photo credit: gbaku

I’ve been reading more and more about people canceling or scaling back on cable services in favor of Hulu. Now if you are a frugal family, you might not even have basic cable but instead rent an occasional movie. What about those that want access to new and old television programs, but don’t want to pay for expensive cable upgrades? If you are using Hulu for your television media I would love to hear your feedback. Currently we pay $50 a month for At&t Uverse cable and am interested in saving even more money.

Here are some ideas I’ve been considering for lowering our At&t cable bill:

1. Cancel cable and go cold turkey for 3 months. One month would be easy, 3 months would be a challenge without cable. Total savings $150

2. Remove HD programming. We received HD programming as part of a trial 1 year package. Total savings $25

3. Switch cable providers. I could change to Comcast, Direct TV or Dish Network. Total savings $5-7

Of the three options, I would like to try #2 utilizing Hulu to offset our HD programming. We have two laptops and could easily watch Hulu anywhere in our house where we have internet access. Since we have wifi this could even be done in the garage. Not that I plan on watching tv there, but it’s possible.

The savings could add up quickly over the course of a year. At $50 a month, we would save $600 a month if we canceled At&t uverse and utilized Hulu exclusively for tv. Have you been able to cancel your cable and utilize an alternative for television broadcasting?

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photo credit: ojbyrne

I recently had a reader email me and ask if I had any ideas how runners can enter a race or marathon for free. Running or jogging is certainly a frugal sport and can provide a wonderful workout for the price of a pair of shoes. But, if you are interested in competitive races or marathons, the costs can add up quickly. Whether it’s the registration fees or the cost to travel to the event, races can be costly. Below are some free ideas as well as money saving tips for runners.

When my wife and I were first married we would enter 5k and 10k races around the bay area for both exercise and as a way to have a fun day trip. We had a friend who was working as a volunteer for the Bay to Breakers and told us we could volunteer for a few hours after the event and we would have our entry fee paid and receive a free shirt for the race. A beverage company was looking for volunteers to hand out a new sports drink at the end of the race. This sounded fantastic as the fee was $50 for both of us and we would love to volunteer and help out with a fun event. We spent a couple of hours after the race handing out t-shirts and bags with drinks for the runners. Many sponsors want to get a new product or sports drink in front of runners during race day and will pay people to hand them out. This is a great opportunity to market a sports drink to a group of athletes that are thirsty and influential. I think we also received a few bags of the sports drink as a free gift as well for helping out. I would have done it for free since the work was not difficult and the weather was beautiful. What we did get was free admission and a great workout from the run. We then spent the rest of the afternoon visiting the booths and tasting all the energy bar and drinks from sports vendors and feeling great from the runners high. The Bay to Breakers was a fantastic event.

What are other ways to receive free entry to a marathon or 10k race? Contact a sponsor of the race and see if you can trade an hour or two for a free registration. You might also contact local sporting good stores or suppliers to see if they need help setting up or taking down tents. Many races are full of corporate and small businesses that need help during the race event. Check craigslist and search for the event by name in the listings. You will probably find companies looking to hire people part time for the race. A couple hours of easy or light work might be worth your time to cover the $40+ entrance fee of most races. Marathons can cost even more and you might even establish a contact that you can utilize each year you enter.

Radio station or store promotions. Check the website or newspaper ad of the race you want to enter and check radio station sponsors. Many radio stations host contents or promotions for race events and you can enter and win a free entry to the race. Many newspapers also run promotions for a free entry and you could have family and friends enter for you. The more that enter, the better your chance of winning.

Last minute business trip or change of plans. Check craigslist a few days or even hours before a race. A racer may have become ill, had a last minute business trip, or can’t compete and is willing to sell or give away a number. Be sure to check race details if you can transfer a number or registration before making any purchases.

What if you can’t find a free entry to a race or marathon? Register early for a race. Many races have a tiered registration process and offer discounts for early registration. As time gets closer to the day of the race, the prices can go up. If you procrastinate and wait until race day you might be paying more money.

If you are passionate about running and races, get creative and contact vendors and sponsors about your next upcoming race. Get on the mailing list of all the races you want to participate in and find a local merchant that you can volunteer. Chiropractors, nutritionists, gyms, and sports shops are active at races and might need help during race day. You could benefit by trading your time for a discount or free race registration. Have you helped volunteer at a local race in your community? Do you have any money saving tips you utilize with your sports activities?

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photo credit: alien_nation

You’ve probably stumbled across ehow as you’re searching on google for searches like money saving tips or how to save money using coupons. I know I have and when I joined ehow I wanted to find friends that have a passion for saving money and making some extra income too. I’ve asked my ehow friends to send me interesting personal finance articles to help give us creative ideas to save money and make some too. Writing for ehow or another content website can create passive income for you. It does require time to create the article, but once written, you will have a source of passive income that can continue to pay each month. If you’ve never used ehow before, it only takes a few minutes to join and it’s free. Be sure to add me as a friend using the link found here. My ehow friends have sent me several personal finance articles and I’ve chosen a small sample of my favorites:

Dkrunner wrote How To Take A Cheap Vacation. Taking local backpacking day trips and picnic lunches with the family is a very frugal type of mini vacation.

Circusmama wrote How to Calculate Electricity Costs for Appliances. This ehow article is very helpful to calculate electricity usage and cut down on vampire power consumption. Figuring out if your old fridge consumes $20 or $50 a month can help your family conserve energy and stretch your utility budget. Most of my appliances are energy star rated, but does that mean they are still efficient? I’m going to run some of these calculations and hope you do as well.

Bella Casa wrote How to Make Extra Money Online and says she’s made $4-5 a week from YouData.com website. I’ve never heard of YouData, but apparently you get paid to watch ads and are paid weekly through paypal.

Cheap Cindy wrote How to Survive The Second Great Depression and shares tips on renting out a room to make extra income. Also, taking public transportation or selling a second vehicle. Selling a second or third car can save money on insurance, gas, registration and even maintenance. If you have a car sitting in the driveway or garage you’ll end up paying more to replace tires or a dead battery.

Moneydoc wrote How to Insure Your Investment Portfolio Value where cd’s are discussed to provide security to a portfolio.

If you write for ehow, be sure to add me as a friend as well.

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This past week I was fortunate to have 3 of my articles featured on blog carnivals and also enjoyed finding some interesting posts from fellow personal finance bloggers. Be sure to check these out:

MoneyNing hosted the Festival of Frugality and included my article on Supermarket Money Saving Tips For 2009

Pecuniarities hosted The Carnival of Personal Finance #188: The Jane Austen Edition which featured my post My Latte Factor In 2008. Automatic Millionaire Goals for 2009

No Debt Plan hosted the Carnival of Debt Reduction #175 – Historic Moment Edition which featured my article Frugal Food Ideas For 2009

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