I am weak, I am weak

Today I changed my services on Charter. My last bill was $239.50. I decided to cut out the phone and the premium channels. I found a way to do it by using the chat box on charter.com. In the end I went for another package that still includes the phone for about $135 plus taxes etc. I suspect that it will be about $155 when all is said and done, maybe even more. So I may be back to cut out something else.

I really don't need the television but I am addicted. I have given up watching the premium channels just so I could be ready when this day came. I also have a Roku and signed up for Netflix Streaming as well as Hulu Plus (about $8 each per month). I watch through the Roku most of the time. For that I need internet. When I am stronger I will cut out the television altogether and just have internet.

What Now?

I have reigned in grocery and "shopping" so far this month so that neither is a big player. This, however, is what my spending looks like:

My home expenses include space rent, mortgage payment, and insurance. The insurance payment is due every quarter, so is not a monthly expense. The bills and utilities include cable (internet, television, home phone), gas, electricity, and trash. My cell phone bill has not arrived yet.  Taxes is property tax, a twice-yearly payment.

Health & Fitness so far includes a payment on a bill owed to my periodontal dentist for tissue grafting (I do not carry dental insurance; it doesn't work out for me), AARP supplement medical insurance, and a bottle of iron supplements required for upcoming surgery.

Gifts and Donations include donations to various groups, a gift for my daughter's birthday, and money into savings and college funds for one of my grandsons.

So far I have spent just $59 on groceries (less on coffee and restaurants). So I have stayed well within my goal of $18 per day, in large part because I have been eating what's in the cupboard. I have what I call a "scarcity complex" - I like to have food set aside for "emergencies" or just tough times. But lately I have enjoyed using up a lot of the canned beans and other things because I want to reorganize my cupboards and use my pressure cooker more.

In any case, there are a couple of glaring items: the cable bill, which is about $230. It creeps up all the time. I have been weaning myself off the premium channels so it is time to let them go. Gradually I will let go of the rest of the channels as well. And if it makes sense financially I'll get rid of the home phone.

My goal for this week is to reduce the cable bill, spend for groceries at $15 per day max, and spend on shopping no more than $25 for the week.

Utilities

Expenses. I aim to reduce my expenses. To do so, I need to know what I am paying, so I can set goals.

I'm starting with an item that isn't much of a hot button: utilities. I pay "submetered" gas and electric bills along with my space rent each month. I live in a mobile home park. This means that somebody checks my meters once a month, and it isn't always consistently on the same day.

I have created a spreadsheet showing my gas and electric bills over the past year, compared to this year:

Variables to consider:

* Meters not checked consistently every month

* Weather affects use of gas especially

* Utility companies increase rates from time to time

* I travel, sometimes for ten days to a couple of weeks

I want to reduce my electric bill especially. Even though I feel I use gas more, it costs less, so I am less concerned about it. To that end I have started to shut off my computer every night (I had been leaving it on just about forever) and I am trying to curb my daytime television habit (something I picked up when recuperating from my first knee replacement). This is a vague goal but a goal nonetheless. I started making these changes some time in February, so my March bill may reflect the change. Let me go look (I haven't paid it yet but will in the next couple of days).

Hmmmm. The electric bill is $77.90 (gas is $49.74). Sheesh. The gas bill is way up. That may be because I got my heater working and I reveled in its warmth, keeping it at 72 degrees and even higher. The weather was also unusually cold. So far not what I'd call progress.