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Cable TV: Worth the Cost or Waste of Money?
Friday, June 08, 2012 by Kathy Murdock from Thrifty Mom's Two Cents
As we have been looking at ways to cut our costs around the house lately, I’ve been considering making a huge decision: cutting our cable.
It’s not that we watch a lot of television. I generally don’t turn it on until after the kids are in bed, around 8 PM. I have about three channels I love to watch; the rest I rarely do. Our package is bundled with Internet and phone, so we supposedly get a ‘deal’, although it’s hard to think of it as a ‘deal’ when the whopper of a bill arrives in the mail each month. And the last time I called about cutting cable and phone and going to Internet only, the fee was ridiculous because of this supposed ‘deal’ we get when we bundle.
I've called other cable companies in our area. One we had when we first moved here; after the initial year, the bill skyrocketed. The second company I've heard poor comments about from many neighbors, so I don't even want to try them. We've stayed with our current company for quite a few years, and every time we call to downgrade we end up getting something for free for several months, which really shows me how overpriced it is in the first place. And that really makes me feel the urge to cut it out completely.
But then there are those shows I love . . .
I have one main reservation for going to a cable-free home: I have specific shows I enjoy; and while I could watch some through our computer (which is now hooked up to our television for this purpose), not all channels run new episodes through video on the Internet.
At this point, this is really the only reason I haven't canceled. My kids don’t get to watch much television, so they wouldn’t miss it that much, and after quite a bit of research I feel we could get enough to watch if we signed up with Hulu.com or Netflix.com. We get movies from Red Box or Blockbuster Express, and with the computer hooked up to our television we can stream full episodes of shows if the networks put them online. When I look at it this way, I realize we are paying a ridiculous fee to watch the few shows we enjoy each night. And if we get rid of cable, I’m guessing after a few weeks’ time I probably won’t miss it at all.
But. (There’s that word!) What if I do?
Do you have cable? Do you feel it’s worth the cost or a waste of money?
Kathy Murdock
Kathy Murdock works as a full time writer and web designer. Recently planted in the middle of the deep south from the busy streets of Los Angeles, when she's not coding Wordpress websites or writing about women in business and thrifty motherhood, Kathy spends time ...Read More
