Hustle Hoarding: Top 10 Reasons to Cut Cable

I love this hoarding tip, because it is so easy, yet so few people do it because they feel they cannot live without this time-wasting luxury.

Dude, cut the cable.

Do you really need all those channels? Can you possible watch them all? Here’s Da Hustler’s reasoning: you buy unlimited internet access because you want to go on the net anytime, without having to wait for dial-up. You don’t pay per site, and you don’t pay for the length of time you are on the internet (but Comcast and others are using deceptive practices to seemingly penalize you for downloading too much — which is a whole different topic altogether). The same goes for your home phone service: nowadays, Voice-over-IP (VoIP) services such as Vonage charge you a low flat rate for unlimited calls to the U.S., Canada, and sometimes other countries — many times lower than the phone companies themselves! No more paying per call or per minute.

Right now we are just waiting for the whole cellular phone industry to catch up to this new way of thinking. Greed and contracts make it to tempting to convert to the Metro PCS way of doing business, but it will be coming soon, to a city near you.

With all of this knowledge, why do you continue to pay for “packages,” “bundles,” and all the other crap that they try to include to make it seem like you are getting a deal? You’re not!! No human can possibly watch every single channel of cable television, and you can’t even TiVo all of them either. You are paying for something you can’t use: when you leave the room, go check your mail, go to work, go to the bathroom, go workout, power goes out, hurricane blows away your house, etc., the bill still keeps on coming.

And in the case of the hurricane, a bill will still generate even if you have no mailbox. But nice try!

I know some of you have to have your ESPN (yeah!) and Lifetime TV for women (barf!), but really examine how much you spend on these services per year: a $50 cable/satellite bill is worth $600 per year for something that is intangible. Something that is temporary. Something that used to always be free! Take a look at some common excuses, and see if you fall into any of these categories:

Stop making the cable and satellite companies rich, and take back your life and finances by making this smart and simple change. I can almost promise you that you will not miss a thing.

Hustler’s Inspiration: Perfect Strangers

What may be the first in a series of inspirational posts is a look back at where we came from: a time where things for simpler, entertainment was more wholesome and the only major war being fought was one that didn’t really involve troops (Cold War).

It was also a time that could have made or broken careers (in this case, mostly broken, but I digress).

Getting back on point, today’s inspiration is similar to the one presented in mid-August about Staring Through Your Rearview — using music lyrics to motivate you into action. When you think about the music today, there isn’t too much that really inspires or lifts us up. More specifically, television theme songs today are either quick and wordless melodies, or they just simply borrow from another popular song that an established artist has recorded. It’s simple, it’s to-the-point, and sadly, it does nothing for family values.

But taking a look back at the 80’s, there were MANY themes that either made you want to get up and do a little jig, or bring you closer to your loved ones as you share a few time slots together over dinner during the week. Da Hustler loves nostalgia, and going back to listen to some of TV’s popular series’ music produced a great surprise: the words actually meant something! The theme to Perfect Strangers is a great example, because when you pay attention to what is said, you almost get the sense that you can do anything:

Sometimes the world looks perfect
Nothin’ to rearrange
Sometimes you just
Get a feelin’ like you need some kind of change
Standin’ tall
On the wings of my dream
Rise and fall
On the wings of my dream
Rain and thunder, the wind and haze
I’m bound for better days
It’s my life
It’s my dream
Nothin’s gonna stop me now

Ok, the words put to music really make it stand out, but you can still get a sense of the power of suggestion.

Da Hustler feels like the change in the presentation of things on TV has also caused a change in the way people relate to each other, approach problems, and overall live out their lives. It’s amazing that a short jingle that lasts no more than a minute and a half has more meaning than the full-blown songs of today that last almost five minutes on average.

Could there be a coincidence between what people watch and the state of America today? Baggy pants on kids, and their unruly behavior? The loss of the small home-town feeling in many cities? Not truly knowing our neighbors? Ignoring car alarms and regarding them as a nuisance? The outbreak of unspeakable violent acts, such as Columbine, the D.C. snipers, and the Barbie Bandits? We have to remember that it’s what we put in that determines what we get out.

In your travels this week, try to be cognizant of the media that you allow into your surroundings. It may just alter your mood positively, and make you even less of a perfect stranger.

Da Hustler also found an more updated version:

Hustle Humor: Polar bears know best

Da Hustler really cares about the environment, and this video captures the absurdity of the global warming issue. It does prove one thing though: those hats are so cool!

Get Ya Hustle On!