I think watching little to no TV is frugal

[Radiance]

I watch 2-3 hours of TV a week, if any, many weeks it is none, nada. The TV I watch is from internet and a few DVDs I have collected here and there
It is a lifestyle choice.

It is frugal because I dont pay for cable, or netflix or any of those

But I think watching less TV is also frugal because with less exposure to commercials, less temptations to desire anything. It also leaves more time to do healthy things so you would save in medical bills

Things I do instead of watching TV:

1. Take a nap
2. Take a bath (I mean a leisure bath, I do take a shower every day!)
3. Call a friend
4. Visit a friend
5. Read a book
6. Listen to music
7. Listen to music while I read a book
8. Listen to music while I dance to it
9. Go for a walk
10. Go for a run
11. Surf the internet (for leasure or research)
12. Dream big
13. Look at my objectives and make plans
14. Meditate/Pray/listen to relaxation audio

What do you think? Why do you watch TV? How does it improve your life?
Do you get your time and monies worth from watching TV?

Just curious, just trying to understand, please be kind and compassionate in your responses

[bjl584]

Last summer I had no tv, no internet, no nothing at my home. All that I had way my radio. It defenitely disconnected me a bit from the world, but I enjoyed it. I was able to get a lot of projects done around the house, and it gave me a chance to do some reading. I could imagine that once it got to be winter and there wasn't much to do outside, that I may have gone a bit stircrazy, but it wasn't a bad experience when the weather was nice.

[MonkeyMama]

As with anything, I believe TV is just fine in moderation.

Interestingly, I Was never much for TV, but married Mr. Film. As long as I am married to him, will always be paying for TV and movies.

Anyway, we got a DVR in 2000, and is when I did start to watch more TV. With the DVR experience, you zap through commercials and watch shows very quickly/efficiently. So, I think I am a little more pro-TV in the DVR age. I don't identify TV watching as being *time consuming.*

Personally, I find it to be cheap entertainment, for what it is. We probably focus on comedy and education programming in our household. So, I find it hard to understand all the negativity hurled at *TV.* I think being so moderate, I find myself often defending TV watching and rolling my eyes at some of the ideas about TV. But, for me TV is my unwind/relax time. Sure, sometimes I read a book - sometimes I hang out with friends. & sometimes it is just nice to watch a little TV and have a good laugh!

[Radiance]

Last summer I had no tv, no internet, no nothing at my home. All that I had way my radio. It defenitely disconnected me a bit from the world, but I enjoyed it. I was able to get a lot of projects done around the house, and it gave me a chance to do some reading. I could imagine that once it got to be winter and there wasn't much to do outside, that I may have gone a bit stircrazy, but it wasn't a bad experience when the weather was nice.

I didnt think about that, I dont have a winter...
I can survive without TV just fine, Internet...that is a different story!

We probably focus on comedy and education programming in our household. So, I find it hard to understand all the negativity hurled at *TV.*

That makes a great difference, TV is what you make of it. By focusing on comedy/educational you are making a good thing out of it. I too feel attracted to comedy and educational only so it is always a good uplifting experience when I do watch it. News is a no-no for me.

[woodie96]

Ohhh come on now Radiance, no reality TV shows.....

My personal opinion, lots of TV shows are a waste of airwaves. Love some of the old comedies, history channel, etc.

[Frugal]

There is not a lot worth watching on TV these days. It hardly even seems worth it to watch cable. I plan on getting rid of Netflix next month to save $15 a month. May get rid of cable too. It is such a huge time waster. I hate how it seems like commercials take up about 60_70% of programs any more.

[dawnwes]

I find TV to be a fairly frugal entertainment.

I pay $15 for Netflix per month and $8 for HuluPlus.

We don't have cable/satellite anymore. We don't go to the movies. The only other entertainment we do is some plays per year.

We are certainly not swayed by commercials.

I think blanket statements like this are misleading.....you need to look at the entire financial picture. We have cut our TV, cell, home phone, etc....to what we feel is as low as we are currently willing to go. You might spend more for your cell than we do for example.

Dawn

[SnoopyCool]

We don't pay for any sort of tv (other than the electricity to run it). I find that I'm more productive when the tv is off. I know that if I had HGTV, I'd be glued to it way too much! lol

[Radiance]

I think blanket statements like this are misleading.....

Well, I started it by saying "I think"... it is my opinion and view. I do spend more money in other forms of entertainmen where I think it is more worth it... to me. I totally understand.

I choose not to watch TV and it works for me, I pay 50/mo on cell, BTW
But I have no problem paying $20 to get on a park, plus food, maybe more than what you pay in TV for a month! I can see that. But that one day at the park is to me much more fulfilling than a month of TV. But that is me, of course. I do spend lots of time surfing the Internet and that is $43/ month!

I find that I'm more productive when the tv is off

I agree Snoopy!

[SNRote]

Satellite vs Cable?

Which do you think is a better savings, satellite or cable? We currently have AT&T U-Verse. We have our land line, internet and cable w/ DVR through AT&T. I am trying to minimize household expenses. I am trying to decide if going with dish tv would be a better savings? I reduced our cell phone minutes but I could look at increasing that and getting rid of our land line. Any thoughts? Has anyone else recently gotten rid of cable services and replaced it with something else? I agree, tv is cheap entertainment and we went without for several years. I don't really want to do that now.

[YLTL_Dan]

I choose to limit my television consumption because I believe it's dangerous to our minds. The danger is not that we'll be persuaded to buy something or do something bad; I believe the main danger is we don't think when the TV is on.

TV does all of the work for our brains, and we turn into zombies while watching it. The affect is easily observable and very real on kids as well.

That being said, there are some shows that I like to watch (The Office, Modern Family, The Daily Show), but I DVR them so I don't have to watch commercials... I can't stand commercials! Oh ya, and I waste a lot of time watching football.

I believe the best practice is to keep your TV off unless you're specifically watching something. I used to have it on all day because I liked the 'filler' noise. However, I learned it means my mind isn't working, and I'm not able to concentrate on something else.