Who do use for internet?

hurricanekeri

We correctly go through comcast but, our promotional deal is over, so it time to find something cheaper. What do you go through and how much is it?

The_Jen626

If I was on the verge of homelessness, I would use the public library, it's free there.

Ann003

The_Jen626:

If I was on the verge of homelessness, I would use the public library, it's free there.

Agreed. Yes, it's less convenient - but it's free.

hurricanekeri

We are still poor but, no longer on the verge of homelessness.  Looking and applying for jobs requires that I have internet access at least a few hours a day.  Also, I would have to take the bus to library five days a week which,  would end up costing me more than having internet at home.  

Thank you for your suggestion, I am glad you care about me so much. 

The_Jen626

Plenty of people don't have internet because they can't afford it.  Just reading through your last few posts, it seems to me that if your family hadn't sent a check to your landlord, you would be living on the street with your 4 dogs, 2 cats, guinea pig and snake. And this was two weeks ago.  So please forgive me for being a little blunt, but to channel the great Suze Orman: "You can NOT afford this."

Also a tri-met monthly pass is $88 and if you have any disabilities it's even cheaper.  Then once (if?) you find a job, you would alreday have your transportation taken care of also.  You're welcome

estherandgeoff2

What is the fee for terminating your contract with Comcast? It's usually not smart to sign up for a contract with someone to get a promotional deal and then cancel when that deal is over. If you couldn't afford the full rate, why did you sign up with them? 

That said, we have internet with Frontier (used to be Qwest) for $45 a month. I agree with Jen though, you have to figure out what you can afford and whether it's really worth it. Another thing is that maybe you should reconsider your decision to not drive a car. It's probably not feasible for you to buy one now, but if you had one you could get to the library easier and you'd have more opportunities for jobs. Right now you're restricting yourself to ones you can reach by public transport. In this economy that's not something you can afford to do. Ideally, you would not have moved here without jobs lined up. But it's too late for that now. 

ScarlettBegonia

I agree with Jen. DH and I do very well financially, but we considered cutting internet because it is a luxury item and we are aggressively paying down debt. We feel like its our only 'splurge'.

If I were in your shoes, I'd be keeping my expenses at the barest of the bare. I am not saying this in a snarky way, I promise. I just think that if two weeks ago you were almost homeless, and your family saved you; you might want to reevaluate priorities so you're not in that situation again, KWIM?

Also, I side-eye bailing on a company once the promo is over. In fact, I side-eye that a lot., Thats why long term customers (like me) have to haggle with Comcast to get a fair rate-because they lose business on people who leave after a promo.

 

joleine

The_Jen626:

Plenty of people don't have internet because they can't afford it.  Just reading through your last few posts, it seems to me that if your family hadn't sent a check to your landlord, you would be living on the street with your 4 dogs, 2 cats, guinea pig and snake. And this was two weeks ago.  So please forgive me for being a little blunt, but to channel the great Suze Orman: "You can NOT afford this."

Also a tri-met monthly pass is $88 and if you have any disabilities it's even cheaper.  Then once (if?) you find a job, you would alreday have your transportation taken care of also.  You're welcome

I have to agree with Jen.. There is free WiFi/Internet to be had many places, probably even within walking distance to your home.  Plus the $88 for a Trimet pass will get you other places than just the library.  What do you tell prospective employers when they want you to come for an interview, that you can't afford the bus fare?  

hurricanekeri

estherandgeoff2:

What is the fee for terminating your contract with Comcast? It's usually not smart to sign up for a contract with someone to get a promotional deal and then cancel when that deal is over. If you couldn't afford the full rate, why did you sign up with them? 

That said, we have internet with Frontier (used to be Qwest) for $45 a month. I agree with Jen though, you have to figure out what you can afford and whether it's really worth it. Another thing is that maybe you should reconsider your decision to not drive a car. It's probably not feasible for you to buy one now, but if you had one you could get to the library easier and you'd have more opportunities for jobs. Right now you're restricting yourself to ones you can reach by public transport. In this economy that's not something you can afford to do. Ideally, you would not have moved here without jobs lined up. But it's too late for that now. 

We do not have a contract with comcast. We lived in a place that could only get internet from comcast.  We needed internet because, we were both in school (H also had an online class).  

H will be going to school this fall and taking a class for work at the end of July so, the internet is a priority. 

We do have a car but, H uses it for work.  It would be easier if I had my own car and drove. Unfortunately, there are a few issues that make it difficult to use car for daily purposes: I have RA in my hands (which makes gripping the steering wheel for a long time hard), I have no experience driving in a major city, and the idea of driving in a three lane freeway gives me nightmares. 

I was hoping to have a paid internship before moving but, that didn't work out (at least H transferred his job and got raise).  The landlord moved back early so, we had to move anyway (we were miserable there anyway) and either town I didn't have a job.

hurricanekeri

joleine:

The_Jen626:

Plenty of people don't have internet because they can't afford it.  Just reading through your last few posts, it seems to me that if your family hadn't sent a check to your landlord, you would be living on the street with your 4 dogs, 2 cats, guinea pig and snake. And this was two weeks ago.  So please forgive me for being a little blunt, but to channel the great Suze Orman: "You can NOT afford this."

Also a tri-met monthly pass is $88 and if you have any disabilities it's even cheaper.  Then once (if?) you find a job, you would alreday have your transportation taken care of also.  You're welcome

I have to agree with Jen.. There is free WiFi/Internet to be had many places, probably even within walking distance to your home.  Plus the $88 for a Trimet pass will get you other places than just the library.  What do you tell prospective employers when they want you to come for an interview, that you can't afford the bus fare?  

  I have some bus tokens, I just don't use tokens unless needed (in order to save money). 

KtotheO

Not sure about the internet situation, but maybe you could post your budget on MM... they're really good about helping people find ways to save money based on your current spending habits. If you cut in other areas, then maybe you'd be able to afford internet since you guys find it to be a necessity. Good luck!

joleine

hurricanekeri:

We do have a car but, H uses it for work.  It would be easier if I had my own car and drove. Unfortunately, there are a few issues that make it difficult to use car for daily purposes: I have RA in my hands (which makes gripping the steering wheel for a long time hard), I have no experience driving in a major city, and the idea of driving in a three lane freeway gives me nightmares. 

I was hoping to have a paid internship before moving but, that didn't work out (at least H transferred his job and got raise).  The landlord moved back early so, we had to move anyway (we were miserable there anyway) and either town I didn't have a job.

You do realize that you CAN get to pretty much any destination in the Portland Metro Area without ever getting onto a "3 lane freeway", right? In fact, the only place you can't get to without doing so is Vancouver.

just sayin'.. 

DramaGeek

Do you have a landline phone?  If so, try surfbest.  We used them when we were first married and dirt poor.  We were in a similar situation - one job, tuition to pay, etc.  That's been nearly 10 years ago but at the time I think we paid $14 a month which gave us up to 5 email addresses and internet access.  It wasn't bad, speed wise, considering it was dialup.

Now we have comcast but we don't have any other options.  Even though we're just a couple of blocks outside Portland we can't get Qwest or Verizon, so we're stuck.  Check to be sure you actually can get something else.

hurricanekeri

KtotheO:

Not sure about the internet situation, but maybe you could post your budget on MM... they're really good about helping people find ways to save money based on your current spending habits. If you cut in other areas, then maybe you'd be able to afford internet since you guys find it to be a necessity. Good luck!

We sold one of our cars last week so, we save 75 a month on insurance plus the many expenses that come with the car.  It was for the best that we sold the car at this point because, we were able to pay off the loan from my parents and muscle cars make terrible commuter cars (not that we ever used it for that).

Also since H and I are living together again our living expenses are way down.  H used to spend 60-70 dollars in a gas a week and now only spends 20. 

I will definitely go to the MM board later this week when H gets his regular check at his new job.

hurricanekeri

DramaGeek:

Do you have a landline phone?  If so, try surfbest.  We used them when we were first married and dirt poor.  We were in a similar situation - one job, tuition to pay, etc.  That's been nearly 10 years ago but at the time I think we paid $14 a month which gave us up to 5 email addresses and internet access.  It wasn't bad, speed wise, considering it was dialup.

Now we have comcast but we don't have any other options.  Even though we're just a couple of blocks outside Portland we can't get Qwest or Verizon, so we're stuck.  Check to be sure you actually can get something else.

  Unfortunately,  we don't have a landline phone because, we want to keep our costs down. I wouldn't mind having dialup internet. We can deal with slow internet as long as it's cheap. I wonder how much it is activate a phone line? I know earthlink is cheap.

I know how it is to have limited options on internet. We had clearwire once and had to get rid of it because, we couldn't even get cell service in our last house. I will have to check around to see which ones are in our area.

hurricanekeri

joleine:

hurricanekeri:

We do have a car but, H uses it for work.  It would be easier if I had my own car and drove. Unfortunately, there are a few issues that make it difficult to use car for daily purposes: I have RA in my hands (which makes gripping the steering wheel for a long time hard), I have no experience driving in a major city, and the idea of driving in a three lane freeway gives me nightmares. 

I was hoping to have a paid internship before moving but, that didn't work out (at least H transferred his job and got raise).  The landlord moved back early so, we had to move anyway (we were miserable there anyway) and either town I didn't have a job.

You do realize that you CAN get to pretty much any destination in the Portland Metro Area without ever getting onto a "3 lane freeway", right? In fact, the only place you can't get to without doing so is Vancouver.

just sayin'.. 

This was just an example.  I am not an aggressive driver at all. 

KtotheO

hurricanekeri:

KtotheO:

Not sure about the internet situation, but maybe you could post your budget on MM... they're really good about helping people find ways to save money based on your current spending habits. If you cut in other areas, then maybe you'd be able to afford internet since you guys find it to be a necessity. Good luck!

We sold one of our cars last week so, we save 75 a month on insurance plus the many expenses that come with the car.  It was for the best that we sold the car at this point because, we were able to pay off the loan from my parents and muscle cars make terrible commuter cars (not that we ever used it for that).

Also since H and I are living together again our living expenses are way down.  H used to spend 60-70 dollars in a gas a week and now only spends 20. 

I will definitely go to the MM board later this week when H gets his regular check at his new job.

Those are all great ways of saving money! Good luck with job hunting; I hope you find something soon!