Welcome to Monday Night Finance- a roundup of our favorite recent personal finance articles.
15 Cable TV Alternatives You Should Consider
With coronavirus causing many businesses to shut down, many people are looking for ways to save money. Cable TV is a monthly expense that can easily be cancelled to save money. However, while cable bills are astronomical, they do provide a wealth of television content. If you still want access to more television content than you can get with your antenna but aren’t willing to pay for cable TV channels you never watch, then this article is for you.
Cable TV can be expensive and can force you to pay for a huge amount of bloat in which you have no interest whatsoever. When was the last time you watched public access TV? ~Bob from the Frugal Fellow
In this article, Bob from the Frugal Fellow reviews 12 different streaming alternatives to cable TV. Some of the streaming services that he reviews, like Netflix, provide their own content and/or shows and movies that have aired previously. Other services, like Sling TV, provide access to select live television channels on a streaming platform at a significant reduction to the cost of cable TV. If you still have cable this is a great guide to map out which services would suit your needs and how much they would cost. Even if you’ve already cut the cord, this is a great guide to see if you can reduce your streaming costs or figure how much it’d cost to add in something that would bring you value.
Managing My Finances During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major financial disturbances across the world economy. Those disruptions are playing across each household differently. In the United States, weekly unemployment claims have been at all time highs the last three weeks. Even those people that still have a job may have had a reduction in hours. On the spending side, many daycares have closed and people aren’t commuting anymore. It seems everyone’s budgets have changed dramatically in just a couple of weeks. Kris, from Chronicles of a Father with Cents, detailed how his family’s finances have changed as a result of the pandemic.
Grocery spending and take-out food will be our main expenses for the time being. Grocery expenses have always been one of our main expenses every month but we will plan to spend even more in the coming months with the shelter in place order. ~Kris at Chronicles of a Father with Cents
Kris is still able to draw his salary through the end of April and has minimal telework responsibilities. He is using this extra time to learn new coding skills and spend time with his son. Kris has fewer daycare costs and is saving money on commuting. However, he is spending more money on groceries and takeout food during this time.
Dreams and Goals and Money: Are Yours United?
Do you have a list of your financial dreams? If not, could you easily write them down, or would you have no idea where to begin? Darcy, of WeWantGuac.com believes that financial success cannot happen without financial dreams. In this post, Darcy lists all of the reasons why it’s good to have dreams and how to align your dreams with money.
Your money and your dreams are irrevocably linked. You cannot get one to grow without the other. ~Darcy at WeWantGuac
Having a dream helps you prioritize. If it’s your dream to become a professional football player, swimming laps probably isn’t a great use of your time. Likewise, your financial dream will help you shape what you do with your money. Having dreams then allows you to break your dreams into goals, which will eventually lead to influencing every day choices. For instance, Darcy furnished her apartment for $100, which allowed her to invest her money to achieve her dreams which include becoming financial independent, building a killer dream home on a mountain, and providing a safe home for foster children.