Here's how it happened: the cable company was running that “if you steal cable, you are the worst person in the world” commercials and, having just paid another cable bill, I was doubly insulted. This happened to coincide with “National Turn Off Your TV Week” so that's what we did. It was painful, but after I got out of the habit of watching, something weird happened when I turned it back on... it seemed noisy and empty.
I knew that unrewarding feeling would disappear, and I would eventually be lulled back into a tv stupor, so instead, I called the cable company and cut the cord. Yep.
At first, it was amazingly difficult. I felt lonely. Undirected. The house seemed too quiet. But oh, how nice to have an extra 50 bucks a month. That's 600 a year. Since we had poor reception without the cable, we quit watching local tv too.
Saving the amount we were spending on cable was a big incentive to make the switch. But by doing this, we actually ended up saving even more. Without our daily exposure to television commercials, we no longer have a list of things we should get, and are getting by with what we have just fine.
By the way, we haven't completely disconnected... we can watch shows online. There are some commercials, but not so many, and at the moment, many of those are for causes rather than stuff, so I am good with that. So we still watch, just not nearly as much.
Posts
Congrats on your new found freedom! When I was out on my own I went without a TV for years. I missed out on the Survivor craze (thank goodness) and had no idea what everyone was frothing at the mouth about. In my home we make a huge effort to mute the commercials, which helps. But, given my druthers, I'd unplug the whole thing and call it good.
ReplyDelete