Trista Laborn's Blog, page 4

5 ways to protect your marriage

At times marriage, by itself, can feel like a battle field. When two individuals come together, with TOTALLY different backgrounds, life experiences, gifts, abilities, etc. and decide to get married and now learn to live together with differences can be difficult. Let alone, the fears, pride, the world’s temptations and Spiritual warfare that comes with marriage. There’s a lot just two individuals has to learn about each other and marriage as one. My husband and I didn’t grow up with examples of what a Godly relationship looked like, Or even a good marriage in general, Who can you go to for help? Here are some tips on how you can get started.   5 ways to protect your marriage Recognize who’s in control How do you prepare to protect your [Continue Reading...]

5 apps that will help you save & make money

Recently, I went back to work at a bank and since being there I’ve been doing a lot of research on building a financial portfolio. Working at a bank has opened my eyes and caused me to become more motivated in finding ways to save and make money. Here’s how you can start:   Five simple ways you can save and make money that will grow your wealth in the long run.   Use High Yield Savings Accounts This is a savings account that pays better-than-average interest rates than your local banks. These high yield savings accounts are mostly online banking companies that don’t have a brick and mortar structure. They have minimum fees and no minimum balances to open an account. Some people don’t like the idea of not having [Continue Reading...]

How to choose the right career for you

I’ve been a stay-at-home-mom for over 10+ years. Before I got pregnant and started a family I was in college living my best life. I was trying to decide which path to take as far as my major and I actually had fun in the process. I ended up with Business and finally got my BS degree in Business and I now work at the Bank as a Bank Teller. Here are some tips to help you choose the right career Attend free classes that interest you Here in North Carolina, there’s a community college that has TONS of FREE classes that are so informational. They range from Taxes, to LLC to franchise (Whether this is a right fit for you) to Side hustles you can try on your own. There [Continue Reading...]

5 Money Management tools for Couples

One of the most common reasons couples get divorce today is money. Figuring out who is the saver and spender, debt, bills, etc. Stress and Money go hand in hand, this can definitely cause problems in the long run if it’s not dealt with NOW. My husband and I recently started going to counseling, we we’re having serious communication problems that literally cost us over $11,000+. This was because we we’re trying to buy a car. I thought we needed it and my husband thought it was just an upgrade from an older car we have. We we’re on two different pages about the purchase of the car. Eventually, we started to discuss retirement and what we wanted to do and RVing came into the picture. This changed everything, it [Continue Reading...]

Pumpkin Curry (Dairy-free) Soup

Fall is here and that means crockpots get dusted and ready to use. Here in North Carolina, it still feels like summer but I’m ready for Fall. I’m ready for fall recipes (comfort food), warm clothes, and Thanksgiving! Let me share with you this delicious comfort food recipe to get you started with the Fall Season. I found this recipe on the blog: Godairyfree.org I LOVE that number one, its dairy free, second, easy to make and third, budget friendly. I found that when I bought the 5-ingredients to make this recipe, it was less than ten dollars. SCORE! I LOVE a good dairy free, healthy and flavorful soup. I’m actually not a soup person unless I’m sick or my body just needs something hot and soothing. This recipe is [Continue Reading...]

How to make a Lavender Room Spray

disclaimer: This kit was given to me for my review all opinion are 100% my own and honest review. I LOVE making eco-friendly products for my home and well-being. Which is why I’m so excited to share with you guys Essentially Simple Box. Essentially Simple introduces you to the power of a pure essential oil a month with supplies and easy recipes to make your own natural, eco-friendly home & wellness products that will change your life. One of the recipes, I made that came in the box was a Lavender-Lemon Room Spritz that SMELLS WONDERFULL, I can’t stop spraying it around my house! The benefits of Lavender Lavender has a lot of key benefits that can help in your everyday life. Lavender helps: – Ease feelings of tension – Soothes [Continue Reading...]

Storm tools & resources for Families

My husband received orders from CA to NC 2 years ago and all the years I’ve been married to my husband and the military, I’ve never experience anything like this. This is the first time my Family and I ever had to experience, Evacuating our home. It was a little stressful, and overwhelming to decide whether or not to stay or go, Then the county in my area issued a mandatory evacuation.     We prepared as best as we could, Heading inland into GA with prayers for everyone’s safety. And this may sound crazy… But… Hubby and I have TOTAL PEACE in the midst of this storm… Even if we came back to a destroyed home… We have FULL TRUST in God’s provision, protection and knowing He will guide [Continue Reading...]

7+ tips for moms returning to work

Going back to work was scary for me. I didn’t have any confidence in myself as a woman going back to work. I felt like I had nothing to offer the work place because I’ve been a mom for so many years. I was caught up in taking care of my family, their needs and whatever the family as a whole together. In addition to volunteering at Mops, my church and community. I have 3 children, their age range from 13-year-old twins to my youngest 4 almost 5 years old. My two oldest will be going into the 8th grade and my youngest will be going into Kindergarten and she’s SUPER excited! I felt the tugged of trying to decide what to do after all my kids are off in [Continue Reading...]

Paul, Apostle of Christ Movie Review & Giveaway

Disclaimer: I received this product in exchange for my review. All opinions are 100% my own.   About the Movie PAUL, APOSTLE OF CHRIST is the story of two men. Luke, as a friend and physician, risks his life when he ventures into the city of Rome to visit Paul, who is held captive in Nero’s darkest, bleakest prison cell. But Nero is determined to rid Rome of Christians, and does not flinch from executing them in the grimiest ways possible. Before Paul’s death sentence can be enacted, Luke resolves to write another book, one that details the beginnings of “The Way” and the birth of what will come to be known as the church. Bound in chains, Paul’s struggle is internal. He has survived so much—floggings, shipwreck, starvation, stoning, [Continue Reading...]

How to cut the cord on cable: The pros and cons to streaming services

Disclaimer: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

The biggest motivation to cutting the cord is the monthly charges. We we’re paying about $200/month on cable. So we made the decision to cut the cord and start streaming. Here are some pros and cons to consider when cutting cable.

So…we cut cable. Some of those channels we, as a family, barely watch and most importantly… we’re trying to save money. Every time we get cable, we always get the package with Internet and phone (to save money…Duh! Right?!). We are a couple of months in from cutting cable and it was the BEST decision we made. I LOVE it and would not go back to getting cable AT ALL! 

Also, for those that are busy and you don’t watch TV much, streaming might be the best option for you, other than Netflix, you can pick and choose which channels you want to watch and not have to pay the thousands of dollars for barely watching TV, let alone channels you don’t watch at all.

It took a while for us to decide which streaming service to go with. There are a lot of options to go with. We compared prices, availability, which service went with what devices, how many people can stream at once and most importantly which service had the best channels.

Here are some of the Pros and Cons to streaming:


Save Money

As I stated earlier, we we’re paying $209/month??!! Crazy right?! and this is while paying bills and living as an one income family. 

So once we made the decision that we we’re cutting cable we started to look at some of the streaming service options available. We of course had Netflix and Hulu. Netflix we’re paying $10.99 and Hulu we we’re paying $7.99. With that consideration, we wanted to keep Netflix and Hulu but add to what we already had. Our biggest concern other than saving money was finding a streaming service with channels that we actually watch. By cutting cable, I am saving over $2,000+ from by budget alone. I was too excited. Here is a break down of some of the streaming services we looked at:

DirectTV Now– $35/month with 60+ channels

HuluTV Live– $40/month with 50+ channels (Get 2 FREE weeks on me)

YouTube TV– $40/month with 60+ channels

SlingTV– $40/month with 70+ channels (Orange & Blue package)

2. Streaming Options

As I stated above there are a few inexpensive options to streaming. DirectTV now, HuluTV Live, YouTubeTV Live, SlingTV… There are others such as CBS all access, Netflix, Hulu, Playstation vue, Amazon Prime (Movies & TV shows), HBO Now, and a few other small streaming services such FuboTV (all sports channels). The biggest thing we did was search each of these streaming services to see which one has the MOST CHANNELS we watch. 

3. Devices used for streaming

When I first started to consider to cut cable, I thought about how we we’re going to stream some of my favorite tv shows and movies. At the same time, still learning about the Roku and then for Christmas my brother-in-law gave us an Amazon Fire stick and since then we fell in LOVE! There are other options such as the Apple TV, Chromecast, Playstation 4 and so many more. I started to play around with the Amazon Fire Stick and to me it’s so user friendly. When I tried the Roku, I felt overwhelmed with so many apps and options it had. Check out the different device options and try it for yourself to see which ones you like. A lot of the streaming services you can access with these devices.

 

4. The Internet Speed

So our plan was to cut the cable and increase the speed with the internet company. Of course it had to include a package deal with phone. The internet company I use in my area is expensive but reasonable, We pay about $100 for upgraded internet speed and phone. Everything we pay now costs WAY LESS than $200/month, with internet phone, Netflix and the Streaming Service. Also, the speed of your internet will determine that amount of buffering when selecting your services. Keep this in mind when choosing. You definitely have to do some research with your Internet company and budget accordingly to what you can afford. Ask yourself, is it worth upgrading to faster Internet speed? If so, what is the difference, to what your paying now to how much you will pay?

5. DVR and amount of people to stream at a time

It depends on the amount of DVR space you use. For us that wasn’t a big factor. You will have to do research with the different streaming services. They each offer different DVR space and all of them you will have to pay extra to upgrade to what you get with your package plan. Again, that wasn’t a bibg factor for us. What was a factor was how many people can stream on the same service? It wasn’t a BIG factor but it was one that was important for us. Again, you will have to consider, each one of the services and weigh your options.

*BONUS:

So, the company we choose was HuluTV. We felt like it was a great option to all the channels we like to watch, Both my Husband and I and the kids. You can also make money from signing up through Ebates. When you sign up for HuluTV or want to try it out, you can sign up and get 2 weeks free on me.

My only issue with HuluTV was that the channels doesn’t include: BET, OWN and MTV/VH1 That was the only thing about HuluTV, we already had Hulu, but by getting LIVE TV, it was included in the package, which was nice. DirectTV has all the channels we like plus the ones I mentioned above, but #1- It would cost more $50/month #2- After doing research on DirectTV I’ve read that the streaming is not as good. The buffering is horrible and I honestly can’t stand that. All that I’m paying I want things to work.

With upgraded Internet & phone, Netflix and Hulu LiveTV, We are paying about WAY LESS than $200/month which is about $1,000 yearly. To stream my favorite TV shows and movies I use the Amazon Fire Stick for my household. 

Cutting the cord to cable has been the best decision I made to saving money and actually paying for shows that we actually watch. You can’t beat that. I literally cut my cable bill in half and SAVED TONS of money in the process and you can too.