Cancel the cable? A budget related question.

[kaytieeldr]

Hmm... if you can do that for baseball, it may be possible to do the same thing for the other pro sports as well? Go to the official/main sport website and see about signing up for ALL game broadcasts online for one set price?

 

[Disney Vegas]

I don't know if anyone suggested this, but we had to and will have to cancel our cable again here very soon and it's fine because I watch all of my shows on the computer. Every basic station NBC, ABC etc. have full episodes on their websites except CBS...they refuse. But, that was a lifesaver for me.

 

[leebee]

We like cable. Without cable in our area we'd have no reception at all, and we enjoy watching some shows, news, and sports programs. We turn on the TV when there is a show on that we all want to watch, and we turn it OFF when we have other things that take priority. Our little on/off switch works quite well, and we use it a lot

 

[mommy2_3]

we just downsized our cable. our bill was about $300 a month for cable, internet, and phone. we had all the features on phone, inculding long distance, we had 4 DVR's and 2 movie channels along with extra kids channels. we are now down to paying $100 a month for cable, internet and phone (about to be less cause we are getting rid of our house phone now that we have a prepaid cell) we have 1 DVR and basic cable. if there isnt anything my kids will watch on tv we pop in one of their dvds. they dont watch much tv anyway, they are to busy playing or running around the house.

 

[Spacepest]

Our house has been cable free for the past 5 years.

The last 2 years we had cable we noticed we were DVR'ing everything, as we never had the time or schedule to sit down and watch our favorite programs live. And we haven't watched free, normal TV channels in years--our area gets horrible reception that makes them unwatchable.

We can afford cable, but for us it was a waste.

Here is what we do instead:
1. High speed internet. We can download programs from various websites to watch. (Plus I can read the local newpaper on line. )

2. Public library membership-our public library is godsend. We can borrow DVDs from them for free. Alot of the programs we were watching on History, Discovery, and Learning Channel have DVD releases that our public library holds in their collection. We soon were back to watching our old favorite programs minus commercials. So check your public library--you might be surprised what they have available!

So far, we have no reason to subscribe to cable again. Nor would I want to, especially when we start having children. I do not like what "children's programming" has become. I don't want my children watching shows with child/pre teen actors with attitudes they will imitate, skimpy clothing, etc. Nor do I want to have to listen to their "gimme's" after watching tons of commercials. Its easier to monitor children's TV watching if there is no public or cable stations available 24/7.

 

[buckler]

I don't know if anyone suggested this, but we had to and will have to cancel our cable again here very soon and it's fine because I watch all of my shows on the computer. Every basic station NBC, ABC etc. have full episodes on their websites except CBS...they refuse. But, that was a lifesaver for me.

CBS puts full episodes of some of their shows online but not all of them. For example, Big Bang Theory and the Mentalist are not online but How I Met Your Mother and The Good Wife are available online.

 

[crewmatt]

Really look at what shows/etc you like to watch. Then check, a lot of shows (but not all) are available online via hulu for free. You can also netflix or blockbuster online for fairly cheap. These would obviously require a highspeed internet connection (which depending on your area might come with cheap/free basic cable). The wife and I saved money by dropping our landline telephone.

 

[Soben]

We went cable-free 6 months ago and it is fine. It was a little bit of an adjustment at first. I didn't watch that much myself, and I even missed it. If you can white-knuckle through the first few weeks, you'll be fine. The summer is the best time to start since there are so many other things to do. We did it in the fall....

 

[StephMK]

I have been toying w/the idea of giving it up for months now but know I will get resistance from my family. I love the suggestion to rent shows from the library. They love Animal Planet & some others, I will have to see what is available. I know we all use it to just plop down & veg when there are so many other things my family could be doing.

Has anyone had any experience w/ESPN3.com? One major block for us is DH's love of sports. According to the site, it runs through any ISP that provides the service. Cox is ours & they do. I can't really tell though if this site provides all the regular sports. Baseball & college basketball are the 2 big loves. PP, thanks for the mlb.com suggestion, I'm checking that out too.

We have an old computer so there would be some expense to set up roku or a computer but still might be worth it.

 

[TxRabbit]

2. Public library membership-our public library is godsend. We can borrow DVDs from them for free. Alot of the programs we were watching on History, Discovery, and Learning Channel have DVD releases that our public library holds in their collection. We soon were back to watching our old favorite programs minus commercials. So check your public library--you might be surprised what they have available!

I do not like what "children's programming" has become. I don't want my children watching shows with child/pre teen actors with attitudes they will imitate, skimpy clothing, etc. Nor do I want to have to listen to their "gimme's" after watching tons of commercials.

ITA with the local library! I LOVE ours!

I also agree with the child/preteen shows, but I want to mention, when we DID have the satelite, and DS was a youngun, we really liked the Noggin channel. They had some really cute shows. The network doesn't have advertisements. It's more like PBS with "ads" for the other shows on the network. Just as an FYI. I don't know if you can catch those shows online. I know they have them on tape/DVD.