(no subject)

[prog]

Any of my fellow Somervudlians use Comcast for broadband? D'ya like it? Do you know what TCP ports they block?

They've got a $20/month special going on now for new subscribers. Of course that's only good for six months, and they do a good job of not noting on their website what it reverts to after that. Still quite tempting, since I just learned that downgrading my RCN will still cost me $60/month for broadband alone. It's better than the $90 I pay now, but...

---

Ordered a copy of Alton Brown's classic I'm Just Here for the Food yesterday. When I scratched out a budget a couple of days ago, I concluded that food was the slippiest variable, and the one I can carve the most out of. Currently I spend -- ulp -- probably around $600 a month on everything I eat and drink, because I buy no groceries and do no cooking. (Sometimes I brew my own coffee, or shamefully browse the "a la carte" thing of colorless microwavable nuggetoids at Shaw's with the other pathetic bachelors, but that's it.)

So, yes, I'm gonna turn this around. I think $400 is a good target number to shoot for, and conversations I've had in the last couple of days suggest that I can make it a lot lower than that if I start getting good.

Comments

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

Heh. Much as I love Alton, and I do, I'm not sure how much using his methods is going to help you save money.

I do agree that cooking is way to save $ over eating out. There are a lot of fairly simple tasty things you can make. I recommend finding recipes that can freeze, making extras, and packaging them for quick meals later.

[prog.livejournal.com]

Anything's gotta be cheaper than what I'm doing now, and I've been meaning to get this book for a long time, ever since Slashdork raved about its initial publication in 2002.

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. I'd like to read it. Will you lend it to me for couple weeks if I make you dinner once?

As for Comcast, we have it in Medford because DSL isn't available (never mind that my friend who lives up on a mountain in VT can get it, we, being 50' too far from an office, can't) and it works ok. Speed is eh, but I've been remarkably lucky on customer service. We pay about $60 for basic cable and standard internet.

[misuba.livejournal.com]

Where Alton Brown can get you into trouble is on the hardware. He'll make you want a stand mixer, for example. (On the other hand, he advocates $0.99 quarry tiles over $30 pizza stones.)

[lediva.livejournal.com]

*raises hand re: Comcast*

Works well enough for my purposes (i.e. four-way shared net usage, and a few services (FTP, VNC, web)). I've got the cable modem run into a wireless router.

I've got their combo package with digital cable, so it works out to ~$45/month.

[prog.livejournal.com]

You're saying you manage to run those services from your Comcast-connected computers? That's a good thing...

[lediva.livejournal.com]

Yup, FTP and VNC are running on my desktop, web is on a roommate's desktop, and all the computers are sitting behind a wireless router.

[rserocki.livejournal.com]

I'm spending maybe on average roughly $30 a week at Trader Joe's, but this is variable due to whether I'm out of coffee and so-on. I don't like cooking, but you can get all sorts of healthful food that still tastes good and requires minimal preparation and clean-up. You can get all manner of frozen, microwavable pasta; you can get frozen and easily baked fish. You can get chicken drumlets and so-on. I have been buying chicken drumlets and lightly breaded cod. I have been occasionally -- well, forget that. You can get gobs of food that *EVEN I* don't mind preparing. Um... I'll assume there is a store that's equally okay for getting stuff, if there is no T.J.'s near you.

Budget of Kyro

[kyroraz.livejournal.com]

Right now with:

* Buying groceries once a month and
* Eating out only once per week (delivery or eating out) for dinner.
* Eating out for lunch at work ...

... my budget for everything is between $340 and $380 for foods and drinks.

Re: Budget of Kyro

[kyroraz.livejournal.com]

One thing -- I really am starting to hate Star Market. They're really expensive as far as groceries go.

Re: Budget of Kyro

[cnoocy]

There are other decent grocery stores. Johnnie's Foodmaster is notably cheaper than Star. Also, don't go to the Porter Square Star. It is an evil place. Go to the one on Beacon Street.

the deathstar

[cthulhia]

people hate the star in porter.
I have yet to figure out why.

also, prog, consider planning on preparing several meals at once. (i.e., enough roast to give you lunch for most of the week -- cheaper than cold cuts, casseroles...), since it means you won't be trying to cook every night, which, aside from the dish pile-up, is probably more time investment than you'll be able to give in the beginning, and you'll be back to expensive dining options in no time.

Re: the deathstar

[temvald.livejournal.com]

people hate the star in porter.
I have yet to figure out why.

yeah, the problems with the porter square star aren't that obvious at first. it's pretty big, has a good selection, and lots of parking. but then you start noticing problems. the parking spaces are too small, and it's difficult to maneuver in the lot. the aisles in the store are not quite big enough for two carts to pass by each other. the layout of the store is such that there's no obvious route through, so shoppers end up taking random paths through and get in each other's ways. every so often eerie moans waft up from the lower shelves. now that they're no longer open 24 hours, it seems like they're always stocking the aisles you want to be in. the cereal boxes drip blood. shoppers there seem to be irritable. and if you go in there on the wrong day, hands will reach up through the floor and drag you down into a land of torment.

at least, that's why i try to avoid porter star. others may have had different experiences.

sounds like college days!

[jtroutman.livejournal.com]

my suggestion is to invest in some semi-disposable plastic containers, and then to do some cooking in quantity, once you figure out what you like to cook (and feel like eating afterward). And then you can freeze up some meals,a nd microwave them as needed.

Rice based things work pretty well, are cheap, and can generally be flavored a lot so they are just fine after being frozen and nuked. I used to eat a lot of rice and beans (curry style).

Ramen type noodles are a lot more fun if you can dress them up with some additions (like frozen peas or pea pods, and some fresh tofu, etc). If you like soup, there is a brand of nearly instant asian noodle soups (that I can't remember now).. they are like $1 per serving, and they are actually quite good and far better than raman or cup-o-noodles.

I also used to eat a lot of pasta, which is easy to prepare (10-15 minutes, mostly just boiling water), and you can buy some very good saucces for $4 which will give you 2-3 meals at least.

even if you just stick to "gourmet" frozen food that you can microwave, it will likely be lots cheaper than eating out. Coffee also runs into a large expense.....

there is also not a lot of shame in using plastic and paper plates, if you find the cleaning up after meals to be burdensome. But there is some cost...

Re: sounds like college days!

[jtroutman.livejournal.com]

typo city.

Here are some favorites:

http://www.annies.com/ -- best boxed mac & cheese ever
http://www.worldfood.com/indian/pataks.asp -- Patak's Indian food

[dougo.livejournal.com]

I have Comcast for everything (TV, net, phone) and haven't really had any problems (except that it took forever to set up auto-billing for phone). They don't block any ports as far as I can tell, and they've never seemed to notice that I run a web server, FTP server, several VNCs, sshd, etc, 24/7.

[prog.livejournal.com]

Um... sold.