Cancel the cable? A budget related question.

[pigletto]

I would love some opinions on this
Hubby is going back to school to get an engineering degree. We can handle it, but finances will be tight for the next five years.
I was thinking today that I would like a family gym membership. It would cover swimming lessons, gym time, kids programs, babysitting services if we want to take a class.. e.t.c.
The cost would be covered if we cancel our digital cable. Seems like a no brainer. I just haven't lived without cable before and it's hard to let it go.
So .. I would love your thoughts on this.
Are any of you t.v. free?

 

[EclecticWAHM]

I would love some opinions on this
Hubby is going back to school to get an engineering degree. We can handle it, but finances will be tight for the next five years.
I was thinking today that I would like a family gym membership. It would cover swimming lessons, gym time, kids programs, babysitting services if we want to take a class.. e.t.c.
The cost would be covered if we cancel our digital cable. Seems like a no brainer. I just haven't lived without cable before and it's hard to let it go.
So .. I would love your thoughts on this.
Are any of you t.v. free?

We haven't had cable for 15 years now. Haven't missed it a bit. We can afford it, but it's just not where we want to spend our money. Even at just $50 a month, that's $9,000 we haven't wasted in the last 15 years. It's all about what your priorities are. There are other ways to squeeze money out of the budget, but this was a no-brainer for us.

 

[Cheryllynn74]

Have you tried pricing a satellite service like Dish Network or DirecTV? They can be cheaper sometimes that regular cable. DH and I canceled ours for awhile a few years ago because I realized I was mainly watching local channels like ABC, NBC, FOX, etc. We got an antenna and were perfectly content. I eventually added it back to our budget, but signed up with Dish Network at a pretty cheap rate.

 

[D&DDisney]

Happy to say that we've been cable/dish free for 15 years now. Best money saved!!!

 

[pigletto]

We haven't had cable for 15 years now. Haven't missed it a bit. We can afford it, but it's just not where we want to spend our money. Even at just $50 a month, that's $9,000 we haven't wasted in the last 15 years. It's all about what your priorities are. There are other ways to squeeze money out of the budget, but this was a no-brainer for us.

This is exactly how we are feeling. I feel like there is too much t.v. in this house anyway. Why not replace it with activity and experience?
It is just new territory for us.

 

[labdogs42]

See, I toy with this idea, too, but I don't want to give up my cable internet!

 

[kamik86]

We are thinking about it.

Here you can still have cable internet without paying for the TV (There is NO way we would give up the internet). I also want to give up the home phone that we only got because of the deal with the cable package (that has now expired and the price went up over $50 a month)

I'm not sure how much I would miss the cable. I didn't have it when I moved to my first apartment a few years ago but that was in a bigger city so network channels still came in with an antenna. That doesn't work out in the middle of no where. The way I figure it is we could always add it back if we are miserable...

 

[kaytieeldr]

Would it be possible for you to cancel the cable, and replace it with free activity and experience? Walking, hiking, jogging, biking if you already have bikes... is there anywhere to swim free and safely in your area, and I realize that would just be in the summer?

That way, instead of replacing one expense with another, you'd have that little extra money every month to use for something else - treat, emergency fund, whatever. Just a thought.

 

[sjs314]

I have been living without cable or any form of pay tv for the past 4 years since buying my condo. I wanted Direct TV but when they came out I had no line of sight because of all the trees, so I decided to just make do.
I am tired of listening to friends of mine and relatives complain about their money troubles and yet they pay out $100+ for TV every month. Seems to me that is the easiest item to cut in a household budget.
I do fine with an indoor tv antenea with a booster for the signal and now that we have gone to digital the channels are crystal clear.
Do I sometimes miss not being able to see certain programs? Of course but I enjoy the money I save more

 

[DawnM]

We are considering investing in a more expensive whole house antenna in the near future.

It may cost close to $200 for the one we want, but we live in an area where there are a lot of trees and hills and a regular antenna isn't picking up anything.

Even at $200, the savings over a year will be almost $1000.

I am also reading about alternatives to the DVR that won't cost a monthly fee.

Right now we are keeping our Directv, but we may be tossing it before long.

Dawn

 

[Judique]

I would love some opinions on this
Hubby is going back to school to get an engineering degree. We can handle it, but finances will be tight for the next five years.
I was thinking today that I would like a family gym membership. It would cover swimming lessons, gym time, kids programs, babysitting services if we want to take a class.. e.t.c.
The cost would be covered if we cancel our digital cable. Seems like a no brainer. I just haven't lived without cable before and it's hard to let it go.
So .. I would love your thoughts on this.
Are any of you t.v. free?

Not exactly tv free, but we just have basic $15 cable. That gives you very little here, other then great reception. However our internet is cable and we are not about to give up internet. I priced giving up the basic and found that the combo service of cable and internet was the same as internet by itself. So I'll keep basic. I do get extra channels on one tv because the cable company hasn't been able to screen them out yet. Just the way it is...not my doing.

 

[pigletto]

Thank you for your ideas everyone
If I lived in the U.S. I would use Hulu for sure, and just download the shows we like for free. But there's no access in Canada.

As for getting rid of it and replacing it with free outdoor activity... that is a great idea and I know that would work for the summer and fall. But the winters here worry me a little. I suppose we could do it until then though.
I can get my cable internet on it's own so we wouldn't give up that.

 

[Swmr359]

Are any of you t.v. free?

I grew up television free (not just cable free);we didn't even have the actual television until I was in high school and even then it could only be used to watch movies. Instead of watching TV we were reading or outside running around. I didn't start watching TV until I went to college. My parents are still television free, but they do watch shows on hulu or on dvd.

 

[MMluvsWDW]

We just did this and here's what we did. I called cable (we have cable internet) and told them I wanted to cancel. They told me my internet prices would be going up if I canceled my cable and that basic local TV was 10 a mo, same as my internet would go up. So we got rid of everything but the 10/mo basic locals and haven't looked back! I was so nervous, I put it off and put it off. However, there isn't a show that I watched on TV that I can't watch on my computer and I'm finding that now that I'm watching on my computer I am watching less and less of the shows I watched on TV. We do have a subscription to netflix though and can stream for free for 10/mo. Might be something to look into. Go for it! You can always turn cable back on!!

 

[chicagoshannon]

I grew up with just an antenna. It was no big deal.

DH are in disagreement on this very subject right now. lol Give up the cable and just hook up your laptop to the tv. You can see everything you'd ever want to watch that way anyway.

 

[ilovebassets]

Get rid of the cable! You'll find it hard for about a week at most, then you'll be amazed that you ever paid for that crap. I wouldn't have cable in my house even if it was free. You would have to pay me to pump cable tv into my home.

 

[mhsjax]

I guess I am the odd man out. There is no way that I would give up my cable, well, Direct TV. WE have given up a lot of stuff in order to save money. This is one area that I won't budge on.

WE are so busy during the day with 3 kids and their activities and running them around, plus all of their games on the weekends that I just love to sit back and watch TV at night. WE never watch local channels. My oldest watches Nat; Geographic, history channel and military channel and has learned a lot from them. I won't take that away. Plus I love my HGTV and BRAVO tv.

Anyway to each their own, but give me TV or give me death. lol

 

[shortbun]

I grew up with just an antenna. It was no big deal.

DH are in disagreement on this very subject right now. lol Give up the cable and just hook up your laptop to the tv. You can see everything you'd ever want to watch that way anyway.

We have friends doing this. They love it and they are saving a ton of money.
I put the money out for cable and DVR because I go to bed so early that the good stuff is on while I'm sleeping. I've paid off all my debts, including my mortgage. Cable is my one guilty pleasure.

 

[mrsklamc]

Trent Hamm writes a great blog called thesimpledollar.com, and he is a huge advocate of this not only because of the expense but also because:

1)Time is money and you can kill a huge amount of time watching TV.
2)They do healthier and better things instead of watching TV like play games as a family or make dinner together.
3) He doesn't like exposing his kids (or himself) to the advertising.

 

[tlmcma]

I too would like to get rid of cable. I think I would be happy just watching local channels and using hulu. The only problem is that my husband insists that he would have no way to watch sports - like the Red Sox and Patriots games? He says those are only aired on cable channels. Is this true? Does anyone know of any way we could get rid of cable and my husband could still watch live sporting events?