How to Cut Cable or Satellite TV, Watch Over-The-Air HD TV Channels for Free, and Save At Least $600 Annually

Why Should You Get Rid of Your Cable or Satellite TV?

First Published Date: January 12, 2012 ADawnJournal.com

Cable TV is one of the major recurring monthly expenses in our household. Cable TV costs can range from $50 to more than $100 monthly. If you can get rid of your cable or satellite  TV, the yearly savings will be a large amount and the saved time will be priceless – if you spend this free time on something productive. And no – I am not suggesting to get rid of TV for good. You can still have some good HD over-the-air channels for free.

How Is The Picture Quality of Free HD Over-The-Air TV Channels?

These HD channels provide crystal-clear, high-definition picture quality superior to cable or satellite TV, as digital signals sent over-the-air are not compressed the way cable or satellite companies compress their signals.

What Do I Need To Capture Free HD Over-The-Air TV Channels?

It depends on where you are. If you live in a high-rise condo or apartment building in a city (like Toronto), the process is really simple. You just need to buy an indoor digital antenna and you have to place this antenna near your window or glass door. I bought an RCA Digital Flat Antenna, which is around $40, looks like a book or a tablet PC, lies flat on any flat surface, and is very low-profile.

If you live in a house, you will need to install an outdoor digital antenna. You can either do the installation by yourself, or you can call a professional installer. You will be saving lots of hassle (if you think of it that way) of choosing the right type of antenna, buying parts to install the antenna, and so on, by calling a professional installer. There are professional antenna installation services that will do all the work for you. The cost of such services will recover within a few months once you stop paying your cable or satellite company. Search for “TV antenna installers” to find an installer near you.

If you prefer to install an outdoor antenna by yourself, you need to buy an outdoor digital antenna and some parts to install it outside. Stores like Tiger Direct, Factory Direct, Canada Computers, Home Depot, etc. provide antennas and the parts you will require to install it by your self. Here are some websites which provide you information on over-the-air TV channels and

http://www.tvfool.com/

http://www.hdtvantennalabs.com

http://www.digitalhome.ca

How Many HD Channels I Will Get?

You will get 10 to 20 or more HD channels and many SD (standard-definition) channels. You will get Canadian channels like CBC, Global, CTV, Citytv, ABC, NBC, FOX, PBS, etc. However, keep in mind that specialty channels like TSN, Showtime, weather channel, etc. will not be available as over-the-air channels.

Last Word

You have to see it to believe the crisp, crystal-clear HD picture quality you can get for free just by connecting an over-the-air antenna to your TV. And how about the big savings you will enjoy year after year for cancelling your cable or satellite TV? You have to experience it to believe it!

5 Tips to Automate Your Finances and Manage Your Debt

Simple Debt Management Strategy

Published Date: January 19, 2012

Debt management is all about managing your finances efficiently, so you don’t fall in the trap of spending more than you have to. Money is such a thing that if you see it, you spend it. It may not be possible for some of us to stop spending unnecessarily if we have cash in hand. That’s why the best way to deal with it is to take care of your monthly recurring expenses automatically so you don’t need to worry about not paying that phone bill or occurring late charges on your rent or mortgage payment.

Here are 5 tips to automate your bills

1. Make a list of all recurring bills you pay every month. Some of these bills can be cable TV bill, Internet bill, cell phone bill, electricity bill, water bill, rent, mortgage, and so on.

2. Call each of your service providers and tell them that you would like to automate your bill payment so it comes out of your bank account automatically. You may need to complete a form and then mail or fax it back to the service provider to complete the process.

3. Automatic bill payment can be done using a credit card as well and in that case the whole process can be done over the phone – you may not need to complete and fax/mail back a physical form. However, use your credit card only if you pay your credit card in full each month. If you are trying to reduce your debt and you have had habits of not paying your credit card bills in full each month, stay away from paying bills using credit cards.

4. Make sure your bank does not have transaction limits or you are not exceeding your monthly allowed transactions, if you have a fee based bank account. I recommend no fee banking account such as President Choice No Fee Bank Account.  

5. It is possible to pay all your bills online each month once you get your bills by accessing your bank’s online banking. However, this process will cost you time every month and there are chances that you will forget to pay bills once in a while.

How to Read free eBooks on Amazon Kindle

Read Free eBooks on Kindle

First Published Date: January 26, 2012

I have not tried any eBooks until recently when I purchased my Asus Eee Pad Transformer Tablet. However, once I found out the convenience of buying eBooks on Amazon Kindle Online eBook store with their one click buy option, I got hooked on it and I already have loaded my tablet with hundreds of eBooks – some of them are paid and some of them are free. Today, I will discuss how you can buy eBooks for free on the Kindle store.

You don’t need an eBook Reader or a Tablet to read eBooks. You can install Kindle for PC on your desktop or laptop to read eBooks. If you have a Tablet, you need to install the Kindle application from the app market. I will go through the two easiest ways to find eBooks on the Kindle store. There may be others ways pull free eBooks, but I like these two methods as they are very simple and fast.

Procedure One: See All Free eBooks without Categories

1. Go to the Kindle Store
2. Put “free kindle books” in the search box
3. Hit the “Go” button
4. You will see all the ebooks. As of this writing, I got 29,431 free eBooks.

Procedure Two: Sort All Free eBooks by Categories

1. Go to the Kindle Store
2. Look for the categories on the left
3. Pick the category you want
4. Sort it by price, from low to high on the top right
5. Free eBooks for that category will appear on the first few pages

Once you have found your book, click on that book and then you can buy the book by clicking the “buy” button on the top right. Yes, you still have to click the “buy” button, although it is free and you won’t be charged.

These days, I am reading more books than ever as I have access to all my eBooks on my smartphone, tablet, and PCs. If I read one book on my tablet and then open the same book on my smartphone, I will be on the same page where I left of on my Tablet (or any other devices), as all devices are synced when you read, regardless of their operating systems.

Cairo Travel Blog: At the Cairo Airport - CAI | Travel Blog

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

Cairo Travel Blog: Day 0 (Part 1)

At the Cairo Airport - CAI

I arrived in Egypt one day prior to my 10-day trip itinerary. This was because I took one extra trip to Alexandria, which would require one extra day. I had one extra night booked at the same hotel by the tour operator. I am counting my first day in Egypt as Day 0 because I arrived one day ahead.

My EgyptAir Flight MS 996 landed in Cairo on Nov 29, 2019 at 6:25 AM. You can read the full flight review in the previous post.

In the past, wherever I went, I met the tour guide after exiting customs and immigration. I was shocked to realize that my guide was waiting for me at the gate, right where we were exiting the plane.

But I had more surprises waiting. The guide took my passport from me and literally did all the customs and immigration work. I was kind of just following him from queue to queue and he even managed to skip regular lines for me.

The immigration officer even didn’t see me face to face, as the tour guide asked me to sit at a spot and took my passport to the immigration officer, who glanced at me from a distance and stamped my passport.

I realized that tourists are treated very differently in Egypt. Specialized tour guides do all the necessary paperwork at the airport, so tourists don’t have go through the hassle. This is to make Egypt a tourist-friendly country and encourage more tourists to visit.

Later on, I asked my guide at the airport and he confirmed that he (and other tour guides from different tour companies) has an airport pass issued by the ministry that allows him to maneuver inside the airport and assist tourists. He would remain at the airport for the rest of his shift to assist other tourists arriving that day.

A different guide took me to my hotel. I was so pleased that he did all my paperwork so smoothly that I gave him a good tip. He was very pleased.

5 Tips to Help You With Your Work After Retirement

5 Retirement Planning Tips

Published Date: February 2, 2012

As the global economy plunges and retirement portfolio shrinks, many Canadians are worried more than ever for their financial well being after retirement. Some retirees will be able to maintain their expected living standards regardless of how the economy does. However, this may not be the case for everyone. If you need to work or are thinking of working after retirement, here are some tips to help you with your decision.

1. Some of the government programs for retirees such as Old Age Security (OAS) credit, the government pension plan (CPP), and so on may be affected if you work full- or part-time after retirement.

2. The best way to handle your clawbacks or drawbacks to government benefit programs is to consult a financial planner or tax specialist. They have tools and calculators to show you exactly what your own numbers will look like based on your unique situation (as everyone’s scenarios are different)

3. There are free online tools and calculators available as well to help you with your retirement planning. Such online tools and calculators are available here: Sun Life’s Retirement Tools and Calculators

4. Service Canada offers Canadian Retirement Income Calculator to generate retirement income information and post retirement benefit information, including CPP benefits and OAS.

5. Regardless of how much research you do on your own, my suggestion would be to still sit with a retirement professional and discuss your situations. Due to the complex nature of retirement benefits and clawbacks, it is worth paying for advice and take action based on accurate and updated information.