About a year ago, I did a post regarding my family's progress in cutting the costs of digital services. Now, 12 months later, I thought I'd let you know how things have gone.
Text messages: First up was texting. I was looking into an app called textPlus that we could use instead of paying for a texting package via my cell provider. The way it works is that those you text have to be using textPlus as well.
Since I couldn't guarantee that those I text could/would also use textPlus (other than my accommodating wife), I decided not to pursue this app any further. So, no money saved.
Cable: I also mentioned that I had a billing error from the cable company and that it was finally resolved. So that saved a little bit of money. But I also decided that we could do MUCH better — i.e. pay nothing at all — by canceling cable altogether (again, with the support of my accommodating wife). Do What? That's right: go TV-less — no cable, no satellite, no digital antenna, no nothin.' (Remember how home-schooling used to sound weird, now people are doing it everywhere? That's what is happening with the growing ranks of those cutting the cable — who knows, someday, the weird ones could be those who have cable/satellite).
So how's the past year been with no signal? Mostly good, I'm glad to report. Now to be fair, we do have Netflix which can stream to our TV, so when we need a video-entertainment fix we can get one. But dropping cable has drastically reduced our watching. Our girls didn't watch that much before anyway, but even less now (though that may be partially due to the only TV being in the basement of our new house).
But dropping cable hasn't been without its downside — namely, the lack of live sports! We're big college basketball/football fans and we were able to watch only a handful of games on the computer. So the lack of access has generally meant missing games or going to a friends' house to watch (mostly the latter).
Fortunately, for March Madness, there was an iPhone/iPad app that played every game. But for much of the year, not having cable or satellite was a definite inconvenience on the sports front. (This also harmed the hospitality angle, since we couldn't invite friends over to our house to "watch the game." This was certainly an unintended consequence.)
Given the good (less time watching TV, spending less money), the bad (limited sports), and the ugly (departing from my wife and family for a couple hours to go watch games elsewhere), will we re-subscribe to cable? Not sure.
Probably the best thing would be to get a digital antenna and be able to catch most of the games via broadcast signals. This would be the most cost-efficient, and because there'd be so few channels available, it wouldn't dramatically increase the temptation to start watching a bunch of TV again — at least I don't think so. (You may have to wait a year for another Updated Update to find out what we decide.)
Phone: Now for the home phone. As you may recall we started using Ooma last spring (with the support of my accommodating wife, of course). For the uninitiated, Ooma is a device that connects to your high-speed Internet and your home phone and allows you to make calls with no monthly charges, although there is a ~$11 yearly FCC "pass-through" charge.
So how's it been? Pretty good.
At first, we had some stability issues. After talking with customer service a number of times, they overnighted us a new unit. The new unit hasn't had any stability issues — but that's not to say it's perfect. Depending on your data upload speeds from your ISP, you could experience a delay when talking on the phone.
For instance, our Ooma is connected to a router and when you combine the router with a meager 1.5mps upload speed, there's a delay in the time the person you're talking to hears what you've said. So this can be a little bit of an annoyance, but not to the point that it would make us want to go back to a full-fledged land line. Plus I have the ability to check messages at home from any computer with an Internet connection, as well as see call logs and a few other nifty features. And with both spouses having cellphones as backups, we see no reason to go back.
(Not unlike cable, someday people may think it's weird that people ever had landlines. We're just ahead of the weird curve — or behind it, not sure which).
One other thing, we haven't yet paired my wife's cellphone with Google Voice because we have plenty'o cellphone minutes and we can't get a smaller minute package. However, if the minutes start running low, we may pair her phone with the Ooma using Google Voice.
All in all, I'd say it's been a successful venture. How successful?
1) We've saved close to $1,000
2) We've spent far less time watching TV
3) Perhaps most importantly, it's helped me realize what an accommodating wife I have!
What about you? Saved any money over the past year on digital services? If so, how? If not, why not?
We moved last year, and in our relocation process we gave away a lot of stuff: clothes, housewares, decor, and miscellaneous items. Never wanting to give the government more money than I have to, I'm always diligent about getting receipts, writing down items we've given, taking pictures, and so on. It's a little work, but as you'll soon see, well worth it.
The hardest part in the process is in determining fair market value for the items. I'm never too excited about doing this, but thanks to TurboTax's ItsDeductible, the process isn't as bad as it could be. ItsDeductible is the easiest and cheapest way I'm aware of to determine the market value. And it's free (they are hoping you'll then import the information when you file your taxes through TurboTax). So how does it work?
After logging in with your current TurboTax login info (or creating a free account), you can choose to track your current year's donations, add donations to the previous year, or adjust donations for an amended return from two years ago. I selected the second option.
From there, you are given four types of donations: Items | Money | Stock | Mileage.
I naturally selected "Items." After than you will add/select a charity name and the date of the donation. Then you look up the item you donated. This can be done via search box, or from a list of categories/sub-categories. I find it easier to do a search, then select the appropriate sub-category generated from the search.
Once you've located an item(s), you have the choice of quantity and value: High Value, Medium Value, and Low Value. (I'm have not idea why they include the low-value option; the Pension Protection Act of 2006 disallows tax deductions for any clothing and household items that are not in "good" used condition or better.)
Choosing the value is the hardest part as we don't typically record the exact condition of the item, so there is a judgment call involved. Since we don't give away items in poor condition, I'll usually put half of the items in High Value and half in Medium Value unless I can remember that item's exact condition. (Note to self: Next time, it would be helpful to put an H next to the High Value and an M next to the Medium Value items when then them down.)
Let's walk through an example:
Say you have some blankets you gave away. A search for the term "blanket" generates the following choices: Receiving Blankets, Bed Spreads, Blankets, Comforters, Duvet Covers, Quilts, and Quilt/Comforter. Since you just had a regular old blanket, you select "Blankets."
You're then taken to a few more choices, Electric and Non-Electric. And under each of those are even more options, from the size to the material. Since you remember that you gave away a really nice fleece blanket and a decent acrylic blanket, you put a "1" in the High Value box next to Fleece, and a "1" in the Medium Value box next to Acrylic.
Then you click "Add Items" and are taken to a summary screen showing what you've given so far and the value of it.
From there you can add more items or complete that donation. If you complete it, ItsDeductible shows a summary of all your donations and the estimated savings based on your tax bracket (which you selected in the sign-up process). You can also make edits from this screen, print individual donations, or be done with the donations.
If you're done, you're given a quick summary of all your donations, including any Cash, Stock, or Mileage donations you've entered, along with an option go to more-specific summaries that you can print. If you're not using TurboTax, you'll want to print the donations to include with your tax info.
It sounds like a lot of work, but it's not difficult, and you get faster with it as you do it more. I had it done in less than an hour. And it showed an estimated value of $2,193 worth of goods donated. Depending on your tax bracket, that's a savings of about $200-800... for an hour's worth of work! And that didn't include any Cash, Stock, or Mileage donations (and the miles to and from Goodwill can really add up).
So if you're not taking advantage of non-cash donations when you itemize your deductions, you're really doing yourself a disfavor — that is, unless, you make $200 or more an hour. In that case, hire someone to do it for you!
First, a little background on Craig. Having worked in both youth ministry and pulpit preaching ministry, Craig is currently a missionary in Papua New Guinea with his wife and three children. He has attended Rochester College, York College, Abilene Christian College, and Harding University Graduate School of Religion, and he holds an AA, BA, and a Masters of Divinity degree, all in the field of Biblical Studies.
Oh, and he's debt free (mortgage excluded).
What I first noticed about his e-book was how professionally it was done. From the table of contents to the use of images, formatting, grammar, it all has a top-notch feel. This isn't always the case with self-published e-books.
After the introduction, Craig details what he calls "The Menu for Financial Health." This is his creative way to approach a financial plan. On his menu, he has listed (among other things):
Beverage — Give Generously
Soup — Pay off all debt with an interest rate above 6%
Salad — Save 3-6 months worth of living expenses
Dessert — Save for major future purchases
I found this to be a great outlook on finances and should appeal to many who haven't been persuaded by other financial plans.
After this, Craig talks briefly about "Financial Focus Points — The FFP is where you send all the dollars your budget helps you create. For example, if you are trying to get out of debt, that is your FFP."
From here, we move into the nuts and bolts of the e-book, and that's defining a budget, working with a budget, creating a budget, budgeting methods, budgeting tips, and budgeting questions.
One of the things I appreciate about his writing is that while he does it with honesty, he does it without beating you up over things. For instance, he writes:
The question we must each ask ourselves is — when budgeting gets hard, will I quit?
If you respond to the difficulty of trying to get control of your finances by avoiding any period of discomfort, then this budgeting system won't work for you. My best advice would be to email mhforc@gmail.com and ask for a refund. However, if you are willing to endure a season of discomfort, adjustment, and transition, then you'll really enjoy the rewards.
I love that kind of gentle candor.
Another thing I appreciate is the lack of rigidity. Craig doesn't claim to have all the answers, nor does he say there is only one right way and it never changes. In fact, he says quite the opposite when he mentions, "Budgeting is a process, not an event... There is no such thing as a perfect budget." I believe this kind of perspective makes the book more accessible and easier to digest.
Craig has also sprinkled in personal stories, Bible illustrations, analogies, and tips throughout the book. One of my favorites is on page 42 when talking about how to decide what to cut from the budget, he says:
When we buy things, we don't just spend money. We spend our time. When deciding what stays and what goes, you should ask: do I want "x" number of hours of my life to be used on buying this item?
But my favorite aspect of the book is that when reading it, you can really hear his heart — that as Christians, God is an essential reference point in how we spend our money. This is evident in how he suggests giving back to the Lord (generously, extravagantly, from the firstfruits and the leftover), as well as in his closing prayer:
I pray that you might commit everything you do to God in prayer. Ultimately, budgeting is not about you. It's not about putting another dollar into a bank. It's not about saving every penny you have. It's about doing what God would want you to do with your money.
In closing, I found The Secret to a Successful Budget a pleasure to read. Craig has a thorough, well-written resource to offer Christians struggling in mastering their budget. So if yours is non-existent or in need of some direction, I think Craig could provide you both the encouragement and motivation you've been needing.
Wow! Another Christmas is just around the corner. How have you done thus far on your spending plan for 2010? If not great, don't lose heart, today's a new day. And for those who've done wonderfully, there's always room for improvement... especially around the holidays.
And with one of the busiest shopping days of the year upon us, I wanted to remind you of a series of posts we did last year entitled, The Ghost of Christmas Budgets Past, Present and Future.
In The Ghost of Christmas Budgets Past, I encouraged you to embrace your families' creative giving traditions while keeping the cost of past homemade gifts in mind: "So in your efforts to keep spending down this year, embrace the ghosts of Christmas budgets past. Listen to them and learn what you're getting yourself into."
One thing we did years ago was to decide that we should put more emphasis on individual birthdays than Christmas. That cut down the amount we budgeted for just one event. I think it made the individual attention that each of our 4 children got on their birthday more meaningful.
The second decision we made was that whatever we budgeted to spend on ourselves, we would budget the same amount to give to other ministries. Human nature being what it is, this went a long way toward keeping our splurges to a minimum. — Bob
We've always created a budget for Christmas, right down to the annual Christmas DVD we add to our collection each year, or postage for Christmas cards. We also budget an extra margin of around 10% — which comes in handy when the gift my mother-in-law would really love is $5 to $10 more than I budgeted and I can't find it on sale...
I want to recommend a site that's helped me keep Christmas organized and sane for several years now. It's called www.organizedChristmas.com. I made a binder with master copies of forms I use every year, such as master gift list, family wardrobe check, menu planner, etc. There's a master calendar with "countdown" weeks, so you can be totally done early in December and just enjoy the season. Checklists, too! Everything is free for the printing, and the website owner (now retired) is Christian, so many of the articles speak right to the heart of Christmas and are great for re-reading year after year. — Cate
As for me, next year I'll do a better job of looking at sites like dealnews.com (slogan: "Where every day is Black Friday") before I go out shopping. But I have to say, using these online saving tips paid off...
I'll also continue to use cell phone apps like have ShopSavvy which kept me from overpaying on more than one occasion. With ShopSavvy, you simply take a picture of a product bar code with your phone's camera, and within a few seconds you're shown a list of the best local and internet prices for that item.
And perhaps next year, I'll focus our September-November shopping on the non-toy presents. According to Dan de Grandpre, founder and chief executive of dealnews, the best time to buy toys is at least two weeks after Black Friday (or about two weeks before Christmas) when retailers, such as Toys 'R' Us, Wal-Mart and Amazon.com, slash prices to clear out unsold inventory.
So there you have it, some friendly reminders on how to stay in the black on Black Friday.
We're going to do something a little different, something I can't recall ever doing before, something most blog publishers dare not do — we're going to let our readers write an upcoming post...sort of.
We are going to put forth a topic and then take your feedback and make a post out of it. Sounds fun, right? So in the spirit of last week's election, let your voice be heard... POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
Our inaugural post topic: Christmas gifts!
How do you approach giving Christmas presents to your children?
Do you set a limit on the number of presents, the cost, or both?
Do the kids know about these limits?
Maybe you draw names?
Do you make an effort to tie in gift-giving to the message of Christ's birth?
Do you even give presents?
What kind of traditions do you have that you feel really have a positive impact?
What have you done in the past that you've discontinued because you found it unhelpful?
What kind of things did your parents do that you really appreciated?
Pick out a few of the questions above and give us your answers on our Facebook's Note Page.
Consider your input to be the first gift you've given this Christmas. We'll receive it with joy — and put it to use!
It's SMI's Personal Finance Friday, and today I'm bringing you a smorgasbord of articles to get your financial juices flowing.
Fitness Deals to Beat the New Year Rush: "It's true that you won't see splashy promotions right now, because most gyms wait to publicize big promotions until the New Year's resolution rush. But if you walk in and ask, you'll find they're very willing to give a discount to get you in the door..."
"'Dad, I need $40 for my new cross-country jersey and stuff,' he said. I fished out a fifty to pass over to him. He could give me the $10 change later.
"Whoa, just a second, I thought. 'Whatever happened to the change for the 30 bucks I gave you back in August?' I demanded.
"'What $30?' he responded..."
The Mall Goes High-Tech: "Back in August, the big retailer Gap decided to go where few large retailers have gone before — using a popular discount Web site to hold a nationwide sale. Shoppers had 24 hours to go online at Groupon.com and buy half-price shopping vouchers good for everything from jeans to trendy messenger bags.... [B]y day's end, almost 450,000 potential customers had bought into the deal.
"It's the new paradox for the American shopper: Just when buying online has become second nature for most consumers, retailers are shaking up the way they sell, now increasingly using the Internet to lure them back to Main Street or the mall."
Goodbye to All That Penny-Pinching: "The challenge for us lies not in knowing what to do, but in doing it. Despite our current economic travails, we live in a society of great wealth. Every time we drive past a shopping center or flip on the television, we are confronted with all the great products we don't own but could.
"Even for those inclined to be cheap, it's not so simple.... So, rather than providing helpful tips in my previous columns, I've used the space often to examine those two great forces that make us spend more than we should: seduction and compromise."
Future-Proof Your Phone's Data Plan: "Following AT&T's lead, both Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile are expected to unveil new cell phone data plans this week, offering lower prices for customers willing to give up their unlimited data plans. But the $15 savings might not be worth it — and if you switch, there could be no going back."
In our never-ending quest to equip you with tools and resources for better financial decision making, I'm back with two more. Now bear with me on these two, as they may not be as obvious in their money-saving potential.
The first up is Dropbox, a file-hosting service that lets you store files across the internet using file synchronization. They offer free storage of up 2 gigs, 50 gigs for $9.99/month, and 100 gigs for $19.99/month.
The setup is ridiculously easy: sign up and then install the Dropbox sync client on any computer (PC, Mac, or Linux) from which you'd like to be able to access the files. That's essentially it. Have a file you think you might want to access from both home and work? Just put it in in your Dropbox folder.
Dropbox also has apps for the iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry platforms. This came in handy the other day when I wanted to listen to a sermon I had put it in my Dropbox at work. I pulled out my phone and tapped the file. Within seconds, Andy Stanely was giving another brilliant sermon.
So how does Dropbox save money? For starters, remote-control software services such as GoToMyPC are overkill for my needs. I have the free (2 gig) Dropbox account and am currently using only 3% of my total capacity. So rather than paying GoToMyPC $20/month, I'm paying nothing. Secondly, it keeps me from having to burn files to portable media, saving me the time and money of doing so. Furthermore, since the files are synced, I can always know that I'm working with the most recently updated file (if you've ever saved an older file over a newer one, you know the frustration of having to redo it — and, as they say, time is money).
Dropbox is a dead-simple, practical service that's worth trying if you have file sharing needs.
Next up is PayPal. Now PayPal is really without peer for web-based payments and money transfers. I mean sure, Google Checkout lets you pay for things, but it's hardly as ubiquitous or robust.
PayPal has had apps for the iPhone, Android, and Blackberry platforms for a while. You could use these apps to send money to people, donate to a charity, or look at past transactions. But now iPhone users can deposit checks by taking a picture. Pretty wild. Simply snap a picture of a check via the PayPal app and the funds will be transmitted to your account within seven days.
Of course, banks such as USAA and Chase also allow you to do this kind of thing — provided you have an account with them. But PayPal's 226 million accounts makes its reach and accessibility vastly superior.
So how does this save you money? No more driving to the bank to make the deposit, a time and money waster. I didn't say it was gonna save you a ton of money, but every little bit adds up. And let's be honest... it's just really cool too.
That's our Personal Finance Friday for this week. Spend wisely — and have a great weekend!
A few weeks back, we told you about three tools that could help you save money. Today, as part of SMI's new Personal Finance Friday series, I'm back this week with another one.
I'd like to introduce you to Ziplist. What is it? "ZipList is a free shopping list management tool that allows you to create and share grocery lists with family members." After registering for your free account, you can start building your lists by searching for items and adding them.
While the service is geared towards groceries, you can add clothes, home improvement items, essentially anything you want. There are fields for coupon information, notes, and the ability to mark an item as "Important." You can assign certain items to a preferred store and if a store you shop at isn't listed in your zip code, you can create it. You can even rearrange the store's aisles so that your list is geographically efficient.
Where Ziplist really shines is with its recipe functions. You can add recipes to your account and whenever you're ready to shop for them, simply find that recipe and click "Add to list" and the recipe's items will be added to your list. You can even add recipes you find on the web by installing a special link on your toolbar and clicking it when there's a recipe you want to keep. Very slick.
Furthermore, Ziplist has a free app for the iPhone so you can access your lists on the go. Additionally, you could build your lists using only your iPhone's camera by scanning the bar code of the items you'd like to add. Don't have an iPhone? There are options to access your list via text messaging, instant messaging, and email.
You can also share your lists. This is especially helpful for families. Say I remember that my wife is going to the store today and there is a certain melt-in-your-mouth-not-in-your-hands chocolate I'd like. I simply add it to the shared list (via the site, email, text, instant message, or my iPhone). When she pulls up the list on her phone, there's my candy, organized by category.
There are other services similar to Ziplist, like Grocery iQ. While Grocery iQ doesn't allow you to add items straight from your computer, the interface might be more intuitive for some. Furthermore, it has free apps for both the iPhone and the Android platforms. Overall, I have found Ziplist far more robust and feature-rich, but since they're both free, they're both worth trying out.
So you're saying to yourself, "This is all fine and dandy, but how does it help me save money?"
A few ways:
You aren't likely to buy items you already have or forget items and have to spend time and money (on gas) going back to the store to get the missed items.
Having a list keeps you more efficient — and, as they say, time is money.
But most importantly, sticking to lists is one of the first lines of attack against impulse buys. If you'll commit yourself to your list (and coupons), you won't likely walk out of Costco with a greenhouse they tempt you to impulse-buy while you wait (and wait and wait) in one of the only two lanes they have open!
Next Friday, we'll focus on preparing for retirement. Spend wisely — and have a great weekend!
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Today, I finally redeemed all the Bing Cashback rewards I had accumulated over the past year. But it was bittersweet. A few weeks ago, my go-to cashback site announced its closing. So, through misty eyes and a heavy heart, I made the redemption for both the first and the last time.
Build it and they will come.
Perhaps that's Microsoft's thinking behind the announcement of Bing Rewards, the replacement for Bing Cashback. Here's how it works:
1) Download the Bing Bar
2) Register with a free Windows Live ID
3) Start earning credits
How do you earn credits? By doing things like searches, setting your homepage to Bing or trying out new features of Bing. When you've earned enough credits, you can redeem them for gift cards, electronics, digital downloads, and movie tickets, to name a few.
Of course, earning enough credits to get a substantial reward could take quite a while. In fact, this is the same business model behind Swagbucks.com. I have an account on Swagbucks that I rarely use because it was taking forever to earn enough points to redeem anything worthwhile. And more importantly, I didn't like the search results.
And that's what this is really all about... search.
You see, Bing Rewards is mostly a poorly disguised effort (if not ill-conceived) by Microsoft in its never-ending battle to drain market share from Google's bread and butter — its search engine. The good news for Microsoft is that Bing has not only been a solid performer, but in the grand scheme of things, a grand-slam. The problem is, the score was 55 to 2, with Microsoft on the short end. So maybe now it's 55 to 6. But to make the deficit reasonable, you're gonna need a constant stream of base hits plus the occasional home run here and there.
The question then becomes: Is Bing Rewards even a base hit? Maybe. Some won't like that you're required to download the Bing Bar (which is used to track your credits). I don't care for that either, but it doesn't bother nearly as much as the requirement to use Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser. I'm a Firefox user and will not switch browsers just to participate in Bing Rewards.
For Bing Rewards to bat some runners home, Microsoft will have to open it up to other browsers and remove the requirement to download the Bing Bar (and even then I'm skeptical how much it would help). If they do that, I'll participate because I quite like Bing and use it for my searching already. But it doesn't mean I have to be happy about it. Bing Cashback had set the standard and I'll be reminded of that every time I earn a single, lousy credit.
You can't always get what you want... But if you try sometimes you might find...
You get what you need
That may be true, I'm just not thinking this is one of those times.
I'm a sucker for most calculators, sites, graphs, apps — essentially any techie tool — designed to help me save money. I've recently come across three tools aimed at doing just that.
1% More Savings Calculator: This aptly named tool does one thing and does it well. Simply put in a few pieces of data (income, savings balance, time horizon, etc.) and it'll produce a graph showing your ending savings balance at your current rate of saving, your balance at an additional 1% of saving, and finally, your balance if you could save by an additional 1% each year until you reached 16% total savings.
The real fun comes by moving the "Percent You Save Each Year" or "Expected Annual Return" slider one notch to the right to see what a difference a single percentage point can make.
Takeaway: It's a nice little motivator. Working hard to eke out an extra percent of savings each year can make a big difference over the long haul — but not as big as increasing the expected rate of return by 1%. But, of course, we applaud both.
Springpad: An app that helps you remember stuff: Essentially, Springpad is a free service that tries to help you keep track of everything from recipes to movies you want to see to gift ideas and more.
Where Springpad gets really interesting is that it can alert you when a particular item that you've added has dropped in price. For instance, as this nice review points out, Springpad may let you know when an item that's used in one of your recipes goes on sale.
I've been playing around with Springpad for the past few weeks. When I logged in today, I saw I had an alert. Turned out, an album I had added from Amazon had a price change by $2. And what's interesting is the price change came from Buy.com. So even though I only added it from one vendor, it tracked the price from multiples, and when there was a price change it let me know.
Furthermore, it also alerted me to a special offer with a promo code from Amazon on how to save $3 on an album. Pretty nifty.
I did this all from my computer. There are also free apps — iPhone, iPad, and Android — to help you keep track of stuff on the go. Your accounts will sync across all platforms (so if you add something from your phone, it will show up when you log in on the computer). Springpad recently updated the app to include alerts on special offers and price drops. I'd also like to see an email or SMS option for these alerts, but this is a good step in that direction.
Takeway: This a pretty useful little service — and seeing how it's free, it certainly worth a try! (The only sticky note I'll need now is the reminder to actually use Springpad.)
Abogo: Transportation costs made transparent: This is a great site for those who are moving and are curious about transportation costs for getting around town. As this NYT write-up points out, you simply enter an address and Abogo will tell you how much the average household in that neighborhood spends on transportation costs. Now keep in mind, this is an average, not a projection specific to you. There are just too many variables to get that precise.
For instance, when I entered my address, it gave me a cost that was much higher than we pay (thankfully). But then again, I'm only about 15 minutes from work, my wife is a stay-at-home mom (i.e., no commute), the kids carpool to school, my car ownership costs are reasonable, etc. Of course, even approximately determining the amount one spends on transportation costs takes a crazy amount of math (PDF). So don't expect super-high accuracy — but since the tool is free, it certainly doesn't hurt to consult it.
Takeaway: If you're moving and transportation costs among prospective neighborhoods are a concern, might as well check it out. If you're staying put but want to feel better about your costs cause you walk to work, then by all means, Abogo.
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Since I couldn't guarantee that those I text could/would also use textPlus (other than my accommodating wife), I decided not to pursue this app any further. So, no money saved.
Phone: Now for the home phone. As you may recall we started using 
Where Springpad gets really interesting is that it can alert you when a particular item that you've added has dropped in price. For instance, 
