Turn off the Cable TV

[pretty cheap jewelry]

Want to save money? Turn off the cable(/dish/satellite) TV.

I bet it's costing about $50 per month. Not to mention the stress of advertising to get you to part with more money.

Terrible reception? Use a marine antennae (uni-directional). Available at West marine (or yachting shops). We get 7 channels with the uni-directional and without the cable. Absolutely enough for news, a few family shows, and an ocassional Oprah!

Your kids do not need Disney, NickJr, or more marketing. They want to read, cook, and play cards with you.

Sports nuts will miss ESPN, ok. News fanatics will miss CNN. But how about getting your fix on the web?

Ours has been off 7 years.

[pearlieq]

No thanks. I enjoy mine.

To each his own...

[PrincessPerky]

Mine has been off for years..oh wait I never had it

anyway one thing I noticed, when we have a show we like to watch on the TV current (lost) we watch it..and we don't talk..since we have 3 kids and well, we like each other, we miss out on a lot of talking, I would rather ditch the TV than miss out on talking with my husband!

[lgslgs]

Without cable, and with a good antenna, we'd be lucky to get three stations with bad reception because of the hills around here.

Without cable internet we would have web access through unreliable phonelines that are capped at a 28.8 transfer speed. There's no way I could transfer and sell 50 mb graphics files for my home business over dial-up, especially dial-up that will also go out any time a breeze shakes a tree branch or a squirrel nibbles the phone line.

We save a lot of money in a lot of budget areas (low on the food chain vegetarian scratch cooking only, old paid for cars, etc.), but cable is the one area that we intentionally pay a bit more for.

Lynda

[pretty cheap jewelry]

Notice in the past few years there has been important, 'fee-required' technologies. Have you unknowingly bought into the 'can't live without' mentality? Add up your monthly costs for these and post here (curious).

How about choosing to turn off one thing from this list of things we can't live without. Votes anyone?

1. Cable/Satellite/Dish TV
2. Internet/E mail
3. Cell Phone
4. Satellite Radio Stations

What else?

We took off the first, and pay very little for the second (after using free email for years).

[JanH]

1. Can live without, but we choose to keep it. We don't have any premium channels and it is good entertainment when you are tired, sick, etc. I even learn some things from it!
2. After hurricane rita, I found out how valuable the internet is for keeping in contact. We also got tons of information from the area about returning and what days allowed in for the day than we would have ever gotten otherwise. Could access local tv and papers online.
3. I only use it for travel and occasionally other calls from kids, etc. Wouldn't do without it, but only have the basics.
4. Don't have. Local radio is fine for me right now.

Oh, costs, sorry.....50 for cable, 70 for two cell phones total, internet is included in the phone bill--I believe it is around 50 or less. radio--free!

[pearlieq]

We pay:

1.) $55.09 per month for cable
2.) Internet paid by DH's work
3.) I keep an emergency only cell phone for $10/year. DH's is paid by work.
4.) DH got an XM free last Christmas, service for his & mine is $90/year

Anyone could live without any of these things, and I agree that people should make informed, considered choices about what they buy. But if someone has the means, I see no reason to make a blanket statement like "don't get cable" or "don't use a cell phone".

There are many luxuries in life that we don't strictly "need" but definitely enjoy or find useful.

[simpleyme]

cable that includes high speed internet cost 77 bucks a month and I am not turning it off ;-) good news is 29.99 of it is internet a busness expense

if times got tough it is the first thing i would cut
times are not tough so it stays

[Ima saver]

I never had cable when I lived in florida although it was available. We just watched the 3 channels. When we moved to the boon docks, we could not get any tv, even with an antenna. We finally got a dish, but that had to be repaired constantly. When we moved to the new house we got cable, but I could probably live without it.

[Aleta]

I have satellite and I like it. At times I have a hard time justifying paying over $50 a month for TV, but we rarely go to movies. I do like the cooking and decorating programs. But I could do without it I think.

[honeichild]

The cable situation sucks here. To get basic channels (ABC/NBC/Fox, etc) You have to pay $9.52. I believe the next plan is about $30 or so. I have an addiction to cable but I will stick with the basic plan.

[Pupart]

I don't smoke...
I don't drink,
I don't have a cell phone,
My favorite place to shop is Craigs list , and that's for the bargains I can find.
If cable is a luxury.. it's one I'm gonna keep.
I need my Larry King fix,, also Lou Dobbs and Jack Cafferty on Wold Blitzers show and also
hosts his own show In The Money.

[vsjhoc]

Originally Posted by PrincessPerky

Mine has been off for years..oh wait I never had it

And I thought I was the only one ...

[zakity]

Internet/email - requirement for the boys' schooling (we homeschool) and the internet is paid for by DH's work

Cable - don't have it, but I have been considering getting the cheapest ($12 a month) version for the discovery channel. The boys have been watching it at Grandma's house and they keep talking about it. Because we have the internet through them, it would only be like $2 a month (and whatever the taxes would be).

Cell phone - DH won't let me get rid of it. We pay $30 a month. It is basically an emergency phone. DH likes it because of the homeschooling. I can call him if the car breaks down. He also likes it because he can reach me where ever I am. Hmm....that doesn't sound like I want it to. I live rural and we routinely drive for an hour for homeschool activities. He will call to see how the boys are enjoying the activity and stuff like that. He also likes it for doc and dentist appts. If I don't call him soon enough (when he thinks the appt would be over), he will call him for an update.

Satellite Radio - Don't have it. We listen to music cd's in the car most of the time.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I love my Tivo, it makes watching TV awesome. I no longer watch shows in real-time. Anyway I enjoy TV and I don't do netflix, so what's the big deal? I would get more done, but I don't watch that much anyway. I keep it to pretty much 4 shows a week.

[vsjhoc]

Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge

I keep it to pretty much 4 shows a week.

Which 4 shows?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Law and Order SVU, survivor, Law and Order, two and half men

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by pretty cheap jewelry

Want to save money? Turn off the cable(/dish/satellite) TV.

I bet it's costing about $50 per month.

Actually, it is costing exactly $10.53/month. We lived without cable until this past February when we finally took the plunge and got limited basic cable. We were tired of the lousy reception on certain channels. We have no debt except our home, my wife had recently gone back to work and we save 26% of our gross income. We decided the $10.53/month was well worth the expense, and almost a year later, I'm very glad we made that move.

[Bookie]

1. No cable TV. Come to think of it, no TV at all.
- I was once told that my living room looked weird because all the seating faced for conversation instead of having a common focus (like a TV set)

2. Internet is provided as a retirement benefit at no cost to me.
- I've had the same email address for the past 16 years or so.

3. Cell phone is basic service from a regional provider.
- I find the convenience worth the cost.

4. Satellite Radio
- You're kidding me. People pay for radio?

[tabbycat31]

I have cable TV. I Consider it one of my few luxuries. I generally am not a fan of network TV shows, and I need to have my MSNBC, Court TV, and Animal Planet.

As for the others........
Internet.... see above
Cellphone...... my only phone. I havent had a landline since 2002
Satellite Radio........ I listen to it at work, but at the company's expense (it's our background music)