PREACHING TO THE CHOIR!
Killing your Television is worth a million bucks!
Yep yep. It’s true. I save space in my apartment and lots of money.
I have no extra energy costs.
I have no cable bill.
I have very few movies to take up space.
I canceled Netflix.
I have no entertainment center.
I have no game consoles. (But the Wii does tempt me.)
I think I lead a pretty full life without it. I go out to meet my knitter friends. I read a LOT. (I think I’ve read 5 books in the last 2 months. Two John Sandford books, Snow Crash, Goldfinger, and one more.) I am always doing something and frankly, it’s exhausting. When I want to veg out, I play computer games for hours on a DSL line I’d have anyway. The game is an additional $75 a year subscription rate, but that’s what some people pay in a month for cable, and if I’m really into it, I’ll play over 10 hours in week.
There is TV all around us for free. I hit up the local bars to watch special stuff like the Red Sox winning the World Series! Friends have TV and host movie nights. I just don’t miss it.
Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE TV. I DO. I loved watching Victoria Beckham last night. She was cute, perky, and very funny. I don’t think she takes herself too seriously, after all she did send out a blowup doll as a decoy. But I don’t see myself catering my life around TV programs. Rarely do I run around trying to find a TV even when one of my friends is on Jeopardy. (That made me sad when no one could TiVO it for me and burn it to disc.) I am horrified at the number of people who make watching American Idol the highlight of their day or week. That’s completely insane.
I’ve gotten sucked into the drama, sure. I was rooting for Chris Daughtry, but for the longest time I had no idea what the deal was with Sanjaya and never bothered to find out. My friends have to clue me in sometimes, but no, my life does not lack for my ignorance. Nay, it’s better for it. I’d rather sleep than watch TV.
ps- My friend on Jeopardy is probably one of the biggest frugal influences in my life. But that’s a story for another day.
Teggy wrote:
If you do get the itch for some network tv, just about all the networks keep 1-3 of the most recent episodes of many of their tv shows available for free on their web sites. All that comes free with your internet connection. (and there’s also bitTorrent, if you are so inclined). Not that I’m getting rid of my tvs just yet!
Posted on 17-Jul-07 at 4:31 pm | Permalink
Single Ma wrote:
I didn’t think I could survive without cable. Since I moved, I never called the cable company nor do I have the urge. I can get all of the local channels, and like Teggy mentioned, we can also watch all major network TV shows on the computer.
Posted on 17-Jul-07 at 6:22 pm | Permalink
sfordinarygirl wrote:
At my friend’s bbq this weekend, she had TWO large screen tv’s with cable. I don’t recall sitting in front of the tv watching so many crappy psuedo wannabe celebs try to be famous again.
But not having TV makes me a more productive person. I read, write and walk everywhere which makes for interesting conversation fodder. And all those activities help me save and earn more money at the same time.
Posted on 18-Jul-07 at 12:58 am | Permalink
Kevan wrote:
Wait… Which game?
Posted on 18-Jul-07 at 3:32 pm | Permalink