You know, not for nothing, but I am so sick to death of paying for cable. As a matter of fact, my daughter just dropped hers and I think I’m going to drop mine. Not only is television the Ultimate Time Sucker and Brain Drainer, it’s expensive.

In this economy, you have to trim expenses where you can. You have to evaluate priorities and adjust accordingly. Granted, I don’t have a fancy cable package, and when I first moved in to my new place, I didn’t have anything for a couple of weeks. I need the internet connection in order to work, and it seemed like a good idea to just take the whole package; phone, cable, internet.

I’m rethinking that since I’ve discovered a couple of sites that stream my favorite shows. I love “reality” shows like So You Think You Can Dance, and the Amazing Race etc. Thanks to Hulu.com, I’ve come across “Firefly”, which I thoroughly enjoyed. They have a ton of TV shows that have been canceled in an untimely manner, and shows that I used to like to watch but have sadly come to an end, like “The Pretender” or “American Gothic”. Hulu also has a stable of movies, although their choices aren’t that great…yet.

Full Episode TV is a fairly new site with an interface that’s similar to Hulu, and offers promos and websites in which you can view videos of shows from the original network. The advantage to this is everything is in one place, and although it’s fairly young, it shows a lot of promise and a variety of shows you can’t find on Hulu.

All in all, I think I’m cutting the cable loose. Not only will I save money, but I’m thinking it will cut down on the distraction of shiny things when I’m trying to get work done. And I’m a little happy about taking the fangs out of the cable company, to be honest.

In today’s sinking (or is it already sunk) economy, many of us are struggling to get by. I for one am on a fixed income and so rises in bills, insurance, food, and gasoline leaves me literally living month to month. And when I’m forced to scrape the change jar, it can get depressing.

Most of my topics come from conversations with friends, and this one is no exception. So I thought it prudent to pass along some money saving tips.

Insurance:

Insurance is a necessary evil; believe me, I live in hurricane country. So shop around for the best life insurance rates, car insurance rates, home owners insurance rates, renters insurance rates. Often times just combining your insurance needs with one company can save you a few hundred dollars a year. Do your homework, call around and look for the best possible rate. I did for my car insurance and ended up saving a little over $10 a month. It may not sound like much, but to me, every little bit helps.

Energy:

If you can afford it, convert what ever appliances you have to the more energy efficient kind. It will not only save you money, but usually it will yield you a nice tax break come April 15. If you can’t afford that now, or if you rent, there are other ways to save energy.

Do full loads of laundry and limit them to once or twice a week.
Turn off everything when not at home.
Switch out light bulbs to the new energy efficient kind.
Turn your thermostat down (or up, depending on the season) by two-four degrees.
Make sure all your doors and windows are properly sealed with weather stripping.
In the summer, keep shades and blinds closed when you’re not at home so the sun won’t heat up your house; in the winter keep them open so the sun will heat up your house.

Food:

There are lots of ways to save money on food.

Limit eating out. Let’s face it, now a days, a trip to McDonald’s for the family can run close to if not over $20.

Don’t hit the pricey chain grocery stores. Some of the best food prices I’ve found have been in Save A Lot, Aldi, large international grocery stores (which are typically Asian, but you can find some great deals on seafood and meats) or like the store in Charlotte, NC, I used to shop that not many Caucasians would consider stepping into—Compare Foods. The thing I loved most about Compare was it was easier to find and cheaper to buy ingredients for ethnic dishes. They also have such a wide variety of fruits and vegetables not usually found in American chain grocery stores, and they are a heck of a lot cheaper. I could buy avocados (ummmm, avocados) for .69 each, where as in the chain stores I would have to pay $1.69 each. I could buy six-eight limes for $1.00, where in a chain store I might only get two for that price.

Look for small, mom and pop butchers and delis. Where I live now, my neighborhood deli has meat packages you can buy which vary in price. For $36.95 I can get four pork chops, four New York strips, one whole chicken (or four pounds of chicken pieces) and 8 hamburger patties. For my son and I, that would feed us for almost two weeks. The strip steaks alone would cost nearly that much anywhere else. A bag of potatoes and French fries, a couple of bags of frozen veggies and we’re set.

Or another way to approach the veggie problem is to grow your own. If you have a house, start your own garden in the back yard. Even if you live in an apartment it’s not out of the question. I recently ran across an article about apartment gardening. I’ve been wanting to grow my own herbs for awhile and even though I have a black thumb, I’m going to seriously look into growing a few veggies on my balcony. Here in Florida, I should be able to do it just about year round. I’ll let you know how that turns out.

For my last food money saving tip…go meatless for two or three meals a week. Veggie stir-fry, all kinds of pasta dishes, soups, vegetarian quesadeas, you name it. Look to other cuisines like Indian or African and you’ll see many of their meals are meatless but still pack a lot of flavor.

Transportation:

Oh my goodness, whenever possible, take the bus, train, ride a bike or walk to your destination. The added benefit of walking or biking is some much needed exercise you might not normally get.