Quitting Cable – The Deed Is Done
After some months of deliberation, I finally canceled cable. For those that don’t know the background, I put out a request for some support while I was considering dropping the tube in July. Then I posted some reasons why I should cancel cable backed by studies, and then finally provided a small blogosphere roundup on the issue.
The support was tremendous, and in August I got the nerve to cancel cable and buy an AppleTV. I still wanted to catch a handful of my favorite shows. To my dismay, my TV does not have component video jacks to support AppleTV! I searched for a solution and found a converter that would allow AppleTV to work with RCA jacks, but that added another $150 to the solution. Needless to say, the solution died.
In late November, the issue finally surfaced again and I was ready to cancel the cable again. This time I was ready to pull plug and even forgo the few shows that I watched. With the support of The Happy Rockette, I called Comcast. I held firm and canceled cable while saving a $100 across our phone, cable, and internet bills. We still have basic channels for reception sake, but hopefully the TV will be off mostdays. I will report back on how things have changes in a few weeks.
If you want to know what finally caused us to cut the cable, it wasn’t just one thing. It was the sum total of multiple inputs that lead to the courage to finish the job. Here is what I think contributed:
- Discussing the issue and attempting to quit in July. Without that, I don’t know if would have been able to follow through. It is so easy to find a reason to keep the cable on. I mean, we have to watch that next episode of Heroes.
- Having full support and encouragement of your spouse really goes a long way.
- The responsibility for protecting and raising our son. Even at 27 months, he still doesn’t watch TV for more than 5 minutes at a time, but we did. Now the TV won’t be on, and I will teach and play with my son more.
- A healthy respect for the amount of money spent over the years and in the future. Thousands!!!!
- Filling my life with more important tasks. I found that I often would watch TV for an hour or so which caused me to go to bed without something I wanted accomplish undone. Ultimately, I want accomplish the other tasks more than I wanted to watch TV. The addiction often clouds that judgment though.
- The Hollywood writer’s strike. It really did provide perspective on how much our culture is wrapped up in TV.
- I knew that once I broke the addiction, I won’t miss it.
If anyone else is considering the same thing, feel free to post a comment and get some support.
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I am THIS close to getting rid of our satellite television service –
I can’t really find much worth watching, but I do enjoy football and other sports –
Hmmm…
Decisions, decisions…
NCN
(Good for you, btw!)
Good for you!!
We have been cable free for at least 6 years. The result is, we don’t spend our time in front of the tube. We are always amazed when we visit relatives; they have the TV on ALL THE TIME – even when no one is watching it. In our home we like to promote more productive use of time.
I like Heroes, it comes in pretty good in our area.
Bravo to you for giving up the cable in order to spend more time with your family!
I gave away my television a few years ago and have not regretted it a bit. If I have the urge, I could always watch some PBS documentaries on my computer, but I am not into sports or dramas or sitcoms, and so I do not feel like I am missing anything.
Can you imagine what would happen if everyone stopped watching TV? People would actually TALK to one another, get outside and play more, become more involved in their communities.
Way to go! Cold turkey. After awhile you won’t even miss it. We really need to get back to basics. Maybe exercise a little. Introduce ourselves to our family. I agree with Shela. Let’s talk!
ata boy Rock! we’ve learned to love life apart from TV (minus our endulgence w/ the Office – though we’ve missed that for the past 6 or 7 weeks, too.). The one thing I’ve found myself saying, though, is ‘I wish I could occasionally watch sports.’ Well, our high speed internet provider just offered us a package that’s actually slightly less than we’re currently paying and gives us ESPN360.com, which I don’t fully understand yet, but seems to offer some access to sporting events…you may want to check it out.
We just canceled our cable this month too for pretty much all the same reasons you did.
My wife and I just waste too much time in front of the TV and not enough time doing other things to enrich our lives.
Neither of us want to raise our future kids to be addicted to television.
laketrout,
Hopefully the canceling cable helps change your habits, because those habits are what will really change our lives. The cable is often just a symptom, but canceling is a great show of discipline that break the cycle! Great job. I look forward to seeing how it helps us both.
Thanks for the support guys/gals! I will let you know how it is going in a later post, but so far the amount of TV we are watching has been drastically reduced!
I gave away my television a few years ago and have not regretted it a bit. If I have the urge, I could always watch some PBS documentaries on my computer, but I am not into sports or dramas or sitcoms, and so I do not feel like I am missing anything.The cable is often just a symptom, but canceling is a great show of discipline that break the cycle! Great job.
I’ve been in your shoes for a while now. I just can’t bring myself to quit cable. But it’s hurting my pocket and I know I have to make a decision soon enough. Needless to say, I learned some stuff here. Thanks.
It comes pretty good in our area…In our home we like to promote more productive use of time…The cable is often just a symptom, but canceling is a great show of discipline that break the cycle!
Aside form the financial savings, I totally share your comments about spending more time with family/your son as a result. He can only benefit from that! Thanks for taking the time to write this post and share your experience.