Lately, all my friends have been really talking up Netflix. Of course, the more they talk, the more I find myself drawn to Netflix. I can have movies mailed to me and not have to worry about return dates? This sounds great!
Except when was the last time I rented a movie? While in law school, I pretty much missed every movie that came out for three years. Those movies are starting to appear on tv, at least on the premium movie channels (some of which I do subscribe to). Do I really need all that cable AND Netflix? No. I probably don’t need all the cable, to be honest, but if I get rid of it, my cable rate won’t actually change (I’m on a weird promotional rate). I also own a bunch of movies that I can watch and if I really need a fix, there’s a Redbox at the grocery store across the street.
It’s so easy to let yourself get talked into something. It’s why infomercials work. Hear people talk about how great something is and immediately, you think “Hey, maybe I need that too.” I’ve gone so far as to fill out the signup on Netflix before realizing just what I was doing and cancelling. Maybe someday, Just not today.
So hold onto your wallets, everyone! Don’t get talked out of your money!
Megan is a 40-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:
In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance. It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information. It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck. While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.
While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.
Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.
So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan. I needed to budget. I needed to know what I was spending my money on. I needed to prepare for the future.
I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way. I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.
I only have basic cable (promo ran out!) and i often want to start netflix for the TV series and occasional movie. But I know I wouldn’t get full use out of it, I don’t have that much time for movies, so I have resisted.
Like you said, maybe someday. not today
When I didn’t have cable I used blockbuster’s version of netflix and loved it! But when my basic cable was restored (think 10 channels) I got ride of it. I really just like to relax at night by watching something and I realized it didn’t matter what. So good for you for resisting!
Netflix is great with the video streaming that you can do on the site. They keep adding new titles all the time and it’s even more convenient than having them mailed to you. Considering you have some premium movie channels though, i’d say forgo the netflix for now, and maybe once you’ve run through the trial offer with your cable company and they up the rates you’ll come over to the “dark side”! ha ha