Anyone else given up TV?

[Cynthiabutterfly]

We have had cable or sattellite off and on every 6 months or so.... Cable was too expensive, so we got a $15 Netflix, watched all the movies we wanted for a few months, then cancelled that.

Then we discovered Satellite which is so much cheaper, but we ended up in front of the tv all day even when there was nothing good on, so I cut that off too.

We get videos for $1 at Goodwill, and the VCR was $10 (yes we are living in the 80's). I also like Hulu occasionally, and all the major networks (abc, fox, nbc, etc) have their shows streaming online so if I want to watch something I'll turn on the computer.

I am way more productive when there is no TV to watch, and DH agreed that he would die without the computer so we gave up the cost of the TV instead.

We gave up our house phone years ago, and use our cell phones with a family plan. I am spending SO much less on 'utilities' than I was a few years ago.

[Cynthiabutterfly]

oh yeah, with the satellite they make you sign a 1 year contract, but you can put a 'hold' on it for up to 6 months out of the year. So we watched for 6 months, then put a 6 month hold, then watch the remaining 6 months of our contract. After that, there weren't any restrictions.

And paying for the DVR and extra receivers is so ridiculous. We either agree on one show, or wait for your turn. If you are too busy to watch what you want when it's on, wait for one of the 15 reruns the same week, or watch next week and catch up then.

I won't get into the idiotic relative I have that pays over $150 a month for 3 recievers and DVR, yet has to work 2 jobs to make ends meet. She has ONE kid and they are never home to watch anything anyway, because he's either at his grandmas, school or daycare.

/rant

[hopeless]

We do not have satelite or cable. We get 15 or 20 on broadcast after the dtv transition. On the receiver boxes we had the opportunity to test several different brands and some gets better reception than others. I miss food network and went through withdrawls after visiting my mom for 3 weeks last year. I keep mentioning getting something, but my hubby is too stubborn because they all had mad him mad at one point or another, including the phone co. if it was not for the 7 a month phone service (and the point that I do need it for my job) and the 10.00 a month internet (which I also need for my job) we would not have anything. He is the type that once a business makes him mad or treats him bad, he will not go back to them.

[shetlandponyluvr]

I made the call today to Time Warner. As of September 1st we will no longer have cable TV or internet at the house. Thankfully the office where I work is right next door to our house, so we'll pop over here to play on the computer or watch TV when we need to.

[TheWoman]

We have never had cable. We do get a few channels with an antenna but only watch that once or twice a month at most.

We do use netflix a lot, both the mail order DVDs and the live streaming. It is far cheaper than cable, has a great selection, and there are no commercials.

[foggierbard9]

We didn't have TV for 1 1/2 years. We refused to pay the rediculous prices. I would watch shows on the internet and my son just liked to watch Baby Einsteins and Cars so we wore out the DVDs. LOL If there was something I wanted to see I would just take DS to our friend's house close by and he would play with her DS and we would watch the show. When we moved to our new place we decided to get cable again because that was only way to get decent internet service. I am going to be dreading the bill again in about 9 mos when all the introductory rates are up.

[PirateQueen]

Originally Posted by Qbert Also, calling and saying you want to cancel is a good opportunity to bargain for a better rate. They'll transfer you to the retentions dep't and try to keep you as a customer with discounts and incentives.

Oh, I wish that would work for me, but our cable company is owned by the city and there aren't any other cable services in our rural area. They have no incentive to offer any discounts other than a small discount you get when you have both cable and internet with them.

[vickib50]

Many years ago, when I first got cable, I only signed up for the very, very basic, which is channels 2-13. It was about $6 or $7 a month. Then, they started offering internet service. I jumped on the cable internet bandwagon. In order for them to "open" the internet cable to my house, they had to expand my service to channels 2-75 or thereabouts. They never charged me for the extra channels. When all this changeover happened last month, my service got cut back to channels 2-13. Fine by me. I unplugged the TV after the World Series last fall and only plugged it back in for 2 hours to watch the inauguration. If there is a baseball game on WGN (Chicago) or TBS or Fox, I'm good. Otherwise, I listen to my favorite baseball team on the radio every night. I do not miss TV one little bit. It's so easy to turn it on and just vegitate in front of it. There are a million things to do that are much more productive than watching some silly show.

My dad does not understand me at all. They have a TV in every room except the bathroom. They've got HD and boxes and cables and all kinds of crap to get the VCR to work with the new digital line-up, etc. etc. He bores me to tears explaining what all Comcast did on their last visit to the house. It just sounds like way too much trouble to watch the boob tube.

[holamelitta]

We recently got rid of our cable. We only had the most basic option, which was about $20/month, but most of the shows we watch can be watched for free on the network websites. The main reason we kept it as long as we did was for the kids' educational shows. Then I discovered that Netflix has quite a few educational kids' shows that you can watch over the internet (including the first 2 seasons of both Dora and Blue's Clues, among others). So, once we determined that the streaming quality was decent, we made the switch. We have the $8.99/mo. plan, which lets us watch as much as we want online, plus have 1 DVD out at a time. We're really happy with it so far!

[puakinikini]

I've never had cable as an adult and I do not miss it. I enjoy watching at my parents occassionally if there is something I want to see, but I prefer a cable-free life.