Using Technology to Save Money

Saving money is hard work.  Technology and gadgets are not cheap.  Trying to have the best of everything takes a toll on the finances.  Technology does not have to cost you.  Technology can be employed to reduce costs.  Saving on entertainment. Saving on other technology.  Decluttering.  Using technology to reduce your financial output is hard work.

One aspect of technology that can be replaced is cable.  Many places have reviewed replacing cable so here are some highlights.  Hulu.  Hulu has episodes, movies, and clips from Fox and NBC.  This gives all you 24 and The Tonight Show.  Hulu also recently worked out a deal with Disney so ABC, Disney, ESPN, ABC Family could all have content show up.  Various Food Network, Style Channel, and HGTV content is also available.  iTunes has shows for purchase.  Many different locations show their own videos on their own websites.   Like sports than ESPN360 might be what you want.  You can rent TV and movies on dvd or Blu-ray via services like Netflix or at your local library.  You can also just dump the cable and go outside.

Another way to save money with technology is to reduce your technology costs.  You can find ways to extend the life of your computer.  You can add RAM or a larger Hard Drive.  I don’t suggest much in the way of expansion past this.  You can put older systems to use as a server.  You can make use of open source software.

It is possible to save on storage costs by decluttering.  Digitize papers and convert movie and music collections to electronic media.  Not having 100 DVD cases means you don’t need or spend money on DVD storage systems.  Storing all papers digitally means you can rid yourself of the filing cabinet.  You might even recoup some of the money spent on all this stuff.  eBay can be your friend when you are the seller.

If you have a system that is top of the line you likely spent a lot on it.  One way to maintain better equipment is to subsidize upgrades.  If you build a computer yourself it will cost less than buying a built system.  Take advantage of this by selling your system to upgrade.  You can often sell a system for the cost of parts to build your new better system.  You have to constantly do this so this option only works if you build systems as a IT consultant or if you have a ready supply of buyers.