Welcome to my first addition of Frugal Fridays which is hosted over at one of my favorite blogs Biblical Womanhood. Check out this blog it's awesome.
Today I thought I would not post about the things I am already doing to save money but something I am considering doing to save money. We are thinking about ditching the satellite TV! This would mean a HUGE change for me.
You have to understand where I am coming from. When I grew up we always had the tv on. We actually had a television in every room when I was a teenager. I like to have the tv on all the time...sometimes just for the background noise. It's not like it's not noisy enough around here!!! I guess it's just a crutch I have.
So if we change our land line and drop satellite we could save ourselves right around $100/month. That's HUGE! Just this ONE little thing could save us this much. We still have an antenna so we can get SOME stations. That should be good enough right?
The problem is I feel like I might be losing something "important." Maybe that's why it's best that we lose it for a time. That's just wrong to think that way.
I am worried about what the kids will do without tv. Terrible right? Maybe this will be an amazing thing for our family. Maybe this will help us to connect with each other more often. Maybe this will give my husband and I time to talk more. Maybe this will spark my children's creativity. Maybe they will drive me crazy! Maybe after a month we will be ready to go back to satellite!?
I would love to hear from anyone who has done this as a money saving step for your family. How has this worked for you? Any suggestions on ways to still get some television in without paying for it?
4 comments:
Hi! I found your wonderful blog through Crystal's at Biblical Womanhood.
We made the switch to no TV when we moved 6 months ago. For the most part, we don't miss it. Sometimes I feel a little bit lost when I don't watch the news, or when other people talk about the latest shows. However, I don't think I've lost much because I can typically watch those things on my computer if I really wanted to.
Our kids are almost 7 and 3. It was a switch for them. What we have tried to replace it with is videos from the library, and other videos we have that we use for cartoon time. They really like Tom and Jerry and others like that, and we can watch without commercials!
Where we are in the Northwest if we do not have basic cable we cannot get any channels. Kind of a bummer.
But really, we are so glad we made the switch. We listen to the radio more and read books out-loud. The kids help me search online at the library website and we put all kinds of stuff on hold to pick up later. We also make use of the Free Red Box Code on Mondays. We take turns (Mom and Dad and then the kids) for the videos. I post the Red Box codes every Monday if you want to try it out.
Anyway, I hope that helps. My advice is go for it! Make a family meeting time if your kids are old enough and explain why you want to make the change. Have them help you brainstorm what you will replace it with. Good luck!
I really like your blog and I added you to my blog list so that I can keep up with your great ideas!
Jane
Alltogetherbeautiful.blogspot.com
go ahead and apply for your converter box coupons, there is a waiting list.
like your previous commenter, we just decided not to hook it up when we moved. to see how long we would last. its been over 4 months and we're more than content with it!
the converter box will help get extra channels and is necessary come July!
We cancelled our DirTV subscription and are saving the same, $100. (And did they try and cut us a deal to keep it!) I'll have to tell ya, I don't miss it one bit. I thought I'd miss a couple of favorite shows we watched every week, but I really don't.
We have plenty of dvds and use the library.
You can watch shows online as well, but I haven't even done that.
My daughter is 7 and hasn't missed it either.
I think it's just like any other habit, just takes a little time to adjust.
I found your blog through moneysavingmom, and this post sparked my interest. Our little family hasn't had tv service in over three years. We don't miss it. My advice...do it. Just ditch the tv. We still watch one favorite show online and it's no problem at all. And hulu.com has a ton of free tv shows and movies to watch online. I don't think we'll ever have tv service again.
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