The Atari Report has been permanently cancelled

[BIGHMW]

2 hours ago, Lord Mushroom said:

 

I live in Norway, so I don´t know much about how things work in the US, but here are some thoughts on your budget:

1) Do you really need local cable when you have Hulu+Live TV? Aren´t you paying for the same stuff twice?

2) Isn´t ESPN+ a part of Hulu+Live TV, so you don´t need to pay $6 for it?

3) $89 seems like a lot for a phone. If it is a landline phone, maybe it is time to switch to a cell-/smart-phone. If it is a cell-/smart-phone, maybe there are cheaper subscriptions for your use out there.

1) The "local cable" is a specific package for the local channels only, including all of those subchannels, 70 in all, in which are not included on Hulu + Live TV, the price is after the promo price expires and including the cable box rental and taxes, fees, etc. you know that BS.

 

2) ESPN+ is ala carte and is a separate option and if you have Hulu + Live TV you don't have to get the Disney BS in order to get just it, saves a bit of money too, and you get a ton of content, mostly on demand as well as live, included with Hulu, cable does not offer that!!!  

 

Notably if you have cable and miss Sportscenter, you're screwed but if you have Hulu you can watch it on demand, the vault uploads every episode of it a few hours later it's there for you to watch, cable doesn't offer that.

 

......and yes we do have a rooftop antenna but it does not work plus I live in a fringe mostly rural area and the signals are so weak you are pretty much screwed when it comes to locals

 

3) I have Verizon wireless for my phone and have since 2003 and I don't want to be tied to a landline phone. It's just the basic package 5gb data/month unlimited talk/text you know.

 

So yes I do realize I am on a budget as a matter of fact I even have to settle for the cheap gas from my work over at Safeway it costs 40 cents less/gallon than everyone else here does.

[youxia]

10 minutes ago, BIGHMW said:

I don't want to

When you're in a tight spot, you have to. You have to adapt, drop the wants and concentrate on needs first. In your situation having a 90 USD phone bill is ridiculous, same as multiple cable subs. Even so, you do have a job and disability check resulting in income of nearly 2000USD per month, which is quite a lot for a single guy. You should use it to build a cash buffer for when times get hard (they will) and not count on miracle checks which might not materialize again. If you don't sort it out soon and have some sort of plan going, as people in this thread advise, you might find out that your current problems are nothing compared to living rough.

 

Sorry to sound a bit harsh, but while I'm doing fairly OK now, there was a time when I'd been living in survival mode too, with half of your income or less in a big city, so I know the score. But that's when I was young & indestructible, can't imagine going through this shizz now.

[Lord Mushroom]

5 hours ago, GoldLeader said:

I probably  have the cheapest cell phone plan in all of Creation, haha.  $14 a month!  3 conditions:  A)  I had to have Spectrum Internet  B)  I had to buy the phone outright  C) I have to stay  below 1GB of Data a month (each GB more is another $14),  which is easy for me because I only use the phone for calls, texts, and Google Maps....

I think there is a subscription available in Norway for less than $11. It is unlimited calls and texts, but you have to pay dearly if you use data.

 

I, however, spend less than $2/month as I don´t even have a subscription, and don´t use it much. I often borrow someone else´ phone when I need to make a call, don´t write many texts and I have only used (mobile) data once.

 

And the award for the cheapest bastard goes to...  

[Lord Mushroom]

4 hours ago, youxia said:

you do have a job and disability check resulting in income of nearly 2000USD per month, which is quite a lot for a single guy.

I don´t think he is single, but of course, she may be making money as well.

[BIGHMW]

20 minutes ago, Lord Mushroom said:

I don´t think he is single, but of course, she may be making money as well.

I AM single, in fact I haven't been with anyone since Alice left me back in December 2018, and anyhow, we were never married, as we would be penalized by Social Security (we are/were both on it as individuals) and they would've been greatly reduced. I loved her enough to marry her, but we just could not afford the pay cut, so it was better (financially) to be single and living together instead.

[leech]

On 6/1/2022 at 6:20 PM, Stephen said:

Recent revelation that you spend too much money so you will get noticed by Cindy Margolis on her facebook page

I had to look up who she is, but now wonder why she hasn't noticed me because I spend stupid money too... ?

[+Stephen]

8 minutes ago, leech said:

I had to look up who she is, but now wonder why she hasn't noticed me because I spend stupid money too... ?

Meh - my wife is four inches taller and not full of silicone and plastic surgeries making her face look like an alien.  I wouldn't mind Cindy's bank account however.  I'll take a natural brunette over a modified blonde any day

[leech]

14 minutes ago, Stephen said:

Meh - my wife is four inches taller and not full of silicone and plastic surgeries making her face look like an alien.  I wouldn't mind Cindy's bank account however.  I'll take a natural brunette over a modified blonde any day

Ha, same! 

[Rhomaios]

10 hours ago, BIGHMW said:

1) The "local cable" is a specific package for the local channels only, including all of those subchannels, 70 in all, in which are not included on Hulu + Live TV, the price is after the promo price expires and including the cable box rental and taxes, fees, etc. you know that BS.

 

2) ESPN+ is ala carte and is a separate option and if you have Hulu + Live TV you don't have to get the Disney BS in order to get just it, saves a bit of money too, and you get a ton of content, mostly on demand as well as live, included with Hulu, cable does not offer that!!!  

 

Notably if you have cable and miss Sportscenter, you're screwed but if you have Hulu you can watch it on demand, the vault uploads every episode of it a few hours later it's there for you to watch, cable doesn't offer that.

 

......and yes we do have a rooftop antenna but it does not work plus I live in a fringe mostly rural area and the signals are so weak you are pretty much screwed when it comes to locals

 

3) I have Verizon wireless for my phone and have since 2003 and I don't want to be tied to a landline phone. It's just the basic package 5gb data/month unlimited talk/text you know.

 

So yes I do realize I am on a budget as a matter of fact I even have to settle for the cheap gas from my work over at Safeway it costs 40 cents less/gallon than everyone else here does.

I totally get having some creature comforts, even in a time of want, but you really, really could cut down on some of that entertainment. At least one of those.

 

But the real deadweight here is the phone plan. You can get unlimited everything for $50 a month via Metro-PCS. And if they're not in your area, look around. You'll find one that is. You don't need a landline, but you're way overpaying at $89 a month, I guarantee it.

Edited June 4, 2022 by Rhomaios

[Keatah]

4 hours ago, leech said:

I had to look up who she is, but now wonder why she hasn't noticed me because I spend stupid money too... ?

I have spent, continue to spend, and plan on spending stupider-than-ever-before $$$ and Kim Kardashian has no inkling I exist either. Maybe if I order up that SR22 I've been eyeing for the last decade she might invite me to a party?  This is not an unusual phenomenon. I've seen tens or even hundreds of examples of people doing that. It seems an extreme version of buying friends? In some way..maybe??

 

4 hours ago, Stephen said:

Meh - my wife is four inches taller and not full of silicone and plastic surgeries making her face look like an alien.  I wouldn't mind Cindy's bank account however.  I'll take a natural brunette over a modified blonde any day

There you go. All natural and no makeup required except for nights on the town (which we do much less of than just 5 years ago) or special occasions. A little paint is fine. But implants and mods, tattoos, piercings, eye injections, brazilian butts .. just ugh! Neither of us believe in such things unless trauma & injury repair.

[The Usotsuki]

For what it's worth, my old Cricket plan (before I sprang for the plan with international roaming, and yes, I absolutely do take advantage of that) was unlimited talk, unlimited text, 2 GB data before they hamstring it to dialup speed, $30.

[MrTrust]

On 6/2/2022 at 8:02 PM, BIGHMW said:

Who knows, maybe sometime in the short future I can get some Video 61/Atari Sales carts for my 5200 and CollectorVision carts for my ColecoVision as well, in moderation of course.

 

Spotted your problem right here.

 

After your stupid high TV and phone bills, you're down to about $200 a week to eat, get your meds, fuel your car, wipe your ass, drink/smoke/get high/whatever.  There is zero room for expensive new toys in there.

 

You buy, what, two of those cartridges, and that's half a week's living money gone right there.  You planning on eating half as much the week you do that?  You planning on taking half your meds, or walking to work, or not wiping your ass?  No, what you'll end up doing is consuming just as much as you normally would, buy the toys you can't afford, and uh-oh; when the bills come due, we're off to the payday loan place again, and then yuck be back on here singing the blues hoping somebody bails you out again.

 

You're essentially living off of the charity of others.  I don't begrudge you getting it, but it's charity, and for you to take it, piss it away on nonsense, go around hat-in-hand wanting people to help you out, only to turn around and immediately plan the next nonsense to piss it away on shows no gratitude.

 

 

[BIGHMW]

I see your point there, on multiple fronts. In fact, while on one of my drives earlier on this morning, I was actually thinking of "skinnying up" my lineups of gear and, yes, even some of my ports on both of my multicarts, and even for that matter some of my music and video collections and my wardrobe as well. After all, I AM 56 and even I at my age won't have time to go over and play/watch/listen to the hundreds of titles of my collections, or for that matter, wear all of that gear, yes, even my Arsenal shirts as well, so as hard as it is for me to do, I must somehow suck it up and take your advice and throw some (not all of it, as there are some in my "protected" list) shit up on eBay and downsize like I did when I did in 2019, when I was in the transition of moving from living at Towne Point with my ex to here at Bishop Park Apartments. Having all of that gear was fine for BITD but considering my age and lack of income (let alone getting that huge windfall back on Tuesday) I should do whatever possible to save up my $$$, continue to bust ass at work and even put aside some of it every month just in case I ever get in a pinch, and, yes, no more payday loans, that shit IS DONE!!!

 

As for Cindy Margolis, really guys, please, enough with the bad comments on her, yes she did kinda mod herself but nevertheless our nearly-40-year history and her success in her career is what keeps/kept me in the entertainment business for these past 27 years. In 2003, after S.M.F. broke up, and my 2002 second album "SchizoTron" sold poorly and the two shows we played in support of it had poor turnout, I didn't know what I was going to do with my career, and I wanted to share my work with her because I wanted to see what she thought of my work, as she was referred to our school by a mutual classmate/co-graduate of ours, and since she became famous I wanted in too. Cindy did write back, she said she liked my work but she liked music "more on the upbeat and poppier side", so I incorporated that as well as influence from N.W.A. "Straight Outta Compton" on what would become my 2004 solo debut as AK47, "Hadlock's Most Wanted", and I will be recording new material for my farewell album, "Still Ruthless", in which will be out in a few months, as soon as I learn how to use my Zoom R8 recorder to do the tracks on. My retirement announcement will be filmed today and air on my BIGHMW TV YouTube channel tomorrow along with a whole bunch of shit on both it and also the Ray Jackson YouTube channel.

 

I've always been touted and respected as a guy who somehow does more with less, I may not have very much technical knowledge or savvy or know much about programming or much about new-tech (I DO live in a very isolated, rural area in which is 30 miles away from any halfway decent "civilization") but nevertheless I make what I have work, and the results are right up there with even the most professional and advanced works out there, after all, it's not how you do it, it's the end result that matters, and mine ranks up right there too.

[Leonard Smith]

6 hours ago, BIGHMW said:

I've always been touted and respected as a guy who somehow does more with less, I may not have very much technical knowledge or savvy or know much about programming or much about new-tech (I DO live in a very isolated, rural area in which is 30 miles away from any halfway decent "civilization") but nevertheless I make what I have work, and the results are right up there with even the most professional and advanced works out there, after all, it's not how you do it, it's the end result that matters, and mine ranks up right there too.

At the end of the day, it's all about living withing your means.
I'd personally cancel some of those cable packages and subscriptions and switch to a cheaper cell phone plan, but that's just me.  

Just keep an eye on the auxillary spending and you should be ok.  Always put some money away no matter how small.  "Make hay while the sun is shining" is the best proverb that really resonates with me.

 

Edited June 4, 2022 by Leonard Smith

[Keatah]

Upsizing? Downsizing? I prefer Rightsizing. And emulation or multicarts are perfect ways to do it.

 

Over the past 10 years I've rightsized to collecting (accumulating) for 4 physical systems. 2 large ones, and 2 smaller ones. The rest of all my videogaming endeavors is honed to perfection and satisfaction with emulators.

[BIGHMW]

2 hours ago, Leonard Smith said:

At the end of the day, it's all about living withing your means.
I'd personally cancel some of those cable packages and subscriptions and switch to a cheaper cell phone plan, but that's just me.  

Just keep an eye on the auxillary spending and you should be ok.  Always put some money away no matter how small.  "Make hay while the sun is shining" is the best proverb that really resonates with me.

 

Well put @Leonard Smith, in fact as of this afternoon I have set myself a buffer in which I can have no less than in my account at the end of every month, that buffer is set right now at $1,000.00, and I will progressively add $250.00 to that buffer every month after that. That way if I run into any bullshit I will have the $$$ to deal with it.

[john_q_atari]

4 hours ago, BIGHMW said:

Well put @Leonard Smith, in fact as of this afternoon I have set myself a buffer in which I can have no less than in my account at the end of every month, that buffer is set right now at $1,000.00, and I will progressively add $250.00 to that buffer every month after that. That way if I run into any bullshit I will have the $$$ to deal with it.

That is definitely good. Have you started writing down every expense on a daily basis as you pay it? If not, please start. If so, keep an eye on it so you can learn how all your money is disappearing. The problem is not that you have stuff you shouldn't have, the problem is you are spending money you can't afford to spend.

Edited June 5, 2022 by john_q_atari
Grammar

[BIGHMW]

7 hours ago, Leonard Smith said:

I'd personally cancel some of those cable packages and subscriptions and switch to a cheaper cell phone plan, but that's just me.  

The phone plan , I'll try to get that handled, there's always Consumer Cellular.

 

As for the pay packages, I DO wish that the management company would fix our rooftop antenna so I don't have to get the local cable package and pay vookoo $$$ just to get our local stations. As for Peacock. I only have that for the Premier League and I only watch it whenever Arsenal are not on either USA, CNBC or Big NBC (NBC over-the-air). Hulu takes care of the pay channels including all the ESPN networks including ESPN+. in which if you Hulu + Live is only $6.00/month extra (meaning that you don't have to get all that Disney+ crap just to get it), and I have some free apps as well (no cost) like PlutoTV and the likes.

 

As for the local channels on cable I am still not hooked up yet because they cannot do any rewiring without permits from on-site management, and we currently do not have one at this time. We don't even have a time frame to when there will ever be one, and we feel both abandoned and betrayed. Left for dead pretty much.

[CapitanClassic]

10 hours ago, john_q_atari said:

That is definitely good. Have you started writing down every expense on a daily basis as you pay it? If not, please start. If so, keep an eye on it so you can learn how all your money is disappearing. The problem is not that you have stuff you shouldn't have, the problem is you are spending money you can't afford to spend.

 

On 6/2/2022 at 5:02 PM, BIGHMW said:

..and yes I DO already have a budget planned it's just a matter of sticking to the game plan

 

 

@BIGHMW, I think what @john_q_atari was getting at was Zero-Based Budgeting. Where you plan out where each dollar will be going, including going into an emergency fund, charity/gift bucket, etc. so at the end of the month you have zero dollars unaccounted for (or any overage/underage is moved to other buckets the next month).

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/zero-based-budgeting-explained

https://www.ramseysolutions.com/budgeting/how-to-make-a-zero-based-budget

 

(NOTE: I don’t endorse any of these products, zero-dollar budgeting is one of a few budgeting techniques.)

The idea is that you get a detailed account of where your money is actually going (although it is time-consuming). There are multiple free apps to help you do it. So, your budget above, while a good framework of your constant monthly expenditures, would need to be fleshed out with estimates on food, gas/car repairs, etc. and here’s the important part, track your actual spending, during the month. 
 

Estimates are just that guesses, you need to record every receipt, every withdrawal from the ATM, so you know where your money is going. This will help when you recalculate your next months zero-dollar budget. And help you see where your expenses are actually going, and where you can cut back if needed.
 

Budgeting requires a large time investment, and the majority of people don’t do it, regardless of income. My wife and I just started budgeting  ourselves after a large decrease in income when we decided it would be better for the family if she stayed home and take care of the kids. It has been extremely helpful tacking our spending in a spreadsheet to see where our money is going. I wish you good luck in getting ahold of your personal finances.

[The Usotsuki]

I don't formally budget - but what I do is more or less budgeting, since the first thing I do when money comes in is I allocate it to expenses.

[Keatah]

46 minutes ago, The Usotsuki said:

I don't formally budget - but what I do is more or less budgeting, since the first thing I do when money comes in is I allocate it to expenses.

Yes. I just autobudget. Spend on the necessities first, then what's left over is mine to play with as I see fit. It's fast, it's simple, and always on-target. Just the time alone saved allows for either more work or leisure. And part of autobudgeting includes default contributions to investments/savings. Think of it as pre-ordering your entertainment and toys.

[jerseystyle]

12 hours ago, BIGHMW said:

The phone plan , I'll try to get that handled, there's always Consumer Cellular.

 

As for the pay packages, I DO wish that the management company would fix our rooftop antenna so I don't have to get the local cable package and pay vookoo $$$ just to get our local stations. As for Peacock. I only have that for the Premier League and I only watch it whenever Arsenal are not on either USA, CNBC or Big NBC (NBC over-the-air). Hulu takes care of the pay channels including all the ESPN networks including ESPN+. in which if you Hulu + Live is only $6.00/month extra (meaning that you don't have to get all that Disney+ crap just to get it), and I have some free apps as well (no cost) like PlutoTV and the likes.

 

As for the local channels on cable I am still not hooked up yet because they cannot do any rewiring without permits from on-site management, and we currently do not have one at this time. We don't even have a time frame to when there will ever be one, and we feel both abandoned and betrayed. Left for dead pretty much.

Then drop all pay TV/Streaming. Stick to Pluto TV or the internet. Dude, you went 2 weeks without your meds because you couldn’t afford a 1.98 payment to the pharmacy (stated on your Facebook). That’s nuts. Get your shit together. Also, are you paying your “management?” If so, stop. They are taking advantage of your learning disabilities.

[Keatah]

2 minutes ago, jerseystyle said:

Then drop all pay TV/Streaming. Stick to Pluto TV or the internet. Dude, you went 2 weeks without your meds because you couldn’t afford a 1.98 payment to the pharmacy (stated on your Facebook). That’s nuts. Get your shit together. Also, are you paying your “management?” If so, stop. They are taking advantage of your learning disabilities.

Agree here because a good portion of streaming services and tv subscriptions are shovelware you pay for. Currently there are 3 shows I'm into. And only one of them is airing new episodes. The rest are on schedule for sometime later.

 

Getting news and stuff is easy on the internet, all major stations and news organizations have free pages. Then there's our local AM radio with 2 news stations. And plenty of Fox/CNN news stuff is free. With plenty on youtube too!

 

So divert streaming and other subs to cover your meds.

[leech]

3 hours ago, Keatah said:

Agree here because a good portion of streaming services and tv subscriptions are shovelware you pay for. Currently there are 3 shows I'm into. And only one of them is airing new episodes. The rest are on schedule for sometime later.

 

Getting news and stuff is easy on the internet, all major stations and news organizations have free pages. Then there's our local AM radio with 2 news stations. And plenty of Fox/CNN news stuff is free. With plenty on youtube too!

 

So divert streaming and other subs to cover your meds.

I keep thinking I just need to cancel all streaming services that are not packaged (like Amazon Prime) with some other benefit.  Would save me a chunk of money each month and I have tons of books I can finally get to reading, not to mention all the other projects I have to do.  Many reasons to just cancel TV.  Most of it is kind of crap anyhow. 

 

Also would be fun to just answer 'I don't eatch things' when people ask 'have you seen this yet?'

[Keatah]

Bundled things are usually because a company created something that's not a uber-hot seller. So they recoup a loss or still pine for some kinds of sales by mixing it in with something else. So you have to buy both if you want just one. A form of forced sales IMHO.

 

It's like how egghead bulk-purchased a big number of fire-prone PC power supplies. Then packaged them with GPUs. The GPU might've been 799 on its own. But now its become 829. And egghead got the supplies for 11 each. And there was no way to get the GPU from them without that shit power supply. At least that's how it went down according to Gamer's Nexus (respected yt channel btw). The prices I made up, but the ratios are about right. It's like how can we do a liquidation and make $$$.