Things I Don't Do Anymore

Quote: AZDuffman

Learn to work the system at Dollar General. .

DJ is not a dollar store, at DT everything
is a buck. The hardware stuff baffles
me, they have some good stuff for only
a buck. They have these 4" two battery
LED flashlights that are so good, I
have 5 of them. I buy sandpaper, paint
brushes, extension cords, all kinds
of stuff.

Quote: AZDuffman

Because there is no hassle to it.

Same with what I do, that's why
I do it. No fee's, ever. If I ever need
to make a cash deposit I do it when
I'm at Walmart into BB, easy peasy.

I pay all my bills online, takes seconds.
I don't do automatic bill pay, I don't
trust anybody to do that but me. Then
I know it's done.

There are so many ways to move money
around now, it's makes banks obsolete.

Quote: Wizard

I can't imagine living without a bank account.

But these money processing companies like Bluebird, Paypal, Venmo are actually better than most traditional bank accounts at sending/receiving money. They take direct deposits and you can use ATMs and deposit cash with a $3 or $4 fee).

They just do not pay interest. If you have a lot of money then the status of FDIC insurance is more of interest.
https://medium.com/@dbrgndl/paypal-isnt-fdic-insured-non-banks-being-bankish-and-a-new-model-for-financial-startups-df6d16c2d4b

Quote: Pacomartin

But these money processing companies like Bluebird, Paypal, Venmo are actually better than most traditional bank accounts at sending/receiving money.

I'm very happy with how it works
and I could never say that about
any bank. I didn't like dealing with
banks at all, way too personal. Too
much verifying, too much wait time,
too much them covering their asses
at all times.

Quote: Evenbob

DJ is not a dollar store, at DT everything
is a buck. The hardware stuff baffles
me, they have some good stuff for only
a buck. They have these 4" two battery
LED flashlights that are so good, I
have 5 of them. I buy sandpaper, paint
brushes, extension cords, all kinds
of stuff.

I didn't say it was one. I said done right you can save a ton of cash there.

Quote: Evenbob

Everything on this list was once a
big part of my almost daily life.
All gone.

My list in response.
Have a land line phone....will always have one. Hurricanes knock out power and cell phones for weeks at a time. Land lines usually stay operable. Worth the expense (nominal) just for that.

Mail letters, been over 10 years...Still mailing bills back here and there. Mail packages a lot. Send occasional letter, but not regular.

Have a bank account...I have several. My main bank has been in California for 32 years. I've never been there.

Have a newspaper delivered...I subscribe to 3, all digital. Mom still has 2/day delivered, won't change.

Go to the library...I'm there 2x/week.

Watch TV in real time. Forced to at the moment, prefer DVR to zap ahead.

Have my gas pumped for me...not since in NJ. Still law there AFAIK.

Look at road maps...use them often in my car. GPS doesn't work in remote parts of the country (no cell service).

Use pay phones...ditto. no idea where to find one. Maybe 7-11/gas stations still have them.

Use a dictionary and almanac...online only. Just put my Rogets in the donation box.

Shop for things in stores other than food....80% or better online shopping. 20% in-person still.

Quote: beachbumbabs

Send occasional letter, but not regular.

The last thing I mailed, stamps were
42 cents, I think. Have no idea what
they are now, could be a buck for
all I know.

Quote:

Go to the library...I'm there 2x/week.

Before 1998 I used to live in the
library and Barnes and Nobles.
Haven't been to either since Amazon,
see no need at all to go there.

I went to getting just the Sunday paper
in 04, then in 06 they cut the size of
it in half so I cancelled altogether.
Got into big argument with a guy in
Walmart last summer who works for
the Press. He was giving out freebies
and trolling for subscriptions. I told
him to tell me one thing I get in his
paper that I couldn't get online free
and I would buy a subscription.

He couldn't do it and got really pissed
about it. He's selling a useless and
outdated product.

Quote: Evenbob

I'm very happy with how it works
and I could never say that about
any bank. I didn't like dealing with
banks at all, way too personal. Too
much verifying, too much wait time,
too much them covering their asses
at all times.

Not of that is true for my banking. Never go in the branch, do all my banking on line, my pension cheques are deposited directly, never write a cheque, pay no fees for anything I do, any money flowing between the family is all done with interact e-transfers, I occasionally go to the ATM if I want cash.

My business account is the same situation as the above account other than it has a $20 a month fee and I deposit cheques in the ATM for the few customers I have that still pay by cheque.

Quote: beachbumbabs

Look at road maps...use them often in my car. GPS doesn't work in remote parts of the country (no cell service).

I drove 2000 miles using an offline one. It wasn't even a USA based company. Probably overlooked a few shortcuts but overall worked pretty well. Even when it sent me briefly down a dead end road, it begin calculating the necessary turns to get me back on track.

Quote: beachbumbabs

Have a land line phone....will always have one. Hurricanes knock out power and cell phones for weeks at a time. Land lines usually stay operable. Worth the expense (nominal) just for that.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) phone lines attached to your cable internet are very inexpensive. Sometimes, cable companies give them away because it makes customers less likely to churn from one company to another. Looking at last month's bill, the service costs $13.93

$8.50 Federal Subscriber Line Charge
$0.26 Federal Excise Tax
$1.91 Federal Universal Service Fund
$0.13 State Sales Tax
$1.40 State Gross Receipts Tax
$0.08 State Telecom Relay Surcharge
$1.65 City 911 Fee
$13.93

Now Plain Old Fashioned Telephone Service using copper wires with the battery backup so the phone operated for several days if the power goes out is shockingly expensive. Looking at Verizon web site for my area, they want $60.99 just for copper wire phone, whereas for only $19 more you can get VOIP phone, 1 gigabit connection and television.

$60.99 /mo Verizon Freedom Essentials Local, regional toll & long distance + 5 features
$79.99 /mo Verizon Fios Gigabit Connection with Custom TV & Phone w/ Auto Pay & 2-yr agmt + taxes, equip. charges & other fees. Up to 940/880 Mbps.