Intro:
Welcome to The Vermillion Podcast, a free audio library of business strategies, creative inspiration and industry knowledge for actors, filmmakers, writers, and anyone looking to activate their creative potential. I'm Misha Calvert , a writer-director who helps artists build the careers that they dream of. I really hope that this podcast inspires you in some way. Thanks for tuning in.
EP: 83
Living in New York is so expensive, and I'm a creative. I don't have a lot of money to spare. I mean, I make it work, but I have to be careful about where I put my money and how much I'm spending on certain monthly bills. This sounds this sounds like an ad. I promise you it's not. I just don't want you spending too much money on your cell phone bill every month. I'm going to tell you what I use and I think that if you're paying certainly over $50 a month, you're getting ripped off. At this point, there's phone companies out there that just there's too much competition to be blowing your hard earned money on a cell phone. So when I first signed up for Mint Mobile, I paid for a full year, $15 a month. And I remember when I was first starting out as an actor in New York, and this was, you know, 20 years ago, I was paying like a hundred, $130 a month with AT&T. And I think about that now, and I'm just aghast. And there's still companies that are trying to charge you that much right now. Like, are you crazy when you have places like Mint Mobile who you pay like once a year and you pay upfront because that's how low the number is, you know, $15 a month? It was like, I don't know, 300 bucks, something like that for the entire year of cell phone coverage with unlimited texting and, you know, basically unlimited data. Again, this is not an ad. This is just me wanting very much to save you money. And I know Spectrum has a similar deal. I think it like went up after that. Maybe it's $30 a month now or 25 or something for mint, but, the, spectrum also has a similar deal. So I just think, like in this terribly expensive time, that you should not throw away your money, especially if it's going out every single month. You have to be really careful with that. I'm also going to tell you the same thing about your internet bill. And look, it's a competitive market for the time being. So if you're paying I mean anything over 70, you're getting ripped off unless it's like some sort of family plan or, you know, it's really hard to get service where you are for some reason. But yeah, I think like 50 to 60 bucks is kind of my upper limit on what I'm willing to pay for internet. How did I get that number? Well, I basically harassed them because they have the thing where if you like, rent the modem from them, then you get like a lower price or whatever. So I think I did in fact rent the modem from– I'm with Spectrum for internet. And then there was like some old school like Biden administration discount or something. So it was really low for a long time. And then they're like, well, we ran out of that money. So now it's going up to like $100 a month. And I was so angry that I called them and I basically said, what can you do? What can you do? And they were like, well, manager, okay, talk to the manager, what can you do? And they finally figured out like some sort of discount that they were running that would be able to apply to me, but that was because I hounded them. And so I just think shop around, and if you can find a more competitive price point from someone else that offers that service like their competitors, you tell them, you say, well, Verizon's offering it for this, or AT&T is offering this. Tell them what the competitors are offering and like, show them a place where it's offered, and a lot of companies have to drop to match that number. If you pointed out on the phone, you can also ask if they're running sales or discounts and take advantage of whatever is happening at that time. I don't want you paying more than, like $80 total for cell phone and internet together. You have to save your money. You have to be smart about it. Your money is good money. You worked hard for it. So just be really savvy. Take the, you know, 45 minutes, 60 minutes it's going to take to sort this out. And then you don't have to think about it at least for another year. I do autopay, but I also do check in on it like every so often. Is it still this amount? Because I'm not trying to get a price hike without realizing it. So these are my tips for saving money. And I just want to say I do like Mint Mobile. The coverage is not bad, and I travel kind of all over the country. Like it's not great. It's not. It's not flawless. Like I say, I get a little more than I pay for, but I also don't need much. I just want to be able to call people, take texts, navigate with my maps, you know, look at Instagram, and I'm pretty satisfied with it. So I hope that helps. I hope you save money from this. And again, this is not an ad. This is just me telling you the products that I like that work for me. And I hope that you could be inspired to save some money yourself. Thanks so much, and I'll see you next week. Save money.
Outro:
The Vermillion Podcast is sponsored by Vermillion, a home for artists. We offer classes, coaching, and community for creatives and innovators in the arts. If you're ready to find your voice and build the life of your dreams, we are here to support you every step of the way. Check out Club vermillion.com and schedule a free call today.
