Can we live without cable?

[SusanT]

DH returned to graduate school and after reviewing our finances, I've come to the conclusion that cable may be a luxury we just can't afford anymore. It's over $70 a month for digital cable. I'm ashamed to say that I find this really hard to give up. I love the Food Network, Six Feet Under, Sex in the City and the Sopranos. We can get friends to tape my favorite shows for us....

Help me realize that we can live without cable!

[Natasha]

Susan,

You can can can live without cable! Really, you won't miss it much, especially since it sounds like you and your husband lead full, active lives and have a lot of other interests. I grew up in a home with cable but didn't watch much TV, and now, at our place, we don't have it. Our new neighbour does cable and satellite stuff and was appalled to think of people who don't have/want either , but honestly, I don't miss it. As it is we're always wondering how everything we want to do is going to get done! (I also spent a while living without TV altogether, but don't think my SO would go for that option, even if he is not a big TV watcher...)

I should say, though, that a couple of times a year, there is something on cable that I do want to watch, and then I have my mother tape it for us. So with your friends onside to help, you shouldn't have any problems.

Good luck!
Natasha

[LaraW]

We don't have cable either. We never have, except in college when we needed it to get any reception on TV. We don't watch a lot of TV, and we figured that if we were spending money on it, we would feel the need to watch more TV to get our money's worth.

We went through a similar thing a few months ago in reviewing our finances. We gave up our cell phone, and although there are some times when it would be convenient, we really have not missed that too much.

[Molli526]

Do you have to have digital cable? We get HBO etc. having regular cable and it is much cheaper than digital. We were going through some tight times and DH and I decided to keep the cable b/c we can watch movies etc. on that instead of renting or going out to see them.

[KristaMB]

You can definitely live without it. When we pared down all the extras in preparation for my maternity leave, cable was the first thing to go. Sometimes I do miss it a little, but not having it has encouraged me to do so many other things. DH and I now spend a lot more time walking, reading or playing cards than watching TV.

[aggie94]

I didn't get rid of cable when I moved, but I did pare it down a bit. Back in Eugene, we had most of the movie channels - HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Starz, etc. But inevitably, there was still nothing ever on.

When I moved, I kept digital cable but didn't get any of the movie channels (and here, without movie channels, you also lose stuff that I didn't have to pay to get in Eugene, like True Stories). Anyway, I really thought I'd miss HBO because I love Six Feet Under, but I honestly find that I don't spend much time watching TV anymore. I still catch some of my favorites, like Friends and CSI, but you can get those without digital cable (maybe even without any cable). And like Natasha said, if you have friends that will tape stuff for you, you'll be fine. Besides, if you don't have cable, you won't really know what you're missing anyway!

Now, the cell phone is a different story...

[SusanT]

Molli - our cable service won't let you go back to analog cable after converting to digital. In fact, they don't offer analog as an option to new subscribers at all!

[Peggy]

You can definately live without cable!.. I have never had cable in my entire adult life. I very rarely watch TV (maybe 1 hour a week). Quite honestly, I am so busy doing other things (reading, cooking, exercising, spending time with DH and DD), that I don't have time for TV in my life. Cancel it!!!!

Peggy

[Meg O'C]

Hi Susan T,

Yes, you can live without cable! We have been living without it for almost a week now - unintentionally! We have not had cable since last Friday . . . and for us, no cable = no TV reception on any channel at all. Last Saturday we entertained so all day we ran around getting ready and that evening we socialized. We did not realize we were without it until Sunday. Monday DH called the cable company (I'll explain why I made him call later). The woman he spoke with calmly informed him that we had moved and our cable had been disconnected. Umm - no we didn't move! Believe it or not this actually went back and forth for a while, the cable lady telling DH that we had, in fact, moved!!?? Finally she checked and said they accidentally disconnected our cable on Saturday and someone would be out to fix the problem that day - well, that was Monday and now it's Friday and still no cable. Yes, I know yesterday was a holiday but still . . . When DH called again on Wednesday to inform them that two days had passed since our initial call and four since their screw up and still no cable, we were informed this had been elevated to the "supervisor" and would be resolved before end of day Wednesday and we would be given a $20 courtesy credit (I told DH that's not good enough) . . . again, it's Friday midday and still no cable!!

Now, I am incredibly ticked off at their stupidity and lousy customer service . . . but I don't actually miss the TV/cable at all. I've been reading more, DH studying more (he is in school part time). I've been going for walks in the morning and evening. We've spent more time on the computer and on the phone (so I can't wait to see what our phone bill looks like) . . . and, we've spent more time talking to each other which has been really great. We've gone to bed earlier which has been nice in more ways than one! I do miss "listening" to the Today show while I get ready in the mornings but I can honestly say that's about it. Oh, I also miss checking the news but DH is addicted to MSNBC and CNN and I can only watch those for about 20 minutes before I find they are just repeating themselves so I don't miss him having those on constantly!

I love the Sopranos but we stopped getting HBO about a year ago and I am debating whether to get it when the Sopranos starts up again or if I'll just ask a friend/family member to tape it for us.

Bottom line - YOU CAN LIVE WITHOUT CABLE! You may find yourself doing more of the things you love with the person you love when you don't have the distraction of cable TV!

Oh, and the reason I made DH call the cable company - I have zero patience left for them! When we moved into our apt two years ago they charged us to "run cable into the apt" since it had never had it before ($50). All they really did was tap us into the woman's cable downstairs and when she moved, we lost our cable (so they never really ran it to our apt - just charged us for it). I was livid and let them know it! We did get HBO for free (accidentally) when they came out to resolve the problem (about a week later) and I never told them to get rid of it since I figured free HBO made up for their unethical behavior .

Then when we moved to our home a year ago they did not disconnect our cable at the apt. So for two months we received two cable bills (one for the house and one for the apt). When I called to complain they said the guy they sent to disconnect cable at the apt did not have the right tools that day so it was not disconnected. They assured me that when he did go back out there to disconnect I would be credited for the apt cable bills for the two months. Umm - they did not even know it had not been disconnected at the apt until I called them and they looked into why I was receiving two bills, so when were they going to send someone back out there to disconnect . . . two months had already passed!? Ok, enough ranting! If I could convince DH, I would stop giving this company business in a heartbeat!!

[SusanT]

Meg - we have a similar litany of complaints about the customer service from our cable company, too. They have 1) cut off our cable when they were supposed to have cut off the neighbors 2) cut off our cable because some genius doing line work decided that we didn't have cable and put a restrictor on the line 3) promised credits for down service time then never processed the credit just to name a few incidents.

One of DH's professors had a story to top ours, though. She was at home and a cable guy knocked at her door and confronted her with a cable he had just disconnected from her house. He accused her of stealing cable and warned that she could be prosecuted and face possible jail time. They had never had cable at their house and she told him so. When her husband got home, she told him about it and he picked up the phone to call them and ..... there was no dial tone. Yes, they had cut their phone line!

[Meg O'C]

Susan,

Nice to know I'm not alone. Stuff like that just drives me crazy! If the company I worked for was that lousy, we would be out of business but alas, we have no choice when it comes to cable companies. If you want cable in my area, you must go with Comcast!

[boisewinesnob]

Susan,
I just want to pipe in to represent another "cable-free" household.
We gave up cable about 5 years ago when I came home from work to find our oldest son watching something totally inappropriate on a scrambled channel...well, he couldn't see it, but you could hear every word and it was something X-rated . So the next day the cable went.
I agree with others who have said we would probably be watching even more TV if we had it just because we are paying for it. Also, we are huge sports-watchers and would probably have the thing on constantly to see all the MLB games we are missing . I sometimes wish we had it to watch some of the cooking shows that are discussed here, but in reality I would just be wasting more time. Same thing with TLC, discovery channel, etc. I know it would be too much of a temptation to watch all the time and it would always be on.
And $70 a month !!! Think of all the cooking gadgets you could buy with just half of that every month

Suzy

[Wendy w]

You can live without cable! We have the basic (no HBO, etc.) and although I do watch it once in awhile, I can live without it. I would rather read a book, play on the computer, cook, etc. than sit around and watch tv. I occasionally turn it on for noise when I'm folding laundry, dusting, etc.

I like Sex and the City: I have videos of the 1st 2 seasons and the 3rd is on my wishlist at half.com.

Eva, your mentioning the cellphone made me remember the story that you told in Seattle about your friend who just got the cellphone and the weird calls and messages that you received while she was learning to use it.

[wallycat]

Of course you can live without cable!!!!
You'll probably get more done

Before I met DH, I had no cable and I thought having 6 stations to choose from was amazing...then DH came into my life ...as did his cable. I was overwhelmed....I got NOTHING done and watched too much TV (a favorite past-time to start with )....then DH decided we needed digital...and we have MORE stations...
to be honest, after a while, it's mostly reruns.
When we get back from one of our 3 week long motorcycle trips and I've realized I've missed all of "My shows" ... I don't even really feel like watching anything when we get home.
It's rather a freeing experience to realize I don't need to be tied down to a schedule some TV exec has created.

Dump the cable. You can always get it back if your withdrawl symptoms are too much to deal with

[aggie94]

Originally posted by Wendy w
Eva, your mentioning the cellphone made me remember the story that you told in Seattle about your friend who just got the cellphone and the weird calls and messages that you received while she was learning to use it.

LOL! I still crack up when I think about it. Luckily, she's apparently figured it out because I haven't gotten anymore obscene messages or calls in the middle of the night!

[Wendy w]

Originally posted by aggie94


LOL! I still crack up when I think about it. Luckily, she's apparently figured it out because I haven't gotten anymore obscene messages or calls in the middle of the night!

It is a great story and I have shared it a couple of times when speaking of people and their cellphones.

[valchemist]

we have been cable-less for about two years. we just get two local stations (abc and cbs).

I don't miss cable. it wasn't too hard to get used to its absence.

you can do it!!

[RobinC]

We very rarely even watch TV. I will indulge for Survivor and Friends, but very rarely. We had no TV for a couple of months and really didn't miss it. We bought a new TV because darling BF was feeling impulsive and we missed renting movies.

I would kind of like to have cable to watch Sex and the City and Queer as Folk. I do have seasons 1-3 of Sex and the City and Season 1 of QAF on DVD.

To be honest, I don't sit around thinking I should watch more TV. I've found many other things to fill my time with.

[Gail]

I've managed nearly 50 years without it...

[Curleytop]

We live an area where there would be no tv without cable. We have been on cable for 30 years! We DID NOT SIGN up for Digital, when it was made available. We get just the standard cable channels including many extra channels, but not HBO or the extra charge channels.
I have 3 tvs for the same price as one and also have my PC on cable.
It is about $70 a month. This is the only luxury we have. Cable connection to the pc is more important to me than the TV. We don't watch too much, we go to bed on the early side and get up early. I often tape some of the 10pm shows. (Law and Order etc).

[KValley]

Susan,

When I started grad school in 1993, DH and I decided to forgo cable because of the cost and the distraction. We haven't had it since and doing without has been one of the best decisions we have ever made.

With the exception of a 2 year period when we lived in Illinois and we were able to pick up ABC and NBC via the antenna, we've lived in areas where we can't even get local stations (or, we've never tried).

Yes, there is some excellent programming out there. But IMHO no television program can compare to a good book, a quality newspaper, a conversation over dinner, a long walk, just sitting on the sofa listening to a CD, or relaxing in complete silence. If I watch television from my hotel room when I travel, I am always astounded by the inanity and the noise, the violence, the stupidity that passes for journalism, so-called reality programming, talk shows. I've become a pretty harsh critic of the squawk box!

It's fascinating to me to see the different dynamics play out when my family gets together. At my dad's place or with any of my brothers, the men sit around the tv, watching whatever sports happens to be on. Doesn't matter the time of year or day, there is always SOME game SOMEWHERE. THe women hang out in the kitchen or on the patio.

When everyone congregates chez nous, there is no option but to talk together. IMAGINE! We even do really crazy things like play Pictionary or Taboo or card games.

I guarantee you, after a period of adjustment you will wonder WHY you ever lived with it in the first place!!

[SQ]

I have a story somewhat similar to Meg's. On July 3 I came home to no cable modem and no telephone. The cable co. (it's the same co for the modem and the phone) told my husband they had a big problem and were working on it. On July 4 he called again. Now they inform him that our town was unaffected by the problem and they will send someone out some time during the 4th of July! So, we wait home for the repairman, who shows up at about 4:30. How inept were they??? On the 3rd they came out to disconnect our neighbor (who'd moved out), and instead, or additionally, cut our service. So all that aggravation and NO PHONE b/c of their error. Aaaargh!

[food girl]

Originally posted by KValley
Susan,

Yes, there is some excellent programming out there. But IMHO no television program can compare to a good book, a quality newspaper, a conversation over dinner, a long walk, just sitting on the sofa listening to a CD, or relaxing in complete silence. If I watch television from my hotel room when I travel, I am always astounded by the inanity and the noise, the violence, the stupidity that passes for journalism, so-called reality programming, talk shows. I've become a pretty harsh critic of the squawk box!

It's fascinating to me to see the different dynamics play out when my family gets together. At my dad's place or with any of my brothers, the men sit around the tv, watching whatever sports happens to be on. Doesn't matter the time of year or day, there is always SOME game SOMEWHERE. THe women hang out in the kitchen or on the patio.

When everyone congregates chez nous, there is no option but to talk together. IMAGINE! We even do really crazy things like play Pictionary or Taboo or card games.

I guarantee you, after a period of adjustment you will wonder WHY you ever lived with it in the first place!!

Wow! I'm not the only one! We haven't had cable in 10 years. That's $8400 worth of cable!

Yes, you can live without cable! Looking for another reason to kick the habit? Research studies show that when you watch t.v. your metabolism slows down even slower than when you are sleeping! This may be one of the reason that t.v. watching is related to obesity - not to mention the gazillion food ads . . .

Go live life and quit watching it!!!

Lisa

[SusanT]

OMG - $8,400! I never thought of it that way. That's enough to buy a used car or go on several really great trips.

I did try to call tonight to cancel it, but their "24 hour customer service" told me to call back tomorrow morning. Grrrr...

Thanks for the advice, guys! I'm cutting the cord tomorrow.

[ColleenT]

I just got over living without cable for the last year while we were building our new house. We had two VERY snowy stations and quite honestly, since the reception was so bad, watching TV was not pleasurable. I did have cable run at the new house and now that we are moved in the cable is on. I like the luxury of having a clear picture when I do watch tv and watching the News/Today show when I am getting ready for work in the morning.

We are also on a tight budget, so we only got the basic cable, no premium channels, no digital cable box, and it cut the cost in half. It costs around $35 a month. Having all the channels, the digital box, and all that stuff is way too costly. Only going with basic cable was our way of compromising.

On a side note, another thing we are doing to watch our budget is cutting down from 2 cell phones to 1 and we try other ways to save money like making less trips to the store, carpooling together (as much as we can to save on gas, mileage, and toll $), and eating out less.

[dcornelius]

When I got divorced from my first husband who was a tv monger I swore I would never spend another dime on cable and would never let tv be that important in my life. (he would come in the house and turn on the tv then leave the room to change his clothes then come back and plant his butt on the couch and ask where was dinner and would I get him a coke). I have not had cable since and my poor children thought they were dying at first but they have grown up and lived through it and have become well adjusted human beings who lead productive lives for the most part.... I do wish sometimes I could pick up the Nebraska football games on cable and a few other things but not enough to get cable. I say ditch it!

[BarbaraL]

I'm another person who's never had cable. We live in northern NJ in a town in a valley between two hills, so most people have cable for the reception. We had a tall antenna mast with a rotator, so our reception's been pretty good (although Channel 9, home of sons of Star Trek, could be better). However, since Sept 11, our reception on Channel 4 (NBC) is bad, so we talk about getting cable (haven't done it yet, though).

[boisewinesnob]

Hey!
Since I don't have cable or a cell phone, what the heck have I been doing with all that money I'm saving???

[emily]

I don't even have a TV in Denver and I don't miss it at all. I spend time walking, reading and cooking dinner. My house is relatively clean most of the time. In Houston, my housemate has a TV and DVD player, but no cable and no local channels. Growing up there was always a tv on somewhere in the house. My dad claims he can't sleep without the tv on. Very early on I decided I never wanted to live like that. So maybe my perspective is skewed, but the only thing I really miss is The Simpsons

emily

[tanastaplo]

Another no-TV-at-all household here. We're fine without it. So, yes, I think you can THRIVE without cable.

Good luck!
Teddy