Cable modem rental - NOT

[~bs]

The gadget that they rented to us for non-HD was $6.00/month. We had a 3rd hook-up in the basement that just had the non-HD device, but nobody used it so I returned it. Either HD or non-HD I was wonderint before goimg out and g if the device could be purchased somewhere?

Device rental is a profit center for cable companies, and the dvrs and cable boxes are usually locked in such a way that you cannotsimply buy one and tell them you dont want to rent theirs anylonger. You might want to look into it before going out and butimg your own device.

[snafu]

thanks for the reminder to seek out and correct some financial 'sloppiness.' I changed the type/level of bank services as they are charging for services that had been free. I'm looking at all the routine bills with a fresh eye to see if we can lower costs. We changed auto insurance details at the start of the year for considerable savings.

[disneysteve]

thanks for the reminder to seek out and correct some financial 'sloppiness.' I changed the type/level of bank services as they are charging for services that had been free. I'm looking at all the routine bills with a fresh eye to see if we can lower costs. We changed auto insurance details at the start of the year for considerable savings.

I think one thing that has encouraged financial sloppiness is electronic billing. When you get a paper bill, you are much more likely to take a moment to review it. When you just get an e-mail that your bill is ready, it takes more effort. You have to go and log in to your account and pull up the statement. Much easier with paper. That's part of what led me into trouble with the cable bill. I may go back to getting a paper bill.

Banking isn't a problem area for us fortunately. We're with BoA and everything on our accounts is free. A couple of years ago, they did start charging to get your cancelled check images so I cancelled that service ($3/month) because you can view them online for free anytime. Now I can do it on my phone which is even better (and free).

[JBinKC]

Did the exact same thing recently. I stopped the rental fees and now use my own equipment a modem and wireless router.

I went one step further I also dropped my DirectTV service which recently raised rates again for so little extra content that I can get just using streaming boxes with Hulu plus.