in local stations if available in your area. Digital TV antennas are inexpensive; even if you don’t need one now, they’re good to have in a pinch when your cable or internet is offline.

Many TVs now come with their own unique free streaming services, including Samsung’s TV Plus. It takes time to adapt to each streaming service and changing channels isn’t as easy as it is with a cable box remote.  An advantage the cable companies have, I and many others are questioning whether cable’s advantages outweigh their outrageous costs today.

Summary

Automation and higher costs go hand-in-hand today, from new homes, cars especially EVs, robotics, and so much more. I use extender wall outlets to accommodate all that needs charging: hearing aids, iPhone, iPad, Apple watches, tools, shavers, etc. Some of my wall outlets look like a spider’s web with wires everywhere.

The cost of everything is rising faster than most realize, and retirees are often first to feel the pinch. I’ve been looking at ways to economize anyway possible including changing electricity suppliers this year, saving us over 20 percent a month for the next 12 months.

Cable companies literally have a monopoly today similar to the railroad and oil barons of bygone days. They have a product that every single home in America needs except in the Amish communities! The charges keep rising at an alarming rate and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but government needs to regulate these behemoths.

Customers should be able to pick and choose the channels and packages they need instead of being forced to take a cornucopia of channels most don’t watch but are paying for.

TV Streaming services are a viable option for many, but they do require a reliable and fast internet connection. Otherwise, you may experience low resolution issues, lag, buffering, and/or interruptions due to high demand or technical problems. Something to think about, do a test drive to check out how they perform at your location before changing anything. There is also a learning curve and it takes time to set up the service and use the app.

I’m signing up for a free 7-day trial YouTube TV subscription this week before deciding on what path to take. It’s easy to sign up on your current system and give it a spin. The trial runs for 7 days and if you sign up afterwards, they charge you $64.99 for their TV Base plan for the first four months, an $8 monthly savings. After that the monthly charge increases to $72.99. You can cancel at any time.

It includes 100+ live channels, Unlimited DVR space, Special features like Key Plays View, and 6 household accounts and 3 streams. There is a good mix of local TV channels, news, entertainment, sports and much more. Plus, they have many add-on networks to suit most of what you will be looking for.

Another benefit of streaming TV is that you don’t pay the high broadcast and regional sports fees that cable charges, in my case those two items alone cost $38.90 a month. Plus, no equipment charges, another big savings for many.

I’ll let everyone know how my test drive goes and if I make the jump to streaming TV, it’s a learning curve but it’s long past due on my part.

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Disclaimer: The information provided may not cover all aspect of unique or special circumstances, federal regulations, medical procedures, investment, and benefit information are subject to change. To ensure the accuracy of this information, contact relevant parties for assistance including OPM’s retirement center.

Over time, various dynamic economic factors relied upon as a basis for this article may change. The information contained herein should not be considered investment advice and may not be suitable for your situation. This service is not affiliated with OPM or any federal entity. You should consult with a financial, medical or human resource professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher or author shall be liable for any loss or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

Last 5 posts by Dennis Damp

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Posted in ESTATE PLANNING, FINANCE / TIP, LIFESTYLE / TRAVEL, RETIREMENT CONCERNS | Comments (0)


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