| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| turnip |
Posted - Oct 29 2009 : 8:38:18 PM
So DH is on month 3 of being unemployed. We have downsized BIGTIME but there is still some trimming to do. We are considering selling one of our cars as we really don't need it here. Another thing we are considering is cutting the cable. This would be such an easy way to save 40 bucks a month. I am doing it tomorrow but I am amazed at how others who don't even live here are protesting.
My parents live across the country and think we NEED it and will be deprived of entertainment if we don't have cable TV. (This coming from people who never had it until 5 years ago). Really? We are always doing something else besides TV I doubt we will even miss it except for some college football. People are FLABBERGASTED at the idea of not having cable TV. I am still calling Comcast tomorrow to cancel.
Keep in mind, my co-workers and I are grad students/post-doc academics who make very little money. Yet most of them already have Blue-Ray DVD player and 50" flatscreen TVs...I just don't get it. |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Rusty |
Posted - Apr 24 2010 : 12:51:31 PM
TV has existed my entire life and I do love watching it. Lately however I've come to realize that it's become a time-consuming habit for me, it's just too easy to plop down in my recliner and watch whatever. I spend ridicuous amounts of time searching for shows to watch when I could be doing other more productive, creative or interesting things. Some days it feels more like an addiction than a pleasurable activity!
Yesterday I called the cable co. and had them reduce the # of channels I receive. I didn't have as many as some folks nowadays but more than enough to keep me occupied for much of the day and evening most days. I'm hoping to gradually phase out cable alltogether. Reception for the digital boxes here is terrible so I don't have to worry about getting caught up in that. And I discovered that I can watch some shows on my computer if I really feel the need. I tried going cold-turkey once before (no cable at all), but it was too stressful so this time I'm going to do it more slowly - making sure I have other things to do, arranging my day differently, starting new healthier habits, resuming the decluttering process, discovering new hobbies, etc. In time I'll even have some extra money to save. ($75 if I get rid of the cable totally) I love to read, crochet, create art and have a very small DVD collection to watch.
I've been up for 6 hrs as I write this and have yet to turn on the TV. (a record for me) Wish me luck! |
| bicyclist |
Posted - Apr 15 2010 : 3:23:46 PM
There is a lot more to do than spend one's time watching screens filled with people who are apparently spending their time doing something exciting. To think that most of the people in the world get along without television and
while managing just fine, turning off cable service hardly qualifies one as an eccentric.
Sincerely, Bicyclist |
| simplysuzanne |
Posted - Apr 08 2010 : 4:00:00 PM
A cable tv salesman came to the door the other day and when my husband told him we don't have a tv, he said, "Oh, I am sorry!"
"No, it's by choice" said my husband
"Well keep me in mind when you get one" the salesman said.
Yeah, I don't think he really understood the whole "choice" thing. |
| Kenneth |
Posted - Apr 06 2010 : 8:26:33 PM
Just ot let you know. We have basic Comcast with internet/DSL High Speed. $25 a month. I call every 6 months and let them know I will cancel if they will not continue this promo.
It has been 4 years.
If we did not keep the promo we would drop cable too! |
| canadianrose |
Posted - Mar 20 2010 : 12:50:27 PM
The dinosaur mummy was really neat. I love finding great stuff on the internet. |
| janehoyt |
Posted - Mar 16 2010 : 08:14:36 AM
I was just thinking about how far media have come since I was a child. From monaural AM-only radios the size of an apartment-sized refrigerator to MP3 players the size of a small stack of credit cards. From musty books with tiny black and white engravings and dim grey-scale photos to glossy publications with glorious full-color illustrations on every page. From grainy black and white TV with limited vaudeville-quality programming to channels that present a vast range of information in nearly lifelike fidelity. I wouldn't go back for a minute. I still feel a sense of wonder when I watch Blue Planet--especially the first twenty minutes of The Deep. Last night's TV lineup was an embarrassment of riches--analysis of the controversy over Homo Florensis, body scans of a petrified, mummified hadrosaur, a documentary of CIA mind-control methods...That's my idea of quality entertainment. YMMV. |
| Myrrh |
Posted - Mar 16 2010 : 04:56:54 AM
There is something bigger going on here. I have asked this question as well and still have a sense of unease about this topic.
Consider that I am almost 50, all my life we had free TV in the house. I came from school and watched cartoons or General Hospital. In the evening, the family watched the news and a program or two. I clearly recall enjoying Lost in Space, Batman, Adam-12, Waltons, Muppets, Streets of San Francisco, etc...This is just a way of life established. If you will, a social conditioning took place. The change of not having free TV and the nature of TV has shifted.
I believe there was a public dispute lately between Disney and a cable network in NY. The Disney channel stopped transmitting to the cable network because the cable network was charging consumers for a free service. Disney wasn't receiving any profits. The consumer got caught up in the dispute. Signals are still free if you have the equipment to receive them. If not, there is a cost. Once I was conditioned to free TV, I have a terrible reluctance to change.
TV for me tends to be a way to relax. In the evening, I prefer to sit back and rest my mind somehow. I turn away from any programming which is over stimulating, particularly violent images. This limits most of my viewing to PBS. I prefer a mild, entertaining, semi-informative soothing voice speaking to me. Books are certainly entertaining and I read a fair amount. It's just a life style shift that takes time to adjust to.
Can you imagine the debate when telephones started to appear in the household? I would expect a few folks in their senior years might even recall not having a phone. Frankly, I narrowed this down to a tracfone which I use when absolutely necessary. I realize it is a necessity only. For others, the thought of limited to no phone would be just as eccentric as no TV.
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| janehoyt |
Posted - Mar 15 2010 : 5:42:42 PM
Do we still have a Dead Horse forum? |
| slimm |
Posted - Mar 15 2010 : 3:59:33 PM
4 years ago during a remodeling project, I donated my TV to Goodwill. I planned to purchase a flatscreen, however at the conclusion of the remodel, I had been without TV for 6 months & found I didn't miss it whatsoever....so I never purchased another. The resulting comments over the years have been rather hilarious - people have come to the conclusion that I'm a weirdo. I find it irritating when I'm visiting friends & the dang thing continually blares - yikes, turn that blasted TV off! Books, household projects,music, writing letters, and organizing the house are so much more productive than sittin' watching TV. As an aside, I married last November & my husband has two shows which we watch, of course. It's completely bizarre for me to sit on the couch with him and see him on the television. But I've drawn the line with just those programs,
TV still doesn't interest me....too boring! |
| jp3220615 |
Posted - Mar 13 2010 : 7:09:50 PM
I lived without even owning a tv for all of the 90s. I'd just graduated college and money was tight. By the time I had enough cash to afford one I realized I didn't really miss it, so I never bought one. I finally got one when I found a vcr online for $50 new and decided I wanted to start renting movies.
SO finds it very amusing that whenever a conversation with friends involves tv shows if any of it is about shows in the 90s I'm not even familiar with the names of the shows, much less any details about them.
If it weren't for SO I'd probably still just have the 13 inch tv I bought ten years ago, and definitely no cable. But he LOVES tv, so we've got directv with basic service and hbo. I watch a few things with him but for the 3 months I was still in NJ and he had already moved to San Francisco I don't think I turned on the tv more than 5 times. |
| canadianrose |
Posted - Mar 13 2010 : 6:56:54 PM
We just sold our tv. It's *so* quiet. |
| edie |
Posted - Mar 10 2010 : 4:24:54 PM
We had cable for a few months this year to watch Canadian football and the Olympics. Now that we've cancelled it, I don't miss it at all, especially policing the kids from watching too much and neglecting homework and music practicing. StellaYork, is it twelve hours for all the shows to be available online? Because we will want to watch Glee when it starts again. DH will also miss football when it starts again....but we'd rather spend the money on other things. |
| StellaYork |
Posted - Mar 10 2010 : 1:47:52 PM
I wouldn't pay for cable, but it's included in my (super cheap) rent, and my TV from 1980 is still working fine, and I can't wait 12 hours to watch Lost online, so... |
| matty471 |
Posted - Mar 09 2010 : 11:01:44 AM
I have been talking about it. I finally did it last weekend. I cut cable. This will save me $80K per month for basic cable.
"My parents live across the country and think we NEED it and will be deprived of entertainment if we don't have cable TV. (This coming from people who never had it until 5 years ago). Really? We are always doing something else besides TV I doubt we will even miss it except for some college football. People are FLABBERGASTED at the idea of not having cable TV. I am still calling Comcast tomorrow to cancel."
My mom called me on Sunday to find out how I was getting along without cable. SMH
I barely even watch all the cable channels. So I think that I will be fine
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| japhy |
Posted - Mar 09 2010 : 09:50:44 AM
I got rid of my cable because the shows I watch, which aren't many, are all available online for free. I just hooked my computer up to my TV and it works fine, at a fraction of the cost.
The unexpected benefit, I've found, is that having to make the extra effort to watch TV makes me a lot more selective about what I watch, and I only watch a couple hours a week, tops, anymore.
It used to be that when I got off work I'd have all these great plans for exercise and other productive things, but then I'd plop down in front of the TV "for just a second." And of course, I'd get sucked into hours of watching stupid, pointless crap.
Now I come home, my wife and I go riding our bikes, we make healthier meals instead of eating out, and go to bed early rather than continue to be chronically sleep deprived.
All of this has come about from getting rid of cable, so I view cutting the cord as the best thing I ever did. YMMV, of course. :-) |
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