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7:11 am - Sat 2.14.2009 In an ongoing effort to work with "current economic realities", yesterday I cut back my cable package - I'm down to 30 channels and a dvr, which will save me $41.11 a month. I also downgraded my land-line phone service (As I told Jane in an email, going from "poor people phone service" to "really poor people phone service") - dropping my voicemail and long-distance, and downgrading my local service to 60 calls out a month, for a monthly savings of about $17.50 This is my effort to walk "The Middle Path" - Being prudent, acknowledging that things are "tight" right now, without freaking out, imagining worst-case scenarios, and cutting out everything. I could have made at least one "adjustment" to my Internet service - dialing down the connection speed - but the savings were negligible (And since I've basically just lost cable, I expect to be watching lots more tv on my computer, so I don't want to screw with Internet connection speed at this point). None of this solves the problem - Which is "there's just not enough money coming in" - but with any luck, it'll "slow the bleeding" long enough for "more money coming in" to happen (By, for example, booking a national commercial). In and of itself, I don't think this stuff is particularly interesting or "newsworthy" - lots of people are having to "cut back" right now - but I find it interesting for how it makes me feel; making those cuts feels bad, in a way - it makes me a little sad that my "modest lifestyle" is becoming even more "modest" - but at the same time, it feels a little good, because I'm acknowledging reality and trying to deal with it, without giving over to panic and fear. And next week, or next month, when I book a big gig - or a couple of smaller gigs (I don't think I can afford to be picky at this point) - I'll be glad I didn't schlep my drv back to Time Warner, and instead can just call and say "Boys - Gimme back my cable!".
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