Why I didn't ditch Foxtel

The big master plan this year is to save a lot of money and make a dent in the mortgage. One of the ways I've been doing this is by looking at our regular expenses and seeing what we can cut back or do without.

I've been debating what to do with Foxtel (Pay TV). We only got it put on last year and enjoy it, but don't use it heaps. Our package was $84 a month.

Yes, I am well aware that plenty of people will tell me that I don't need pay TV. I know that. I also don't need alcohol or chocolate or fabric, but don't try and take those things away from me either. We are not in a dire situation, we are just trying to be more careful with where our money is going.

I like watching CMC, the country music channel. Mr Mess claims to need the sports channels for the soccer. Miss Mess would feel like her throat had been cut if I took away her kids channels. So Foxtel is staying.

BUT....

Today I got a Foxtel brochure in the mail and it prompted me to look at the packages currently available. I decided that we could switch our packages to the basic Entertainment bundle (which includes my beloved CMC), the Sports bundle and the Kids bundle for the kids and it would bring the monthly bill down to $60. We'd lose lifestyle and documentaries, which we rarely watch anyway.

So one phone call later, we save $24 a month or $288 a year. So it's not mega bucks, but it's still a couple of days work for me, and that's worth a 15 minute phone call.

It's not always about cutting things out, sometimes just cutting back will reap rewards.