Lifestyle Upgrades

Over the past several years, the commercial software industy has been transforming itself to a subscription model from an ownership model.  This model can be great for software developers, but it transforms things that were once single lump sum costs for consumers into  monthly or annual bills.  Ongoing subscriptions to anything, whether it’s cable TV, satellite radio, gym memberships, etc, are something we should think carefully about and seek to minimize for our own peace of mind.

If you are a Microsoft Windows user like I am, you may benefit from the following free pieces of software as alternatives to commercial products.  All of these products can be found at http://www.download.com, which is itself a fabulous resource that allows us to limit our searches to true freeware products.  Most of the free products listed here are essential anti-malware and security products.  The big one, however, is the alternative to Microsoft Office.

1) AVG Anti-Virus  — This is a free anti-virus program that has all the features of a commerical product, including regular virus signature database updates.

2) AVG Anti-Spyware — A newer product from Grisoft.  The free version must be updated manually, but it is easy to do and it catches a lot of malware that other software misses.

3) Spybot Search and Destroy — A really nice freeware anti-spyware software that can scan for known spyware, immunize the machine against a list of known threats, and monitor the system registry (this is in the TeaTimer product) against unwanted changes.

4) SpywareBlaster — A program that provides immunization against a list of known threats to the Internet Explorer and FireFox browsers, among other things. 

5) ZoneAlarm — A free configurable software firewall to protect your machine from intruders. 

I have brought many seemingly “broken” or “slow” computers back from the dead with the products listed above.  The list is by no means exhaustive.

Finally, as promised, the MS Office alternative…. Open Office from Sun Microsystems.  I will admit that I do not currently use it.  In fact, I use a version of MS Office that is 10 years old because I can’t stomach paying hundreds of dollars to upgrade to the latest and greatest word processor and spreadsheet, even if it isn’t technically a subscription software product. 

The above examples aside, the moral of the story is simple.  Always search for free versions of any software before buying a commercial version.  You could save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars over the long term.

A good rule of thumb is to never purchase anything that you didn’t seek out.  If you didn’t wake up this morning and say, “Gee, I need a new robot vaccuum cleaner”, then don’t respond to the TV commercial for one.  The strategy of turning off the TV works well there, but what about other forms of advertisement such as junk mail and telemarketing calls? 

Take the following three steps, and in a few minutes, and for practically nothing, you can drastically reduce the number of junk mail messages and telemarketing calls that you receive.

1) Sign up for the DMA Mail Preference Service.  This is a list that you need to put your name on.  Many marketers will exclude the names on this list from their mailings.  A good summary of the benefits can be found at https://www.dmachoice.org/MPS/. 

2) Sign up for the Credit Bureau Opt-Out List at http://www.optoutprescreen.com.  This is an effective way to reduce the amount of offers you’ll receive for things like credit cards, loans, and lines of credit.  A marketer may still send you an invitation to apply for credit without checking your file at the credit bureau, but most of these mailings should also be blocked by having your name on the DMA list above, so do both. 

3) To reduce telemarketing calls, go to the fabulously famous National Do Not Call Registry at http://www.donotcall.gov

These steps will reduce, but not entirely eliminate junk mail and telemarketing calls that are unsolicited.  This is a great low effort, high reward move.  You will still be contacted by organizations to whom you have voluntarily given your information.  All of these organizations should have “Do Not Solicit” lists.  If you encounter a particularly troublesome marketer, request to be put on their Do Not Solicit list.  If the problem persists, you could consider filing a complaint, but that could complicate your life rather than simplify it.