Frugal February Day 10

I went to Comcast this morning to take in some cable boxes that we've been having problems with.  We aren't getting On Demand and some of the channels that we are supposed to.  I've tried everything we can do over the phone and my roommates have been gently reminding me to get this taken care of.  I went to the Comcast brick-and-mortar place and had a terrible experience.  I beat a big rush so I didn't have to wait too long in line. The lady who began serving me was terrible.  She began by giving me 2 new boxes but they were different than I had before and neither of them was HD (I needed one HD box).  She told me that I don't have HD service but we had signed up for some HD stuff the last time I was at the brick-and-mortar store.  That's why Nat had a HD box.  She tells me that there's an extra charge for HD stuff and I told her to stop messing with me, don't mess with my account, just give me my boxes back, I'll leave and everything will be like it was.  She directed me to another gentleman and he basically told me that they're not fixing my problems and they're going to bill me an extra $8.50 per month now.  I'm being charged for the original box that was on my account and I don't agree with that charge.  Their system is messed up.  I was so furious that I wanted to drop Comcast service.  Unfortunately, I called Century Link about their Prism service and found that it's just as expensive.  I'm going to talk to my roommates about downgrading to the most basic cable and getting our TV stuff from Roku/Netflix and possibly Amazon Prime.

So, I don't think that really counts as spending money even though they are going to start charging me more.  Afterwards, I ate lunch at home, went to school, ate there, came home and made black bean burgers.  I ate 2 wings because Nat bought a bunch tonight.

Pick #280

Quiet Company - You, Me, & the Boatman 

Frugal February Day 9

A little purchase today.  Went to bike-in movie at Damn Good Bikes for free entertainment.  Micah says that I can have some 26" tubes for free...they're used but in good condition.  That solves my problem from last night.

I decided today that I won't try to go to Publix once per week now.  I didn't stock up on food before the month started because I thought that would be kind of like cheating.  I plan on trying to eat up some of the stuff I have laying around the house.  I will still need to pick up fresh fruits & veggies, but I can try to draw down my inventories of other stuff.

The Poor Are Getting Richer!

Wait a second...isn't there all this outrage with the Occupy movement about the richest 1% of Americans controlling everything while everyone else is being held down?  Well, the percentage of the population earning over $100,000 (in real terms, using 2006$) has been going up.  I imagine that the tail of the distribution has been getting longer.  I think the despicable part is NOT that some people have so much money, but that they can use their money through the political system to gain at the expense of others.

But I digress...back to my point:  for every income bracket under $75,000 the people in those brackets have been getting richer over time.  See this presentation put together by Antony Davies of Duquesne University.  It shows that over time, the percentage of people in America in the income bracket "under $15,000" has been steadily decreasing.  Same with the other brackets until you get to the $75,000+ range.  More people are falling into the high income part of the distribution while fewer people are in the low income range.

This chart says nothing about "income inequality," but I think it's great if everyone is experiencing a growing income.  So what if the top 1%'s wealth is growing at twice the rate of the bottom 1%?  As long as everyone is growing, that's phenomenal.  AND the presentation only talks about real dollars; it excludes the improvements in every day living.  For instance, back in 1980 the Dire Straits were singing about how all their Rock'n'Roll riches had bought them a microwave oven!  Even really poor people have microwaves these days.  Think back to when rich guys had the giant projection TVs.  Now you can get a screen almost as big if you make even $30,000/year (depending on how you prioritize things).  Let's not forget improvements in computer technology and reduction in price.  What's that you say?  Cell phones?  Yeah, definitely cheaper and more functional than they used to be.  Just about everyone can have a cell phone these days if they choose.  That wasn't always the case...and it certainly didn't fit in your pocket when only the rich could afford one.

My point is that you should be careful of what you believe.  In fact, don't just take my word...go dig up some numbers for yourself.  In fact, here is a link to the data source used to create Antony's presentation.  It's easy to get outraged, so just make sure your anger is channeled in the right direction.

Frugal February Day 8

Didn't buy anything today.  However, I got a flat on my bike so sooner or later I'll need another tube.  Luckily it was the 26" and not the 29" that I was riding.

In other news, I was super productive on my dissertation today!  Also, I was making PB @ Bread & Roses when the bicycle grinder broke so we had to grind about 9 pounds of peanuts by hand.  Luckily I had some help.  Good upper body workout.

Frugal February Day 7

Uneventful day except a surprise track workout.  Tommy texted me right before I left the house, so I put running shorts in my backpack.

I did get today's groupon, but I used some credit I had in my groupon account.  I don't think that counts as spending.

For a summary of my spending, you can check out this Google Doc.

Let's Think About Bikes...