Maximizing Tech Dollars In A Down Economy

With the economy slowing down, the housing bubble bursting, the stock market tanking, and the dreaded recession word starting every newscast, clearly tough economic times are ahead. While we all want the latest gadgets and gear, we need to stretch our dollars to maximize our gain. While some experts would recommend to save every last cent, that's hardly realistic, but I've got some suggestions to save a few bucks.

1- Assess the Cell Phone

What started this article is that I was adding up my last year of cell phone bills, and when I annualized it, I was surprised to realize that over $700 went to T-Mobile. This is really annoying given that the service isn't too good, and I barely use it. Looking around, while those prepaid phones used to be pathetic, they've come a long way. Consider a prepaid phone which you can get with a one year card that gives you 400 minutes for $100, plus the cost of the phone. While it's more money upfront, over the year, you get cell phone service for less than $150. If you can live without the latest phone and need only around 30 minutes a month it's a viable option. BTW, AT&T offers such a deal, and there are others as well.

Realize that with a better landline plan that offers unlimited calling, you may not need the cell phone much at all, and it will come out cheaper for most.

2- Negotiate Your Triple Play

Now that the cable company offers phone, and the phone company offers television, these triple play offers that bundle phone, TV, and internet all in one monthly payment are quite popular. The real question is if they are a good deal. There's no easy answer, but some math will help. First assess your needs, not your wants. Will DSL do, or do you truly need fiber optic internet? How many TV's do you need to hook up? Can you get the locals adequately with an antenna? Do you need to pay for HD? Are you watching the premium channels that you're paying individually for? Can you survive with one DVR, and does it need to record HD, or is standard def ok? While triple play deals are attractive, also price out Voip phone deals, such as Vonage, and satellite television from DirectTV and Dish Network. Armed with those prices, then don't be afraid to call your current provider, tell them what you can get elsewhere and negotiate a better deal. Need some inspiration or some ideas what I'm talking about? Check out these forums separated by the various providers to get an idea what deals your neighbors have gotten.

3- Google Your Way To Savings

On big ticket items, like a new HDTV, I typically choose what I want, and then wait a while seeing what the deals are doing. The Froogle search engine can easily find the current prices, and show who's cheapest, but I won't buy from a retailer that I've never heard of, and I don't recommend you do either. There's also nothing wrong with waiting for a sale, and remember that notebooks are often dirt cheap come August. Also, use Google to locate coupon codes for online retailers that can sometimes save even more. Also, after the sale, remember that Amazon will price adjust for up to 30 days after the sale if the price drops.

4- Buy, Don't Rent

The American dream is to own. However, companies would rather lock you in for a monthly fee that you pay over and over; this can turn into a serious case of wallet leak. A typical example of this includes subscription music, like from Napster, or the Zune Marketplace. While the $15 monthly fee is a low startup, over time it adds up. Almost everybody has a pile of CD's that with a little effort can be converted into high quality mp3 tracks. Need more music? Check out these posts, and BeeMP3 for sources of legal music that are plenty enough to fill up any player.

Along the same lines, consider buying a DVR. This is what I did, and even cable subscribers would likely benefit from having one as a second recording machine. Remember to add up the monthly fees on an annual basis, and see what the potential savings would be.

5- Upgrade Your PC Yourself

While I'm sure this is obvious to most around here, don't forget that the cost savings can be quite large. I'm always in sticker shock when I see the price on most higher end PC's. This is because quite often by buying the components, and with a few nights of assembly, the user can create a better machine, that is better configured to their needs. Also, this way we can recycle existing parts from another machine, such as an optical drive, hard drive, or graphics card which often are good enough to use for now, and can always be upgraded when a better offer comes along in a few months.

6- Free Your Software

There are plenty of good options for free software. Consider Linux for a free operating system, especially on a second machine. Don't buy Microsoft Office, and use OpenOffice, or an online document editor like Google Documents which save a couple of hundred right there. If you look through TNL Reviews I've got links to plenty of powerful freeware, and there's a lot more out there if you take the time to look (start here).

7- Dump the Inkjet

Sick of hearing the "ka-ching" sound everytime you press the print button? I was too, and a laser printer is the more affordable way to go. For less than a hundred bucks (I got mine for less than $50), you can trade expensive inkjet cartridges that dry out, don't last, and won't print all of their ink due to some chip for fast, crisp monochrome laser printing. Need color? For a little more than $200, there are color lasers available (See this offer). Also, if you only need to print pictures occasionally, the local pharmacy often can print them for prices that I can't buy the paper for.

Finally, if you're not ready for a new printer yet, then consider the generic cartridges that work just as well in my experience, and can be quite a bit less.


I'm sure there are plenty more good ways to save money on tech, so go ahead and post them below.

Jonas