Hopefully, my technology is now all upgraded

Last week I decided all my bills through AT&T were out of control, so I decided to give them a call and make some changes. Many a time have I complained about all things AT&T and especially calling them.

Everyone should be quite proud of me though. I spent over an hour on hold and on the phone with someone across the world, and I didn't lose my patience once.

I was paying a ton for home phone service. Yes, I still have home phone service. Working from home plus having another small business, I don't want everyone calling on my cell. I admit to being weird about that. I switched to a different service/promotion so that instead of $40, I'll be paying $9.99 a month for two years.

Since I switched to digital phone, I decided to go along and switch my cable from one dish service to another which cut down some cost, then bundled with internet, it's supposed to go down. So, between home phone, cable, internet, I'm supposed to be down $60-65 a month for the next two years.

I also got a $200 rebate/credit pick a word for switching services that I get in the mail at some undisclosed date in the future after a period of time after installation.

Oh, and I also tried to get my cell phone down because I was paying too much for data I wasn't using, but I think I ended up with another package that will keep it at the same price. Of course, their computers are Jiminy Christmas slow, so it took FOREVER and EVER to get everything changed. I thought I was going to spend the rest of the year on the phone.

That's all well and good, but all this switching meant two different service people coming out.

The satellite installers were supposed to come between 12 - 4 PM on Monday. I got so many reminder calls and emails there was no way I'd forget they were coming. As the afternoon wore on, the calls kept coming. "We haven't forgotten about you." "We are still coming. Your time now is between 4 and 4:30 PM."

I was the last job for the day. I wasn't going to let them upgrade me on much, but I did go for the $99 one time fee for the wireless/portable receiver that can be moved to other rooms. In part, I did this so that they wouldn't be there all night rewiring the living room because I wanted to blog on Bachelor in Paradise.

They did get everything installed and it's all great though I can't remember what channel anything is for the life of me yet. I got to used to knowing on the other system.

On Tuesday, the phone guy was going to come out between 8 AM - 8 PM. He woke me up at 8 AM. I had the honor of being the first job of the day. I never got dressed to answer the door so quickly in my life. He gave me a few extra minutes because he probably could tell how I answered the phone call that he was here. Without a confession, he told me later that it's not unusual to have to wait for someone to get presentable to answer the door.

Because AT&T everything is slow at first, it took as long inside to get connected through my modem as it did for him to run new wiring outside. However, my internet is supposed to be wired faster now too.

Now, my bill is going to be so jacked up for the next couple of months I may be eating peanut butter and crackers. I had to pay for what I usually pay because it's billed a month in advance, and I already had my bill. Then, I'm going to have to get that credited based on my changed services and pay for pro-rates which in the end should be less, but in reality will look like I got charged three times and until they get all the credits worked out, it will be a disaster. Add to that the fact I had to pay "shipping" for them to bring equipment, and my $99 wireless receiver. It will be three months before I save my $65 once, even though all the installation charges were waived.

Evidently, nothing about saving money is simple. That $200 is offered for expenses, and I'll need it to pay for the new TV I bought to go in my craft studio now that I can move around my receiver. I didn't go as cheap as I could go so that I could also watch Netflix with my upgraded internet connection.

See, I've saved nothing by changing!

However, I will be entertained as I spend the next three months in the studio for our big craft show season. It will pay off in some ways.

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