Do Not Call

telemarketing (Photo credit: Stitch)

Do you remember the "Do Not Call" registry to stop unwanted telemarketing calls?  When that registry became active, I registered my phone number right away.  In fact, I just verified that my phone number was registered on the Do Not Call List on July 1, 2003.  It was so nice to have an end to unwanted telemarketers calling the house constantly.

Being on the list worked great for several years.  More and more, however, it just seems that companies are just ignoring the list and coming up with whatever technique they can to get around it.  I double checked the official Do Not Call website, and according to the site the only organizations that can call are charities, political organizations, and business that you have a business relationship.

I constantly am receiving calls from charitable organizations.  I do not mind that so much, and I know that they are just doing their job, but when I say that I am not in a position to make a charitable donation at this time, then that should end the call.  Now that we are in an election year, I imagine there will be a constant barrage of robocalls.  I know there were prior to the primary.

Unfortunately, I have been getting a lot of unwanted calls from businesses these days.  People calling me to tell me they will be in the neighborhood giving free estimates on new windows and wanting to stop by to give me an estimate.  No, I do not want you to come by and I am on the Do Not Call list.  If I wanted to get an estimate on windows I would have called you.  Leave me the hell alone.

Take tonight for instance.  I had a flat tire after work so I dropped my car off at NTB to get a couple new tires.  I was expecting their call, so when the phone rang, I answered.  It was not NTB.  The lady on the other end of the line proceeded to launch into a spiel about my electrical energy supply company.  The conversation went something like this:

Me: I am on the Do Not Call List

Her: I am not a solicitor.  I am a customer service representative

Me: Do I currently do business with you?

Her: I don't believe so.

Me: Then it sounds like you are trying to sell me on a new electrical supplier.  Good night. click


Yeah, I know I don't have to answer the phone when these idiots call.  But, like I said, I was expecting a phone call, and unfortunately, the caller ID isn't very clear on the phone where I was sitting so I had to answer this particular call.  Since I was already in a bad mood from changing a tire and needing two new tires, I was more than happy to treat the caller rudely.

Related articles

• FTC takes action to protect Do Not Call list numbers - will "Rachel" from cardholder services stop calling? (jennstrathman.com)
• FTC Action Puts Robocallers Out of the Telemarketing Business (ftc.gov)

Saving Money

Image via WikipediaA few years ago, we went through a particularly rough financial stretch.  I won't bore you with all of the ugly details, but suffice to say it was an extremely difficult time.  It was particularly tough on me whenever anybody wanted to do something special, especially if it was a gift for somebody or a very special event for a family member.  We just did not have the extra times.

During that stretch of time, I learned to save money whenever I could.  I went from buying Starbucks Coffee drinks on a daily basis, and sometimes twice a day, to brewing my own, usually with store brand coffee.  Forget about going out to lunch, I was the brown bag king.  Whenever I would go to the grocery store, with a few essential items, I would only buy sale items or store brand items to save money.

One of the biggest expenses a family has would be their auto expenses and maintenance.  It was tough even to have cash available for even basic maintenance.  Repairs and things like tires were even more difficult.  A financial adviser that I had spoken to had recommended buying used tires instead of new the next time I needed tires.

About two years ago, I had my first experience with buying used tires.  My initial impression was positive, so much so that I even wrote a blog post about it.  I desperately needed two tires for my wife's car.  New tires would have been nearly $100 plus all of those nice little extras the tire shops add to the final price.  When I bought the used tires, the two cost me about $80 compared to well over $200 for new.

Unfortunately, one year later, I ended up needing to replace those two tires, and needed two more of the original tires.  I started to think that in the long run that new tires would have been cheaper in the long run, but I still did not have the money to do so.  I bought two more used tires for the front of the car, and then a few months later I bought two more used tires for the rear of the car with the hope that they would last until I could afford to buy new tires.

I was starting to see that all four tires would need to be replaced soon.  Fortunately, I happened to have a little spare cash available right now.  Earlier this week, my wife called me to inform me that she had skidded on the road.  Thank goodness there was nobody around her and there was no damage to the car.  She had already asked me to take her car to Jiffy Lube for service, so this morning after doing that, I took her car to BJ's for four new tires.

Our finances are a little better than they were a few years ago, but they are still tight.  I still look to save money whenever I can and probably will the rest of my life. Whenever I happen to have some spare funds around, I am very reluctant to part with it because I am concerned that an emergency could arise and not be able to pay for it.  However, from here on out, safety is one area where I can't afford to scrimp.  

Related articles

• Choices: The Expensive Coffee Debate (seetinyrun.com)