Why I Love My Roku So Much! (Cable - whathat?)

Welcome back to My Early Retirement Journey. This is my summer of listicles (and catchy title challenge). Why, you ask? Because it's summer!  Who has time to be cooped up in the house reading blogs when there is so much life to enjoy!  So to you, readers, I promise to keep these summer posts short, sweet, and engaging.

I am always a day late and a dollar short to technology. Because of my side hustle in Spring 2018, I got rid of cable a little earlier than usual. Usually I get a seasonal suspension for the summer, but I had no time even in spring with a second job so I cancelled cable in February instead of May. Then my Aunty MERJ came to visit. I knew she wouldn't have anything to do all day while I was at work, so I did a 2 month trial of Sling and it came with a free Roku (no affiliate). Really I paid for the Roku, because that's what I had my eye on, and got 2 months of Sling free but tomatoes, tomahtoes.

If you don't know me well enough yet, I love TV and takeout. It's my favorite pastime. Without the cable, I had been falling asleep to reruns on Netflix on an old iPad mini or my even older laptop (both provided by my college).  I wasn't sure what this Roku thing was; I just knew I needed something that would show up on the TV for Aunty MERJ to watch. Well, it came, and it's awesome!

Why I Love Roku So Much!

• It was so easy to set-up. My TV is mounted but luckily there was an HDMI coming out of it. I just plugged that in to the Roku and then plugged the power cable into a socket. Beware though, you will have to set up a few log-ins...groan.  However I was able to set up everything 20 to 30 minutes before work.


• Sound quality is awesome. You don't have to rely on the puny sound of your tablet or laptop. My laptop's sound only works when it feels like it, so that was a bonus!


• HD video quality! I was concerned Roku would just project the grainy videos from my laptop on a larger screen. It's not like that at all! I have shared internet with my whole apartment complex and I have superb video quality. It is crisp and clear! There's no buffering! I take that back, I think once or twice in the 3 weeks I've had it, when I rewind a video, it pauses for a second to find the place. A SECOND! With my laptop, I'd have to restart my whole system and take pauses every 5 minutes for the video to buffer. It's not like that all with Roku!
  

• No crashes. With my laptop, I could never really binge watch much. It would freeze, get too slow, or too hot or get stuck buffering. With the apps on my iPad, there were a lot of random app crashes. So far so good on Roku!


• You can use your TV's timer. One of the downsides of falling asleep to watching stream video is it keeps running. With the Roku streaming on my TV, I can use the TV's sleep function to shut the TV off in 90 minutes (or whatever time you choose) when I'm ready to sleep.


• Easy to use. The Roku remote has only a few buttons and no words which was a turn-off initially. Like I said, I'm a bit of a technophobe. But after pushing a few arrows, it was easy to navigate. On the home screen are all the apps. For example, I have Netflix, Sling, ABC, ID, and the NBC app. Some are pre-loaded on the home screen. Some you can add from the home screen. So each time I want to switch between apps, you just go to the home screen and choose. Then you begin watching shows within that app. There are quite a few apps- some free, some paid. I even got to watch the Royal Wedding live with one of the apps. You can even rent movies! Even Aunty MERJ figured out how to use it.

If you stream video and are a cable cutter, I highly recommend it! It's been awesome!

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Wednesday Weekly: Jul 11, 2018

Most popular post on My Early Retirement Journey this week: Are you Being Served: The Highly Offensive Customer Service Hierarchy

Wednesday Weekly is a round up of what I stumbled upon this week on the world wide web because sharing resources and information is what the internet's all about.

WHAT I STUMBLED UPON THIS WEEK

Almost seven-in-ten Americans have news fatigue ( Pew Research Center)

WOMEN ON THE WEB

Homemade Ice Cream (No Machine) with only 2 Ingredients (Bigger Bolder Baking)
 
How this generation of working mothers impacts the next generation of workers (JP Morgan on Quartz)

THIS BLOGGING BUSINESS

How To Use Tailwind For Massive Pinterest Growth (Louise Myers)



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How I Raised My Credit Score 52 Points in 7 Days With Just 1 Click!

So I read once that in creating documentaries, filmmakers inevitably disrupt the very thing they are trying to capture in its undisturbed state. The sheer fact that a person, place, or thing is being documented affects outcomes. A similar thing happened with my post on my credit score. I initially was just going to share that my credit score dropped. But by the end of the post, I found myself wondering how useful is that? So I added that I was going to dispute it with one of the reporting agencies just to at least provide a solution. I'm learning that's why people go to these internets. I really don't think I would have done anything about it had I not chosen to blog about it.

Well, my minimal effort paid off. Well, sort of. My minimal effort didn't do much and the fact that it didn't made me want to do more. It's better if I show you with words.

The Timeline of Events:

April 2, 2018: Email Alert. Received an email alert from Credit Karma (no-affiliate) that my credit score dropped.
April 4, 2018: Called Transunion. They could discuss nothing over the phone they told me, but they could send a free credit report. I also called one of my former student loan companies because they had recently sent me an erroneous letter that my $0 balance was getting reported to the Dept of Education for non-payment and wage garnishment. Ludicrous. The lady I spoke with said, when I get the credit report to send it to them and they'd take a look at it. I thought maybe they were the ones behind this decrease.

April 11, 2018: Received credit report.  The printed report from Transunion (no-affiliate) was exactly the same as what was online at Credit Karma.
April 28, 2018: Submitted dispute with Transunion. Went to Transunion online to dispute credit history. Found a copy of my college transcript as a pdf and uploaded it to the site as evidence that my loans could not have been due and then overdue as I was still in the grace period following graduation. I triple checked that the grace period following graduation was 6 months. I graduated in Aug 2015 and they were saying my loans were 90 to 180 days overdue in Oct 2015 and Nov 2015. A six month grace period would have covered me until Feb 2016, so they were clearly mistaken.

May 21, 2018: Transunion responds. Transunion sends me a letter via mail that they've updated the credit rating on the disputed accounts. I compared the letter to the credit report they previously sent and it looked the same to me. I compared those two documents with what I saw online and they all looked the same.

May 29, 2018:  Submitted dispute on Credit Karma.  Ugh. I hate disputes. At this point, I'm just annoyed. I didn't even really want to do this. Stupid, blog!  But at least I don't have to do anything over the phone. I'm so annoyed. Fortunately,  Credit Karma had a 1-click dispute button so that made it easier. This time I just sent them a one sentence note explaining the grace period. There was no option to upload anything.
Jun 3, 2018: Credit Karma responds. I get an email notification that my dispute has been resolved, but I have to log-in to see results. No thanks. There was nothing else I could or desired to do at this point, so the results really didn't matter. And I hate log-ins!

Jun 5, 2018: My credit score went up! Credit Karma sends me an email notification that my credit score went up. I was a little intrigued.  Recall, up until this point I had kind of given up on the situation as again I don't really need credit for anything. I don't have plans to mortgage a home in the near future and I have no desire to open any credit cards so I was willing to just wait my turn on this one. Anyway, a few days later, my curiosity got the best of me and I was pleasantly surprised!

 

You'll notice a subtle theme with me and these disputes.  Check my related content for more!

Update (17Jul2018)
Realized after I posted this...
28Apr2018 Transunion score: 668
05Jun2018 Transunion score: 720
Difference: 52 points!

I think Credit Karma had just calculated the net difference (35 pts) because score had fluctuated a bit over the time period above.

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Financial Update | June 2018 Income and Expenses

So I've been experimenting with lots of different spreadsheets in the last week or so.  I used my June 2018 income and expenses to tryout a few more. It turns out Microsoft Excel has loads of templates to try. It's been really neat to see it visualized in so many ways.

Without further ado, here's a recap of my income and expenses for Jan to Jun 2018.  I don't currently intend to publish these monthly namely because my income and expenses don't fluctuate with any significance month-to-month, but I had so much fun with Excel that I had to share! Plus this marks six-months of my being more intentional with my finances.

Income.
Bonus monthly charts! It took me awhile to figure out how to make the graph I wanted. During those trials, I ended up creating different charts of my income sources this year (Jan to Jun 2018).

 

Click to enlarge.

Notes on income.
For the spring semester, I had a side hustle as an adjunct professor. I dove head first  into FIRE. I don't know that I'd do it again in fall. Am mildly interested in maybe some other way to earn part-time money online.

Refunds are mostly from saving receipts and making a point to return things I don't use (including food).  The lowest month was Jun ($8) and highest was Apr ($100).

Expenses.
I still haven't decided on a good spreadsheet. This data was extracted from a Google Sheets doc that lists all my expenses over way too many categories for Jan to Jun 2018, but I like it enough for now.

 

Notes on expenses.
The first sheet includes the amount I put towards savings each month, most of which is automated so I just count it as an expense. The jump in June was not due to an increase in income, but rather aggregated savings that I had no immediate plans for which was transferred to my investment accounts.

The second sheet is monthly expenses over the first half of the year. To best trend any particular data point, start from the bottom and move up.  Of note, May was a high expenditure month due to helping out a sick family member.  June was unusually low due to a break I got on my rent. Stay tuned for a future post on that! My intention is to trend around $2,500/mon or less.

Savings Rate.
A firm tenet in FIRE is recognizing and increasing your savings rate.  Tracking income minus expenses, here is what the data reveals.

Closing thoughts.
I am pretty pleased with my financial progress thus far. This is my first year of My Early Retirement Journey and the financial focus is simply creating awareness and having some sort of framework or plan for what to do with my money. So far, I believe I'm on the right track! Additionally, it really helps to visualize it all! Thanks to Four Pillar Freedom for the great visualization ideas.  Thanks for stopping by!

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Notes on Life | Jul 6, 2018: Meatless Wednesday, Cookies for Lunch, Angry Caller

Welcome back to My Early Retirement Journey. In case you're just joining us, here's a little bit about me.  I am a single 30-something, openly Christian, hesitantly immigrant-y, human woman. I love watching TV while eating takeout, and I want to retire early. I currently work as a consultant in a tele-health call center making around $40/hr. I started my professional life in 2015 at the ripe ole age of 31 after a few false starts. I spent 2016 paying off about $10,000 worth of credit card debt. I spent 2017 paying off about $20,000 in private student loans; I still have about $300,000 in federal student loans for which I am currently on an income-based repayment plan for the next 25 years, give or take.  I started really getting into savings and investing late 2017 when I stumbled upon the FIRE (financial independence, retire early) community.  In 2018, I made the decision to try to save for a sabbatical and maybe if all goes well continue the journey to early retirement.  Along this journey, I give weekly updates just like this one. Come along with me, I urge you!

This week I am trying something new with the chart.  Tell me what you think!

Click to enlarge

Final Notes:

My nasty caller for the day on Friday (Fridays are always wonky, and some days like today try your patience) brought to light two things. First, a realization of how much my “stable” job hangs in the balance easily tipped by some rando caller who decides to complain. Some people I work with are really good at shifting the blame to the caller and the caller's personal problems, but I take the complaints personally.  It’s not the first time, but it just makes me wonder. Which rando at the top of the food chain  will be the one that leads to me losing my job. It's happened to others in my line of work.

Financially, I might be ok for awhile, but psychologically, I would not be okay.  This happened at least 8 hours ago, and still I feel uneasy and anxious. I have some PTSD from the way I've been treated in NC and this recalls some of those hidden memories.  If that lady only knew how much that discord has impacted me already. That feeling of always knowing something random can change the course of your life is a lingering one. Something that may not have occurred the day before, just yesterday may now have such a profound impact on my tomorrows.

Another thing I realized is how much I've come to lean on this blog.  I use this blog to express myself in a raw, unedited way - not there now, but getting there. This realization also makes me wonder if I’d ever be able to truly monetize this blog if it meant catering to yet another customer base. If or when I ever reach financial independence, that is certainly not what I want for my life, and certainly not for this blog. Still, I persist.  Thanks for stopping by!

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