Okay, "need" is a strong word in this case. We don't need cable. Nobody really needs cable, but it sure is a nice little luxury! As some of you may recall, I blogged about our decision to cut cable from our lives earlier this year. We were paying $100 a month in cable because our provider raised the prices in the second year of your contract, and that was just a tough pill to swallow. $1200 a year in cable seemed a little ridiculous, so we decided to go without it as soon as our contract was up.
For those of you who have thought about cutting cable but weren't sure if you could face the break-up, I thought I would give a little insight on our experience sans cable for the past 6 months. First of all, we did purchase an antenna from Amazon. It cost us $60, and it was a small, flat object that allowed us to get all of the main channels (FOX, NBC, ABC, CBS). I could watch my favorite shows real-time, and the picture quality was pretty darn impressive. Other than that, it was streaming central. We have Hulu Plus (which we are dropping- there are not substantial differences between that and regular Hulu that I have found) and Amazon Prime. So how has it been without cable these last six months? Well, we survived, but barely. Kidding, kidding. I really don't miss it at all, but let's break it down:
Pros
Save $100 a month
Watch less TV
Most of your favorite shows can be watched on Hulu/Netflix/Amazon Prime
Cons
No More DVR
Can't watch shows live
There really isn't a good way to watch sports
And that last con, my friends, is why we are getting cable again. It's ironic, because we couldn't care less about baseball, hockey, basketball, or the NFL. We just aren't big sports people, but we love watching the Aggies play. College football is our jam, and we get overly excited to host football parties and cheer on the Aggies each week. Texas A&M football is like happiness on a television screen. It is for us, at least. This picture represents the stuff we live for come late August: football parties with more food than any humans should ever consume in one sitting.
If you are thinking about going without cable and don't care about
sports, I would encourage you to take the plunge. Almost every show can
be watched online nowadays, so really the only thing you are losing is
the DVR. As for us, we need the Aggie football, so welcome back, cable.
22 comments :
I am SO excited for Aggie football!! And yes...you NEED cable for Aggie football season!!!!!!
BTW...We have directv, and it's cheaper than regular cable. If you have a friend that has it, you can use them as a referal, and both of y'all can get a discount on your bill.
This post makes me laugh SO hard because we are just alike. We've been doing fine without cable... we're never able to watch shows live anyway, so catching later online is ideal for us. HOWEVER, football. HOW ON EARTH is a girl supposed to watch her local team real-time without cable?! It's depressing. We still can't justify cable, but we're thinking about NFL Sunday Ticket or something absurd like that... but then we still don't get college ball. We both enjoy watching Mizzou and the KC Chiefs (okay, so Dan doesn't actually like sports at all, but I force him to watch those two). Dilemmas.
Our cable bill is slightly ridiculous because my husband has to have like 45 different sports channels-- which is the main reason we could probably never get rid of cable. I think I could do without it, though it would be kind of a bummer not to be able to DVR shows anymore!
My boyfriend and I went without cable for a year and I totally agree that it's survivable but so nice to have again. We just used netflix and then got an insane deal with dish network that we couldn't pass up...that expires in October but I think we'll renew for the sake of football & college basketball just like y'all.
I need my Bravo shows so I couldn't do it.
Sports is the only reason why we don't cut our cable..! My fiancé loves sports.. Mostly the NFL.. Haha
College football and the bachelor are totally keeping me from giving up cable. I wish they had small packages that you could like pay by the hour because there is no way we watch as much tv as we are paying for!
We are sports people so no cable for us is not going to happen haha. Although not having the bill would be nice. :)
We ditched our cable right after I had my daughter 3 years ago. Unfortunately, we still pay about $100 a month for internet and the basic channels. But we're saving $30-60 without having those extended channels. With Netflix, I do not miss cable at all, and now I really enjoy having Netflix dates with my hubby nearly every night. We love football too, but NFL so we still get all the games that play on CBS/FOX, etc. Sunday afternoons are tough on the off season!
We have not had cable since getting married and we love it! We watch shows real time, or we get movies for free from the library across the street from our house. We also have our favorite shows on DVD and watch those regularly too-Friends, Grey's Anatomy, Home Improvement to name a few! When football season rolls around we watch games at friends houses or listen on the radio!
John absolutely loves Alabama football so I'm not sure how not having cable will work this fall. He might be plugging his computer up to the TV and watching it through the internet... if that's possible. We'll see how that goes.
The only reason we still have cable is to watch sports. We've been displaced Hokies (though North Carolina wasn't bad because of all the ACC schools) since 2010, and we need Virginia Tech football.
They don't broadcast Murray State games on cable or else I would be dying for it. (The year that we were actually on ESPN was the year my family had the extended ESPN package, though!)
And precisely the reason we have cable. If Ryan Stewart didn't have sports, he would surely perish. That being said, I was thinking about cancelling it while he's gone but I wouldn't get Housewives or Kardashians in real time. Just. Can't. Do. It.
But seriously, should I do it?! Uhhhh... :\
My husband and I have the basic cable plan right now and it's still too expensive for us, so we have been talking about dropping it. I don't know if we'll end up making the plunge or not. lol
We don't have cable and probably won't ever get cable but if Nate (or I) were big on sports I'm sure we'd be singing a different tune. ;-)
I'm with Emily… I've considered it but how in the world would I keep up with the Kardashians, Jeff Lewis and Teresa Giudice?! The struggle is real.
I love TV. Nick could live without it, but I'm addicted. Glad to hear you are getting cable in time for the fall sports season!
~Ashley @ A Cute Angle
acutelifestyle.blogspot.com
That is awesome! We got rid of cable in 2011 and we haven't looked back. Sadly, that hasn't stopped us from marathoning on netflix! :)
This is our struggle too! We cut cable and bought an antenna, Roku, and Apple TV. It was an investment but I have to say these devices paid for themselves. The only bad thing is not being able to watch our beloved Alabama play, when it's on ESPN3 or some other channel we can't get normally.
We are most likely going to have to get cable again soon too. It's for the good of this household!
I've been meaning to ask if y'all are ready for Aggie Football Season (the BEST season of the year!). We have DirecTV, and I called to upgrade our package so that we could get the SEC Network. They gave me a great deal, and our monthly bill is lower after the upgrade than it was before upgrading!
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