Going for Not Broke

We cancelled our cable a few years ago, opting instead for a digital antenna and a Roku streaming player, reducing our monthly bill to just the cost of Netflix and HuluPlus, which gives my family and me access to the shows on ABC, NBC and Fox we enjoy (and a few other networks, to boot). Netflix and HuluPlus, for us, are great, and local channels through the digital antenna were much crisper (though we have to reposition it every few weeks to keep channels. I still don't understand why.) But every now and then, I'd feel a little nostalgia for when we had more viewing options. So, after several months of seeing the CBS All Access app in our Roku Channel Store, I decided to give it a try. Overall, I figured we'd get enough use out of it to justify $5.99 a month. As it turns out, though, we didn't. We watched a few episodes of " The Big Bang Theory ," but then sat there looking at it thinking, "Now what?" In the time we'd been watching CB...

Back in September, I wrote about finding free podcasts , to which I listen when I'm walking for exercise or working on my beading projects. One of the ones I mentioned was "Tank Riot." I've since deleted my subscription to that one because it's very long; most episodes are close to three hours. And while it can be very interesting, the hosts kind of get off track several times during each episode. Their detours can be interesting, too, however, I'm more of a "make your point" kind of a listener. I found another, called "Who's Paying Attention?" hosted by Alonzo Bodden. I became a fan of Bodden's years ago when he was on "Last Comic Standing," but again, much like "Tank Riot," his podcast, while funny, is a little too rambling for my taste. I've only listened to a couple of episodes so far, and I plan to give it a little longer, but I think its time on my iPod is nearing an end. The good news is, there a...

As some readers may know, I decided to pull the cord on TV cable and get a Roku for streaming content. I have a subscription to Netflix and HuluPlus, and between the two, I've been able to watch MOST of the shows I'd like. What I can't get is CBS, and one of my favorite shows, "The Big Bang Theory," comes on that channel. I bought a digital antenna, but we haven't hooked it up yet. Hopefully, if HuluPlus never offers CBS, I'll be able to get the network via the antenna. We can also connect the computer to the TV to watch it that way, but that seems so time-consuming. I also have hopes that NokNok, a Roku channel still in beta form, might one day fill that void. I found out about it here . After I read the article, I was very excited to try it out, so as soon as I had the chance, I did. I was able to access NokNok, but not any of the content. On Monday, I tried it again. Good news! I was FINALLY able to access ABC and NBC content! Still no CBS, ...

Late yesterday evening, our modem died. It had been coming for a while, because on more than one occasion, our Internet would stop and we'd have to restart the modem. I had hoped to limp it along for a little bit longer. I needed an Internet connection to complete a freelance project I was working on, so I ran out to the only store open at the time, Wal-Mart, which had only one option in DSL modems. Because it was late and I was tired, I bought it, shelling out $100 for a modem/wireless router combo unit. Had I waited until this morning, I could've bought a modem by itself at either Target or Best Buy for less. I know Target has them for less than $50 because just a few hours before our old one died, I had priced one there. I don't know why I didn't just wait. I chalk it up to being very tired. On the plus side, though, our Internet seems a lot faster than it had been. I didn't realize it would make such a difference.

that there are so many free podcasts that fit my interest. When I first got an iPod, I put music on it only, until a co-worker pointed me in the direction of one podcast I like, "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me," which is a news quiz show from NPR. I like that it makes me laugh. The co-worker also mentioned "This American Life," which holds my interest sometimes. On my own, I found "Selected Shorts," which, like "This American Life," is hit and miss with me. Lately, I've been listening to podcasts a lot more often, both as my husband and I work on home improvement projects and as I've been trying to get more beadwork done so that I can (hopefully) sell it on Etsy. As a result, I now have more listening time than I have podcasts. First, I looked for podcasts that were humorous. I found I had trouble finding any that fit my humor and didn't annoy me by using f-bombs in every sentence. (That just seems so high school to me.) ...

Happy Independence Day, everyone! I hope you have a good day celebrating with your family and friends! On Monday, my husband, daughter and I took a drive so that we could use a Red Robin gift card we got last Christmas for lunch. The good news: The food was very tasty. The bad news: We spent just as much as we do when we dine out at home, even after the gift card was applied, not to mention the gas to drive that far. To be fair, we ordered dessert, which we don't typically do, and we ordered food for our daughter, too, which in most cases, we just feed her from our plates, but it was still amazing how quickly it all added up. It was a nice family outing, but we spent a lot more than if we had just stayed closer to home.

My husband gave me a Kindle for Christmas, and I've been happy to see there is much I can do with it without paying a cent. I've found free games and ebooks on Amazon.com . I've enjoyed all of the games. Finding a book that suits my tastes has been a little more challenging, but I have found some worth reading. Kindle owners who subscribe to Amazon Prime get a bonus: They can borrow one book a month from other Kindle owners. I signed up for Amazon Prime for a two-week trial but forgot to cancel before I was charged for it, so I guess I'm giving it a yearlong trial. I personally don't use the service enough to make it worth the money, so I don't plan to renew. While I have it, though, I'm going to take advantage of the ebook-borrowing feature. The bulk of the Kindle ebooks that are free -- as far as I've been able to tell anyway -- are books that are in the public domain or self-published. With the borrowing feature through Amazon Prime, though, I ca...

I was a little frustrated with My Coke Rewards over the NBA game I requested tickets to, but it was more at the customer service than the program itself. Had someone in customer service told me when I called that MCR wouldn't be able to send the tickets, I would've been disappointed, yes, but not irritated. Mistakes happen in any business. I know that. I get it. My beef was that with less than two weeks until the game, they couldn't tell me anything. Even a "Yes, we're going to try to get the tickets," or "No, I'm sorry. It's too late," would've been less frustration. OK. I've said my peace. (And in the end, we did get the tickets, went to the game and had a nice time.) All of that aside, I still enjoy the program. I'm giving tickets to an upcoming game to my sister for her birthday, so for no more money than I would've spent on soda anyway, I've celebrated Valentine's Day with my husband AND have a gift for my s...

My browser screen is only so big, and rarely do I ever scroll down from the landing page when I visit a store's page, so it's quite possible that the rest of the world -- or at least those who do bother to scroll down -- already know that Target has extra coupons posted on its website. Customers can find and print coupons in lots of categories, including baby items and supplies -- right now, there is a coupon for 20 percent off Carter clothing -- health and beauty, entertainment, grocery, furniture and other departments.

I'm proud of my husband. We both really enjoy reading, and we love bookstores. For probably the first six years or so that we were married, we spent a lot of money at bookstores. A lot of money that we could've been putting toward bills. But now, we don't. For me, I don't take the time to read that I used to, so I haven't been in the market for a new book recently. However, my husband still reads -- not as much as he used to because finding time when you have a 5-month-old is tough. When he came across a book he wanted to read recently, he wrote down the title, author and ISBN number for a book he wants and took the info to our local library and requested it through interlibrary loan, a program through which libraries loan books to each other for patron use. Hundreds of libraries participate, and for most, it doesn't cost anything. I think most people are not aware libraries will do this. I didn't know until I worked in one. Odd, isn't it, that it ne...

Looks like I will be going to the game after all. MyCokeRewards sent the tickets, which arrived via FedEx this morning.

Today, I received tickets I requested via MyCokeRewards Jan. 31 to two different games -- still not the tickets I requested Jan. 3. They came via FedEx two-day delivery. I appreciate the promptness, I really do, especially in light of the problem with the other set of tickets.

One of the things I've done to save money -- sort of -- is participate in Coca-Cola's MyCokeRewards program, through which customers enter codes found on bottle lids and carton boxes of Coke products on the website. Participants receive points for the codes and can later cash the points in for T-shirts, tickets, movies, DVDs and various other items. Diet Coke has long been my favorite soft drink, so when I registered for the program back in 2009, I figured I could get something back for the money I spend on the soda. Well, I cashed in some of my Rewards points back on Jan. 3 for two tickets to an NBA game scheduled for Feb. 14. As of Jan. 31, I still had no tickets. So I sent an e-mail to MyCokeRewards using the website's contact form asking about the tickets. Two days later -- Feb. 2 -- I got an e-mail that says: "Thank you for contacting MyCokeRewards.com. We appreciate the opportunity to assist you. We want to help and will look into this further. We will get b...