Monster Cell Phone Changeby thewh00sel, October 12
I just paid $440 ($220 per phone) to cancel my family's Verizon Wireless contracts. These early termination fees are obviously brutal, but with a contract that doesn't expire until September 2013 and a monthly bill averaging $167, $83.50 per phone, I couldn't think of a better way to stick it to them than by switching services.
The first thing that I did when analyzing my change was to do a cost-benefit analysis of canceling my service, and changing to something more in line with the amount of usage that actually fits our needs. So I hopped on VerizonWireless.com and looked up the usage of my phone and my wife's phone for the past 6 months.
As you can see from the chart, my wife averaged 343 minutes of voice, 2,811 text messages, and 805MBs of data per month for the past six months. The high and low range of these averages are also listed.
My averages were much lower in voice and messaging, but my data usage was twice as high at 1.5GB per month, on average.
So with this new information at my disposal, I went on a hunt for something acceptable. Our plan with Verizon allocated 700 minutes of voice per month split between both phones, unlimited messaging, and unlimited data*. We both have iphone 4's, so that narrowed my search to providers that offer service for Verizon's version of the iphone 4. I found the holy grail in Page Plus Cellular.
Page Plus Cellular is a prepaid phone service. They run on Verizon's network, but "officially" Page Plus does not support the iphone. So if Big Red ever decides to tell page plus to run through and cancel all service to Verizon iphones then there is an issue that will have to be dealt with. Page plus offers a basic assortment of prepaid plans. The one that jumped out at me right away is "The 55." This plan has unlimited texting, unlimited voice, and 2GB of data for $55 per month. If I just snap-called and switched both of our phones to that plan, I would automatically go from $167 per month to $110 per month. And having never exceeded 2GB of data on my plan on either line, that would be a savings of $50 per month, or a one-year savings of $684 ($264 after termination fees).
But I wasn't satisfied with just that plan. After looking further down the list of options I found a gem of a plan that meets my wife's needs fairly well. It's called the "Talk n Text 1200." This plan offers 1200 minutes of voice, 3,000 text messages and 100MB of data per month. A problem obviously arises in the data category, but a simple setting on the iphone to turn off all cellular data when not near wifi solves this issue. This plan costs $29.95 per month. No taxes, no fees, that's it.
So now we have one phone taken care of, and it's time to address my phone. Now my initial thought, again, was to go to the $55 plan with 2GB of data, but then I did some thinking and some researching. How much data do I really need to use? How often when a wifi pop-up comes up do I just click close and continue using my 3G speeds instead? So I looked around on the internet and found something amazing.
It's called the Freedom Spot - Photon. It's made by a startup company called FreedomPop. It is a hotspot device that you lease from the company for a one-time REFUNDABLE fee of $99. This device is FREE. And what they offer with the device is 500MB of FREE DATA PER MONTH. When I saw it I didn't believe it. You could essentially order 10 of these things and pay 1k and have 5GB of free data and when you return them in a year you get your 1k back. The risk obviously is that the company goes bankrupt and you lose your $99 investment, but I am willing to take the risk on one of these. You just slip it into your pocket and turn it on if you need to use data service but are not near wifi. With this device I believe that I can use a much lower prepaid plan than I have now. I ordered the 29.95 plan for myself to match my wife's, but after this puppy comes in and I get a feel for how my prepaid plan works, I may experiment with lower plans like "The 12".
The 12 plan has a $12 monthly cost which includes 250 minutes of voice, 250 text messages, and 10MB of data. If the Photon is as reliable as I hope it will be, then I can switch everything over to using Google Voice around wifi to make calls. I'm kind of new to google voice, so I am trying to figure out how to send and receive text messages as well through that. If I can get everything working properly then I can lower my monthly cell bill to around $20 per month. But if I prefer to live without worry/hassle then I will just keep the 29.95 plan and still save $100 per month over my Verizon plan.
Conclusion
After switching both phones to Page Plus and selecting the "Talk n Text 1200" plan (and paying $420 in termination fees) it will take about 4 months to break even** on the switch. From that point on, we will be saving $1,285 per year on telephone service, and that's assuming we can't get more efficient from that point.
Here's my analysis on the breakeven point of each plan with the one I chose highlighted in green: http://i.imgur.com/ZOvRa.jpg
Now go say F U to Verizon and make the switch! Options are also available for T-Mobile, ATT customers, you just have to do some research. Thanks for reading!
*We were grandfathered into the unlimited data plan. I found out that you can actually sell these plans and transfer them to new users for $300+ but that it was/is a grey area where some people after purchasing are forced to lower their data plans. I didn't want to risk anything so I just canceled and ate the termination fee.
** I didn't include the cost of the freedompop device as it is a refundable $99.
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This stock wasn't listed on my "watchlist" at the end of my last post, but it should have been. I recently made an investment in McDonald's (MCD) at $91.25 per share. McDonlad's is an international food service company that is a very dominant force in the industry. There are over 25,000 McDonald's in 39 countries. (source-http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/foo_mcd_res-food-mcdonalds-restaurants)
Although MCD isn't exactly "cheap" at the current price, it does fit my entry criteria, and is as safe of a choice as I can make for a dividend growth stock, with good yield and solid fundamentals. MCD has raised dividends for the past 35 years and currently yields $3.08 per share, giving me a yield on cost of 3.38%. The dividend growth rate for the past 5 years is 34.87% which is faster than the growth in earnings per share. This is due in part because of the high saturation, and thus, limited growth of McDonald's properties over the past 5 years. The company's dividend payout ratio is 53%. A lower payout ratio is always better as it shows that the company can sustain consistent dividend increases in the future. McDonald's is currently valued at 17x earnings which fits my entry criteria of a P/E ratio less than 20.
Disclosure: Long MCD
I am not a professional investment adviser, and my opinions are not recommendations to purchase.
I was invited to an auction where some developed lotes are going to be auction at the highest bidder.
I have some extra cash on the saving account which is not earning anything, and I was waiting for a good opportunity to invest in something, I dont need it to yield returns fast as I act today as if I did not had the cash.
some information on the lot on the property appraisal website is: the price history
HistoryYear History Value By Property Use Land Just Value Land Class Value Misc Value Bldg Value CAMA Value Taxes
2012 C 0000 $7,410 $0 $0 $0 $7,410 $136.63
2011 C 0000 $7,670 $0 $0 $0 $7,670 $140.71
2010 C 0000 $12,780 $0 $0 $0 $12,780 $223.91
2009 C 0000 $19,170 $0 $0 $0 $19,170 $314.21
2008 C 0000 $28,120 $0 $0 $0 $28,120 $431.77
2007 C 0000 $36,260 $0 $0 $0 $36,260 $560.31
2006 C 0000 $30,020 $0 $0 $0 $30,020 $473.19
2005 C 0000 $15,010 $0 $0 $0 $15,010 $265.92
as you can see in 2007 it reached its peak of 36k when the housing boom, today its worth 7.4k.
I was thinking if I could buy it for 5k or less its a good investment? the lot has utilities and sewer and cable. its ready for a house to be built on.
its located in a nice sub division. a house in this subdivision is going for: $79,620.
keep in mind there is HOA fees. $60 a month or $720 a year. taxes 136 a year.
so my raw investment will cost me 5k + $890 a year. so i figure in 5 years i would have spent 9450 and I expect the price of it to be 10k maybe a little more if mitt r wins.
what do you guys think?
I suggest that every person could post only 1 hand per hour or make 5 most discussed hands column and make hands column bigger too or make most discussed yeastersays hands column ... what do you think would it be more comfortable and helpfull for all ? thank you
After really taking all of your comments into consideration and doing more research, I have decided to keep my current car and when it dies purchase another reliable used card. Also with my savings for an auto, I will put it into my future home purchase which is a much better investment.
I really appreciate the input as well as the facts posted on my blog to make a really informed decision.
I'd rather be someone who can retire 10 years earlier than a guy who is working 2 jobs at 70 while hoping he dies soon.
I Send Dota2, You Send Steam Gameby Gadget, October 04
I'm willing to trade a copy of Dota 2 for pretty much any Steam Game. Best offer wins. I'm not totally sure on the value of Dota 2, let the offers begin.
I'm trying to get a hold of some videos by learnedfromtv that are on pokersavvy. Problem is, they seem to have a VIP system which means you have to sign up to poker sites through them and pay rake to pay for the subscription. Not actually paying the subscription directly.
So if somebody has videos from learnedfromtv lying around or a subscription to pokersavvy, please send me a pm and we can work something out. I'm looking for the poker series "PLO fundamentals" in particular.
Tryin to play only small stakes this month as it is a very busy time for my buisness right now. Priority, time, and most of my energy is focused on buisness but still gettin some hands in. Decided to keep it low so I would not stress over the swings or otherwise be distracted from my resposibilities. Just over 1500 hands and boasting an impressive 4.24 bb/100 so far. High above my average (1.08) but I have also been refining a few aspects so we will see if there are any long term improvements. Most notably I have been avoiding trap plays by check calling marginal holdings on the river vs attempting to get value. I find that the equity lost by missing the value bet is comensated by the bluff induction gained, and I avoid getting raised on the river with weak hands that force me to make harder decisions. Idk if this is good or bad, but im giving it a try for at least the next 10k hands and will see what happens.
I want to get a hold of a few videos on pokersavvy, but the only option seems to be to sign up to poker sites through them, and pay the subscription by paying rake. Which is not an option. So if anyone has an account there I'd really appreciate if we could work something out.
option b would be if somebody has an account on bestpokertorrents.com and is willing to help me out. it costs $5 to sign up, but the process is a pain in the ass, so if someone would just borrow me their account I'd send them $10 on stars.
Going to sleep now, drop me a pm if you can help me out. It would be much appreciated.
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