Guys, I did something crazy yesterday. Crazy for me at least.
I cut cable.
Goodbye Bravo. Goodbye MTV. Goodbye E!. We’ve had some amazing times together.
There was one main issue that prompted this. For the past 3 months, I had major issues with my cable bill incorrect. This is after years of bad customer service from the cable company and a horrible experience getting cable installed at my new place. But for the past 3 months, my online bill has not reflected what I actually owed. It says I owe less than I actually do, and then my next month’s bill says I did not pay all of my previous month’s bill. I spent 2 months trying to get this resolved. It has been SO annoying to deal with every month.
Then I recently got a bill for $300 where they finally got everything straightened out and my previous month’s charge was now on the current bill.
I paid the bill because it was what I actually owed, but paying $300 at one time just to be able to watch a few TV shows kind of made me sick inside. Actually, I started thinking about all of the things I could purchase with $300. Here are a few:
- 15 bottles of my favorite wine
- Tory Burch “York” tote, which is the most beautiful totes in all the land
- 37 bottles of nailpolish
- This John Hardy bracelet
- Sephora shopping spree!
- Dog palace for Lily
- Stick in my IRA, but what fun is that?
What made me the most mad is that this company is my only cable TV option, and I pay them $1920 per year even though they have *horrible* customer service. The principle alone made me want to cancel.
This happened a few weeks ago and since then, I’ve really started to think about whether I need to have cable TV in my life. When I look at the shows I watch (Real Housewives… Teen Mom (wtf?)), none of them are really adding much to my life. TV is such a huge time suck. It’s one thing if “my show” is on, but it’s another if I’m just mindlessly watching TV because it’s there. Which is what I do 75% of the time.
I talk to almost every one of my patients about the importance of being more active, yet many times I come home and plop myself down on the couch in the evenings. Very hypocritical.
I have the best intentions of getting things done after work (meal prep, finishing tasks like unpacking, reading, spending time on my hobbies, the list could go on and on) but sometimes TV time gets the best of me. It is time to cut the cord… literally.
I honestly think I will really miss cable but hopefully I will not regret this decision. I don’t think I will. Please keep me in your thoughts, haha!
– Sam
Have you ever cut cable?
Do you feel like you spend too much time watching TV?
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I cut cable a couple of years ago and I do not miss it at all! My husband and I decided to cut it when we were saving for our wedding. I think initially we were planning on restarting it after the wedding, but we realized that we don’t really miss it. We still have a netflix subscription and we just started amazon prime (still WAY cheaper than cable!), so we still have the ability to “watch tv” but we definitely watch way less than we used to.
That’s awesome that you don’t miss it!
Oh man.. that would annoy me too! Especially since you repeatedly tried to get it corrected and they couldn’t get it together on their end. We don’t have cable, but we do have Netflix and Amazon Prime through our Roku so it’s pretty much the same thing except cheaper than cable.
I’m another Teen Mom fan (no shame) and I just go to MTV’s website and watch it on my laptop while I’m cooking dinner, folding laundry, or even working out. That way I don’t feel like I’m wasting time. I also will schedule my gym time around the shows I want to watch on cable haha
I didn’t know you could watch Teen Mom online. Man oh man. Glad to find another fan out there so I’m not quite as embarrassed.
I haven’t had cable for a couple of years now, but I think we may be a little addicted to Netflix. We say it is our way to “unwind”, but sometimes I feel like the time could be spent so much better elsewhere.
I hear Netflix is very addicting. I’m trying to avoid it for the time being :)
A few months back, I lowered my cable down to the lowest offering possible. I found that I am usually entertained just fine with the basic channels and most of the other shows I like can be watched online. I’m saving about $60 since doing so, which is awesome!
Awesome!
I got rid of cable for a while but it didn’t decrease my TV watching, it actually might have increased it. Because with Netflix binge watching becomes veerrry easy!
Oh gosh, don’t tell me that!! I might look into that, esp when Fuller House comes out!
My husband and I would have a difficult time cutting cable because we need ESPN and Discovery Channel in our lives. Haha. At least a lot of the TV we watch is educational or sports related. I can’t believe how much cable costs where you live! Wow! We pay $80 a month for Direct TV. I would faint if I had to pay $300.
My bill was really $165/month and that includes DVR and internet. The bill that was $300 was one month’s bill and then a partial bill for the previous month due to their billing error(s). Maybe I need to look into a dish network!!
We’ve been talking about getting rid of our cable too. Everyone I know who has says they don’t even miss it!
I hope I don’t miss it! But I’m a reality TV junkie so we’ll see :)
How does watching TV work in the States? Here in NZ there are about 5 free channels (that get most things late) and then if you want more you get something called Sky installed. There are different packages with Sky that cost different amounts and give you access to different things. Sky Sport gives you some basic channels and then a lot of sport channels. Sky Movies gives you some basic channels and then lots of movies and so on. You can get as few or as many as the channels of the channels as you want. Is it the same with you guys or do you have to pay to watch any TV? I have never lived in a house where we have paid for Sky and don’t think I ever would. I do like watching certain programs on the free channels though, but there is so rarely anything good on that I wouldn’t miss it if it went a way!
I am probably the worst person to explain this. There are different cable companies depending on your location. Some places have competing companies but I’m out in a rural area so the choices are slip. My cable company offers basic packages and the prices depend on the package. What I previously had included 200 channels and digital cable. You can also pay extra for movie channels, extra sports channels, etc.
I live with my fiance and two other guys, so we have not cut cable – purely because of football :P. In other situations, I definitely would – I don’t watch enough to warrant paying those high prices. And so many shows are on Netflix/Hulu and such!
Haha yes, need those sports!
I haven’t had cable in years and I don’t miss it at all! If you’re talking about the same horrible cable company as I’ve had in the past…. I definitely don’t miss them at ALL. Netflix and Hulu are great alternatives if you need a quick fix of something :)
What are your favorite shows on Netflix and hulu? Bet we are talking about the same company :)
Good for you!
When my mom moved earlier this month she made the decision to not get cable. Instead she got a Chromecast and a Hulu Plus account. For just $7 per month she can still watch her favorite shows without paying for all of the other stuff. I think that was a really smart move… I think Adam and I would do that too but as sports fans we really like getting the premium sports channels. I do think someday the cable companies will be forced to allow us to choose only the channels we want instead of the 500 channels we never even flip to!
I hope cable companies are forced to do that. The only channel I really religiously watch is Bravo, and I’d honestly pay for just that one channel.
I have cable right now because my builder gave me one free year. Once that’s up, I’m not sure what I’m going to do. Probably threaten to cancel and get them to lower my rate because that’s what I always do. hahahaha.
If that doesn’t work, I have other TV watching methods. It may not entirely cut down my watching, but it’ll reduce my bill :)
Haha, that’s what I’ve always done, too! It’s been a week and the reality of not having cable is starting to set in!! Hopefully I’ll survive.