The cost of gas might be on the way back up, but the cost of renting DVDs online is going down. Netflix started the latest frenzy by announcing a monthly price drop from $21.99 to $17.99. Blockbuster countered by slashing its monthly DVD rental fees from $19.99 down to $17.49. These prices are amazing, to me at least, when I stop to consider how *&%$#@! much my family has poured down the drain on @#$%&! Blockbuster late fees over the years …

When Wal-Mart entered the online DVD rental arena some thought it would sound the death knell for Netflix. But Netflix pressed on. Blockbuster’s huge presence in the bricks and mortar world bought the behemoth a quick and mighty foothold in the online DVD rental market. With all of the competition, Netflix stock has taken a beating. And there’s no shortage of other companies entering the online DVD rental market. (See the Family First review of Gameznflix.)

Now, rumor has it, Amazon may enter to try and slay them all.

I’ll confess. I’m not a fan of Blockbuster and their oppressive late fees in the offline world. More than once, we’ve been levied with fees for DVDs and games that had been returned. It’s never fun going into the store to argue your case with the clerks. (Then again, we’ve had some really cool clerks who fixed things up nicely.) So I really like the idea of online DVD rentals, sans a strict return policy.

But have I signed up with an online DVD rental company (other than Blockbuster) yet?

Nope.

I’m saving that for the day when I can afford one of them there new fangled big honking flat-screen tellyvisions. If I could just do the math and figure out how much gas I’ll save by switching to an online DVD rental company (from Blockbuster, of course), maybe I can fit that monster into the budget …