$ Money saving tips
for internet users $
(hope this helps for
you, especially in parts where there are only OUTRAGEOUS hourly rates charged)
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sites, some can help you make money to cut down on your internet bills!)
-
If at all possible (or reasonable in terms
of price), given a choice of hourly rates or a flat rate, go for flat rate
pricing. This rate won't fluctuate no matter how many hours you log on,
and it'll remain steady. Hourly rates, while sometimes attractive, can
be a real pain especially in cases where you NEED to download large files,
or even mail.
If you can avail of a flat rate at a reasonable
price (anything above $20-$25 U.S. or its equivalent, I would consider
too expensive), then hey, the world (wide web and it's components) is your
oyster! However, if you have no choice but to go at an hourly access rate
here are some great pieces of advice which I hope you'd find useful;
-
Use an OLDER version of a popular
browser! Microsoft's Internet Explorer 4.XXX and Netscape's Navigator 4.XXX,
while opening up to a lot of razzle and dazzle graphic shows on the internet,
are painfully slow, and eat up lots of valuable time even when it comes
to accessing pure-to-mostly text web pages. Version 2.XXX of either big-time
browser, while unable to access some page effects, and in some cases entire
sites, fly like the wind in comparison. Another justification for downgrading
to save money is that practically every major site in the world can be
accessed by an older browser, or offer a site version free of essential
Java effects, frames, etc, because they generally want as many page views
as possible, and won't close themselves off to the old browser fan clubs.
-
For e-mailing, use an offline capable e-mail
program. Netscape's Communicator 3-4.XXX, and Eudora,
would be my personal recommendations. This way, you can compose full length
novels and send them to your audience, for a cost of a couple minute's
online time, as opposed to spending a few hours of time online while composing
your things.
-
If you plan to go online, try grouping online
activities together to save on phone usage (wherever flat rate pricing
is unavailable for phone charges) and online time. Example: checking on
your favorite sports team's scores on a web site with your browser while
sending/recieving e-mail with your email program.
-
Setting your browser to not show images, and
putting them on display on-demand, is another small but significant way
to save on online time, because web pages will naturally load faster with
images not being downloaded automatically.
-
Avoid getting online chat programs, or even
getting into real-time chat groups! They burn significant amounts of time,
and besides, email is a much more time efficient and convenient means of
communicating.
-
If you have the right interests/hobbies, subscribe
to mailing lists. They can save you online time by means of information/opinions
going right to your e-mail inbox as opposed to you having to search for
them on the web, chatrooms, or usenet. A good source for mailing lists
and their respective procedures can be found from Vivian
Neou, or from Catalist.
The procedure for signing up to the listed mail lists will be given at
those respective sites.
Thanks for visiting, and I hope you've
found some info/advice you can put to good use!
Why not visit the Melting
Igloo???