Saturday, March 30, 2013

Wish I Could Do That

The mail just came and with it the cable/internet bill (I do keep my phone separate, so that if the cable goes out I still have the phone. And the cable has gone out many more times than the phone. Not to mention that the phone doesn't require electricity, another failer in these parts).

Anyway. I open it and find that my bill has jumped from $115 a month to $143 a month. This, after getting a bunch of paper last month that didn't even mention the "bundle" I have or anything but a lot of convoluted calculations and offers for the newest, most wonderful stuff ever seen since the beginning of humans. Do I get anything better? No. Do I get anything more? No. Do I get anything new? No. What do I get? I get to pay about 30 bucks more a month for what I already had.

So. Let's take a look at how this year's finances are totalling up.
- In January, Social Security gave a little rise, not quite COLA. That gave me $13 more a month.
- Because of that $13, Food Stamps took away $1 a month.
- My rent will go up $8 a month starting in the Summer, as per the review we did on Friday.
- Food itself is nearly unaffordable, with anything not created in a lab starting at roughly $9 a pound. So let's consider increased food cost rise of about $2 a day, or $60 a month.
- Now cable and internet have gone up $28 a month.

That gives us monthly totals of
$13 in the plus side
$97 in the minus side
= $84 a month less than I had 3 months ago

Yearly, that's $1008 less income than last year.
whoopee. good times.
And no, my new "published columnist" status creates no income, sadly. Ah well.

Must be nice to arbitrarily just send out new bills every year or so announcing how much everyone owes you now. Comcast has no regulations and is omnipotent. All hail capitalism.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is no mercy.

Austan said...

Nope, not in this brave new world. If there ever was.

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

Call them up and tell them that you like their service but can no longer afford it. Tell them you need to look into other options. Name a few (Dish, Direct TV or anything else you have in the area). Tell them how long you have been with them and you would like to stay with them and ask if there is anything they can do to lower your bill. In all probability, they will lower your bill from 6 months and up to a year. They are always giving promo's to new customers and they do not want to lose old ones. Do your homework,be nice to the CA, and tell them your story. This is a bill that you can get lowered.

Austan said...

Arleen- Okay, I'll try them. Though we don't have options here, really (VT has a small population and they don't invest here). I'll try bluffing. What do I have to lose?

Elephant's Child said...

Good luck. I do hope your bluff works. And yes, wouldn't it be nice (amazing) if something went down in price. Or even kept pace with inflations. But no, the greedy beggars want more profit. And more on top of that more. Hiss and spit.

Austan said...

EC- I really enjoy your hiss and spit. It says exactly how I feel at these greedy slimeballs.