5 Things You Don’t Need In Your Home in 2014

Welcome to the New Year. It’s now time for everyone to tell you what you should be doing this year to improve your life, your career, your feelings, your indigestion, etc. In fact you’ll even read about people telling you what you need for your home in 2014. I read somewhere that Orchid Purple is THE color of 2014 so if you don’t have plans for adding that color into your home, 2014 is gonna be pretty lame. Of course I’m being facetious.

Welcome to the New Year. It’s now time for everyone to tell you what you should be doing this year to improve your life, your career, your feelings, your indigestion, etc.

While everyone shares their advice for the new year, I wanted to share things you shouldn’t worry about adding to your home in 2014. You may agree. You may disagree. But either way I welcome the discussion. So here we go.

1. A Blu-Ray DVD Player

All those Blu-Ray DVDs you got back in 2009. Sell them on eBay immediately. Blu-Ray’s will soon be obsolete as we move further into the world of digital entertainment. My bet is in the next few years they become discontinued as digital movies and on-demand service become the primary means of enjoying Hollywood in your home.

2. A Home Phone

If you’re paying for home phone service, stop reading and call up your phone company and cancel. Chances are you’re not paying much for it, but it’s still an unneeded expense. Cell phones have already become the primary means of communication in our homes and the trend is sure to continue in 2014. But what about for emergencies? You’re better off buying a disposable cell phone with a limited minutes plan on it and storing it in your kitchen. Chances are you won’t use all the minutes on it anyway. Another excuse used to be that home security systems required a home phone line. Nowadays many security companies can connect to your home’s internet service and ping your cell phones for emergency. Be sure to call and inquire if your security service offers that.

3. A Smart TV

Much like the Blu-Ray, the Smart TV will become obsolete. I know, I know. Every TV manufacturer is touting one and this year’s Consumer Electronics Show will have millions of Smart TV’s on display, but I’m telling you don’t buy one if you have an Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Xbox, Playstation,  or Roku. The user interface on Smart TV’s is far from user friendly and most of them offer nothing more than what you can experience with any of the devices I just listed connected to your TV. All you want in your TV at home is an exceptional picture quality. Your DVR, gaming system or entertainment add-on can offer better experiences and the same breadth of services as a Smart TV.

4. A Drip Coffee Pot

Unless you have a Starbucks-sized, high-end drip coffee maker that allows you to make espresso, coffee and lattes, you don’t need drip coffee pot. Get yourself a Keurig and enjoy your coffee in an instant without it tasting like instant coffee.

5. Full Price Cable TV

You will read a ton about how you don’t need cable TV in your home. You could be a “cord cutter” and just use YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, etc. for your home entertainment. That’s true. You could as long as you no longer have a desire to watch live sports, awards shows, local news, or just enjoy a good channel surf on a Sunday afternoon. What you should do is cut the cost your paying for cable. You don’t need to pay full price as many cable operators are seeing a decrease in subscribers. Many of them are willing to offer deals and discounts to keep existing customers from switching to another company or cutting them all together. Now is the time for cable negotiations if you’re not quite ready to cut your TV service all together.

Let me know what you think isn’t need in your home this year in the comments.

Find more resources for homeowners here.

Image courtesy of Flickr user danielmoyle

Husband. Father. Socializer. Mets Lifer. TV Aficionado. Consumer Engager.

David Marine is the Chief Marketing Officer at Coldwell Banker, where he oversees the brand’s marketing efforts and content strategy including acting as managing editor for the Coldwell Banker blog and heading up video production efforts. While CMO by day, David runs a three ring circus at night as he is the father of 4 boys. He also happens to be married to Wonder Woman. True story.

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8 Comments

  1. 5 Things You Don’t Need In Your Home in 2014
    January 8, 2014

    […] 5 Things You Don’t Need In Your Home in 2014 […]

    Reply
  2. Linda Gatewood
    January 8, 2014

    Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view) there are some beautiful areas of our country where cable services and cell service are not available so it is necessary to have a “land line”. Our community is working on a system which will use “white space”for internet access. This will bring us up to the level of other communities in the population centers but we still get to enjoy 8.5 acre minimum lot size zoning!

    Reply
    • David Marine
      January 9, 2014

      Interesting Linda. Curious to hear more about this “white space.” May I ask what town you’re from?

      Reply
  3. 5 Things You Don’t Need In Your Home in 2014 | Donna Dagley's Blog
    January 9, 2014

    […] You will read a ton about how you don’t need cable TV in your home. You could be a “cord cutter” and just use YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, etc. for your home entertainment. That’s true. You could as long as you no longer have a desire to watch live sports, awards shows, local news, or just enjoy a good channel surf on a …read more […]

    Reply
  4. Samantha Syester
    January 9, 2014

    I’m ahead of the game! The only one of these items I still have is the drip coffee pot and as soon as this one bites the dust we’ll be purchasing a Keurig. The only downfall is that although I live smack in the middle of town, we don’t have good cell service inside the home so I must treck outdoors for any phone calls (even in below 0 temps). Good thing I’m not much of a fan of talking on the phone.
    We do have a digital convertor on our TV, which allows us to receive 4 local channels. Even without cable we’re connected to our local news programs, but most of that can be found online now as well.

    Reply
    • David Marine
      January 9, 2014

      Thanks for the comment Samantha! You should look into a cell signal booster for your home. Not sure what carrier you have but sometimes providers will offer this to you if you do a 2-year commitment. Then you can enjoy a nice cup of Keurig coffee while talking on the phone =)

      Reply
  5. Laurie
    January 9, 2014

    You don’t need cable even for local news and basic channels, there are antennas or live streaming. I think cable will be obsolete in the future

    Reply
  6. Rafael Centenera
    January 10, 2014

    Zion! (O) //

    Reply

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