Bills – Simple Living New England

(In case you missed it due to a technical glitch that may have prevented email notifications going out I recently went behind the scenes at Maine Wildlife Park!)

In October I wrote about pickpockets lurking in the billing departments of some phone providers after I discovered Wayne had been overcharged for years. This past month I noticed that my AT&T cell phone bill had gone up about $5 so I logged into my account to see what was up. Turns out I was “given” a “bonus” of 3GB I’ll never use or wanted that comes with an added price of $5. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t a bonus something received vs purchased? My old plan was phased out so I have no choice but to pay an extra $60 plus tax annually. Such is the way of 2019. However, I dug a little deeper in AT&T’s website and found something very disturbing.

Continue reading “Gentle Reminder: Pay Attention, Not Extra” →

During this past summer our tub with old fixtures and 1950s plumbing behind the wall was leaking hot water. I placed a cup underneath the faucet and based upon the number of cups filled per hour I found an online water usage calculator which revealed we would be paying about $80 annually for that drip! Wayne was unable to fix it himself because of the outdated valve and location of the washers behind the wall. We were able to find an excellent licensed plumber who specializes in older homes who did some major surgery/upgrades behind the wall and then put in brand new fixtures. That $450 repair still saves us $350 since we plan to be in our home for at least another ten years. Also, if a washer goes Wayne can now change it himself instead of having to call a plumber. That’s the good news.

Our gentleman plumber, along in his years, shared a story with us about his rotary phone that at the time seemed crazy: It was literally stealing money from him! It turns out your smart phone might be doing it, too and it happened to Wayne!

Continue reading “Beware The Pickpockets Lurking In Your House!” →