Cancelled my DirecTV

[ea1776]

With me and my fiance preparing for a wedding, and simultaneously attacking debt, we decided we should throw in the towel on direcTV. We considered doing it early, but our justification for not doing it was there was a $20/month early disconnect fee for ~1year, and also that it kept us entertained at home (as opposed to going out for a movie, out-to-eat, etc.). However, we convinced ourselves we can just watch some series or DVD's we have around the house, READ BOOKS, talk, browse internet, listen to radio, etc. for ET.

So... we were paying $83/month for our HD package. When I called to cancel, they offered me a 1 year reduction to bring it down to $63. Tempting, but I was set on disconnecting, so I politely declined. They charged me a one-time disconnect fee of $73, instead of the $20/month deal they told me about earlier. It will end at midnight tonight. Yay! That means an extra $83 * 12 = ~ $1k / year to pay off debt with!

We are also going to cancel our $10/month Netflix until we get tired of our current DVD's, at which time we will sell the current DVD's / VHS's to fund the Netflix.

We're looking at other sacrifices we can make to really cut into that budget. One of the things left is my gym membership, which is $65/month. My work pays 1/3 of it for a wellness benefit, so it is really like $44/month. Tough for me to cancel this, as I use it 4 times a week, and it really raises quality of life and health. Maybe when the weather is nicer I can cancel, and take up jogging outside. Still thinking about it....

[sweeps]

Great job. Keep us posted on how you're doing with the reading books and talking thing.

[GREENBACK]

Originally Posted by ea1776

Maybe when the weather is nicer I can cancel, and take up jogging outside. Still thinking about it....

Buy yourself a couple of dumbells, Do some calisthenics and jog on the road. I keep in shape that way and it's free. The dumbells aren't mandatory but are an inexpensive one time purchase.

[ea1776]

Originally Posted by GREENBACK

Buy yourself a couple of dumbells, Do some calisthenics and jog on the road. I keep in shape that way and it's free. The dumbells aren't mandatory but are a inexpensive one time purchase.

I can see that, but I play indoor basketball with guys from work 2 times a week at that gym, and the fun/intensity of those games would be impossible to match on my own. They also have a great indoor swimming pool that I frequent, as well as free classes for spin/aerobics/abs/etc. Just trying to figure whether or not it is worth it for me to sacrifice $44 a month for all that. I think the fun of playing BBall also keeps me motivated to stay in shape and visit the gym. Otherwise, I might just get caught up at work and stay there instead of going to the gym / working out.

[GREENBACK]

Originally Posted by ea1776

I can see that, but I play indoor basketball with guys from work 2 times a week at that gym, and the fun/intensity of those games would be impossible to match on my own. They also have a great indoor swimming pool that I frequent, as well as free classes for spin/aerobics/abs/etc. Just trying to figure whether or not it is worth it for me to sacrifice $44 a month for all that. I think the fun of playing BBall also keeps me motivated to stay in shape and visit the gym. Otherwise, I might just get caught up at work and stay there instead of going to the gym.

I see your point. It takes more motivation to workout by yourself. I do it because of work obligations and the lack of any fitness clubs close by but it's a lot more fun to to play B-ball than it is to jog on the road.

I'd look hard, at least temporarily, at how important it is to you. It's not a true need but is it worth the money if it keeps you happy and motivated to take on your other financial goals? You don't have to quit forever you know. If you gave it up temporarily would it make a difference financially? Sounds like you really enjoy the gym and maybe it's one thing you might want to keep.

[jIM_Ohio]

Originally Posted by ea1776

We're looking at other sacrifices we can make to really cut into that budget. One of the things left is my gym membership, which is $65/month. My work pays 1/3 of it for a wellness benefit, so it is really like $44/month. Tough for me to cancel this, as I use it 4 times a week, and it really raises quality of life and health. Maybe when the weather is nicer I can cancel, and take up jogging outside. Still thinking about it....

You need to invest in your health- no reason to cut everything out...

If you have bad health and die in debt you came out ahead. Once you decide to improve your health, you need to get out of debt or you will truly lose in the game of life.

When you are debt free you want to have good health to enjoy the good life.

[lookingforassistance]

Originally Posted by ea1776

With me and my fiance preparing for a wedding, and simultaneously attacking debt, we decided we should throw in the towel on direcTV. We considered doing it early, but our justification for not doing it was there was a $20/month early disconnect fee for ~1year, and also that it kept us entertained at home (as opposed to going out for a movie, out-to-eat, etc.). However, we convinced ourselves we can just watch some series or DVD's we have around the house, READ BOOKS, talk, browse internet, listen to radio, etc. for ET.

So... we were paying $83/month for our HD package. When I called to cancel, they offered me a 1 year reduction to bring it down to $63. Tempting, but I was set on disconnecting, so I politely declined. They charged me a one-time disconnect fee of $73, instead of the $20/month deal they told me about earlier. It will end at midnight tonight. Yay! That means an extra $83 * 12 = ~ $1k / year to pay off debt with!

We are also going to cancel our $10/month Netflix until we get tired of our current DVD's, at which time we will sell the current DVD's / VHS's to fund the Netflix.

We're looking at other sacrifices we can make to really cut into that budget. One of the things left is my gym membership, which is $65/month. My work pays 1/3 of it for a wellness benefit, so it is really like $44/month. Tough for me to cancel this, as I use it 4 times a week, and it really raises quality of life and health. Maybe when the weather is nicer I can cancel, and take up jogging outside. Still thinking about it....

Congrats and good work. Another good outlet is hulu.com and imdb.com they have a bunch of movies and tv shows for no cost. May let you hold off on Netflix for a while longer too. Also borrowing books, cds, and movies from the library can be another source.

Keep investing in your health. It keeps you happier and keeps energy levels high (aiding you in work and everything else you do). But that doesn't mean you have to spend $65 dollars a month. Around my area (maryland) we have a gym called planet fitness which only costs 10 dollars a month. I'm sure you can find something similar. You could also build your own gym at a low cost and save money that way too. Just scour the classifieds, ebay, craigslist for good deals. This is a great time too since you have many people starting to give up on there new years resolution and giving you an excellent source for cheap gym equipment that has also been seldomly used.

[tulsa_sr5]

^^^ like lookingforassistance said hulu.com is great. I've been directv free for about 6 months and really don't miss it. Back when I had DTV and Netflix I did the math on hrs of entertainment/$ and decided that for me netfix was a much better value. I may sign back up for netflix, but pretty sure directv is done for good.

[autoxer]

btw, if you are near a city, you can get plenty of TV with a cheap radioshack antenna. Most channels will even broadcast their high definition signal over the air, so if you have a newer HD TV, with an ASTC tuner, you can get free HD programming. check out Antennaweb.org to find out what channels you can get where you live.

[Rainelli]

if you are thinking of tightling your budget then why not,anyway there are many ways for you to enjoy watching,just like your suggestion in watching a dvd series.

[ea1776]

Originally Posted by autoxer

btw, if you are near a city, you can get plenty of TV with a cheap radioshack antenna. Most channels will even broadcast their high definition signal over the air, so if you have a newer HD TV, with an ASTC tuner, you can get free HD programming. check out Antennaweb.org to find out what channels you can get where you live.

Yes, we were pleasantly surprised to hook up an antenna, and since I have an HDTV I'm getting all the locals in HD! We found that we were also getting a bunch of "new" locals we didn't get with direcTV alone, such as PBS in HD and a 24-7 local weather channel.

[arthurb999]

I wouldn't quit the gym... it;s money well spent.

[Fizgig]

I canceled my $100/mo cable five months ago and couldn't be happier. The rabbit ears on my HDTV has a better signal than my HD cable got, and most of the cable channels are useless anyway. Anything I'd want to watch is on the internet anyway. About the only thing missing is sports (much to my boyfriend's chagrin), but some of that is streamed live on the internet too, just not as dependably.

If the resolution is high enough, I'll often hook the laptop to my 40 inch HDTV and it looks pretty awesome.

I have a $11/mo blockbuster membership that I kept and don't plan to cancel. It's a pretty cheap fee for entertainment.