Why I Chose Not to Have Cable for a Year

     When I first moved here in South Carolina, I was researching for all cable companies for some tv entertainment.  Unfortunately, I only found one phone company and satellite dish companies in my area.  No cable companies here where I live.  At first, I was shocked at the prices.  I'll explain in a second.  Then I was frustrated at the limited resources in obtaining home entertainment.  Then, I thought, well since I haven't got a job yet, and I was planning on to be frugal for a year, (just to see how I do it along with my other fabulous plans for a year.) why not go without any television for a year. Sounds like a good idea (at least that's what the little angel was saying and the devil is screaming NO! on my shoulders.  They just won't be quiet and let me think at times.)
   
      I remember paying low prices for cable back in the 90s.  Now, lately in the past 10 years, phone companies and satellite companies have been competing against each other along with the cable companies. The prices have skyrocketed.  I can say I'm an expert on this due to paying my cable bills every month on my own for the past 10 years.  The prices have skyrocketed!! They are outrageous and ridiculous in my opinion.  Different companies give me different reasons for their prices.  I could go on with their reasons but it'll be too long on my blog.

     So, no TV for me this year. (the devil is sobbing right at this moment on my shoulder) Would I be able to survive it?  It was one of my main staples of entertainment at night in the past 20 years.  I'm thinking all of my favorite shows such as cooking shows, history channel, Supernatural (what can I say? I'm a geek. They have great music on there too!), Elementary, Defiance, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, Criminal Minds, Hell on Wheels, Bones, Falling Skies, Grimm, Haven, Blue Blood, Hawaii Five-O, and of course, football (as long it's Denver Broncos! Always been a big fan of Broncos since I was a girl!) See what I'm missing out?  It took a lot of strong will and lots of debating(especially with good Kat and bad Kat on my shoulders) to brush those shows aside. It won't be the end of the world right?  That was my thinking back in July '13.  I can always watch couple of rentals per month.  I pay on the average $4.00 for rentals per month.  Rentals are cheap plus I get deals via text messages from Redbox.  I don't do streamline especially with the internet I have here.  That's another story here.  Few of my friends have told me, I can streamline the shows from the computer.  At the time, I thought it would be a hassle and I did not want to pay a fee every month.  Remember, I was thinking frugal. I didn't realize there would be shows that CAN be free streamlining until a new friend here had given me my very first season edition of Dr. Who (with 9th/10th Dr.)  I was HOOKED!  I was researching for more Dr. Who to purchase more DVDs.  Come to find out, I can streamline for free since I'm a member at  Amazon.com Primetime.

     I'm able to save BIG on electricity.  I, now watch on the average between 6 to 8 hours per month.  As you can see my photos below, my flat screen isn't very big, approx. 24 inches(can't recall).  I've had this flat screen for 5 years now and still going strong. It really eats up electricity, believe it or not.  I have noticed I've saved at least 40% according to my electric bills.  I averaged them out from July to Oct. '13.  I had also watched a lot of movies during the last 2 weeks of July.  HUGE difference.  This makes me a HAPPY CAMPER.  This helps me to keep trucking on from mourning the loss of watching my favorite shows. Besides I can always streamline one or two shows when I don't find a good movie rental, right?(*bats at her bad Kat* "Hush!")

My 7 lb cat, Luna

     What do I do with all that extra free time for entertainment?  That's easy!  I have a deep love for books.  My fantasy is to have a BIG room with built shelves full of books from top to bottom.  I inhale, thirst, smell, crave, and devour books every chance I get.  Now, I can see you guys thinking, books are expensive. Not true!  I happen to have a Kindle Fire HD which I can download a lot of free books or at a discounted price as low as .99.  Believe it or not, researching the books through blogs have helped me find fabulous finds!  They were worth my time.  There are LOTS of free and discounted books that have between 4 to 5 stars ratings,  The only time I actually buy(not lately) hardback books are the ones I think are worth owning.  I'm very picky about that.  So on the average (I'm a fast reader) I would read 1/2 of the book or whole book depending on the day , book, how much free time I have. Believe me, I won't be able to read all the published books in the world before I die!

     I am able stop being a couch potato by exercising.  I've been walking 3 miles now(takes me approx. 1 hour)  I do this late evening when it's cooler.  My dog, Ewok is a happy camper and LOVES me more for this.  Who would've thunk?  I have started doing sit-ups and push-ups(still bad but am improving).  Will be looking into planking.  That interests me.  Will give you update on it.

     I'm able to research healthy recipes along with sinful recipes for me to try out.  I LOVE to cook, bake and canning.  Due to my frugal spendings, I don't eat out as much as I used to do.  I eat out maybe 1 or 2 times a month.  Not the end of the world now that I'm cooking delicious meals.  I've been losing weight slowly.  Yes, I'm overweight, but that's another story for another time.  

     There are many reasons why I chose not to have tv.  Getting involve with the community, discovered more about myself, exploring, and many more.  Yes, the little bad Kat is still trying to tempt me but she doesn't do often now.

     Back in those days, there was no such thing as tv.  People had to entertain themselves or go to bed early.  So why don't you give a try for a month and see how you like it?  Would love to hear feedback on it.

Did I mentioned how much cleaner my house is?