Going Cableless

In an attempt to cut spending, we canceled cable TV. It happened unexpectedly after a heated discussion over our financial status. I have on occasion suggested canceling cable TV, but never thought Justin would follow through with it. He's really into his sports watching, there's cycling, hockey, baseball and football. Sports are my least favorite things to watch on TV. I too have my indulgences, all the real estate shows on HGTV and Bravo and Project Runway on Life Time. I was addicted to all the home improvement shows on HGTV until I bought my own house and realized it's not all fun and games. In fact, home improvement in real life is the opposite of what's on TV. I found out that house projects always take FOREVER to get done, the budget is always more than what you want to spend, because a big chunk of it is in labor cost and the work is always harder than they make it look on those Youtube how-to videos. Oh well, end of my rant, back to the cable business.

Our cable bill including internet was around $150 a month. We also have unlimited streaming from Netflix for $8 a month and the weekly movies we purchase from Apple TV at $5-$6 a pop. We had the basic package, but there's an additional fees for the high definition channels and HBO. That is over $2200 a year on TV watching. I think it's a total waste of money just like my Iphone is, which I am not sure how much longer I want to keep after my 2 year lease is up.

Since going cableless, the house has been a lot more quiet because Justin can no longer turn the TV on to some sports channel and leave it on for hours. The constant noise of the sports fans and sports casters on TV drive me crazy for some inexplicable reason. I have long been an advocate for not having cable, because 99% of shows on TV are just time wasters in my opinion. I spent most of my 20s without cable and still got to watch lots of interesting movies and shows. When we moved in together four years ago, it was a nice luxury to have cable after years of going without, since we were spending most nights at home.

It's been couple of weeks since we canceled cable but we haven't missed any of our favorite shows thanks to modern technology. With a combination of Netflix, Apple TV, Hulu, and the internet, we have been able save money and watch the shows we want to watch.

We still have to pay for internet which is about $70 a month, but we will be getting reimbursed through Justin's work due to the nature of his job. So our cable/entertainment bill went from close to $200 down to $40 a month, that's a tremendous saving and we'll put the extra money into better use.


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