Cut Technology Costs From Cell Phone Plans to Cable TV to Video Games


CDs and DVDs

So many people just download one song at a time these days, but there are times when you want to own the album, check out the cover art, see whom the band thanked. And there are certain movies people like to watch again and again.

So here's what you do. Check out sites like swapacd.com and swapadvd.com, where you trade with other people for the cost of postage. You get credits for whatever you send out, so you don't have to make a direct swap with another individual.

I turned in a Christina Aguilera CD, a Louis Armstrong CD, a CD that shall remain nameless because it was a gift that I hated and a couple of other really obscure ones.

In exchange, I got Coldplay, Rascal Flatts, The Wallflowers and a Louis Armstrong/Ella Fitzgerald duets album. Fabulous!

For DVDs, I unloaded two movies that I had already watched and got Season 1 of "Grey's Anatomy," as well as "Erin Brockovich" and "Sleepless in Seattle."

If you were going to buy all this music and these movies new, it would cost you $88.

By swapping, I paid $8.

That's an $80 savings.