Striving in an Anti-Frugal World

Today I began my plight of becoming frugal....this has been an earnest prayer of mine and after reading the blog by Mrs. G (see www.newhomemaker.blogspot.com), I became enthused! I had alot of time on my hands over the weekend which enabled me to research many ideas toward my plight. I made my list last night of the various companies that I would need to call to reduce my bills (i.e., cable, phone, cell phone, etc....). With list in hand this morning, I decided that I would make calls between various household chores and Bible study. The first person on my list was Comcast, I am currently spending $107.00 per month for cable TV and Internet service. I spoke with "Joe" at the company who advised me that the basic package for cable was $13.50 per month and included only local channels (which are few), that the next step up is what I am currently paying ($52.50 per month)....when I inquired about the internet service, he informed me that the next downgrade for internet service is $24.95 (as opposed to $45.00), he reiterated several times that this was "much slower" than what I currently have....I told him that I was O.K. with that as long as it works. "Oh yes" he said, then added "but much slower". After approximately 15 minutes on the phone attempting to make this downgrade, he informed me at the end of my call that my next bill would reflect a $29.95 fee for downgrading. O.K.....I didn't accomplish much here but I will be spending $20.00 less a month or $240.00 less a year....O.K., off to my next phone call....this should be fun!