Monthly Archives: July 2010

Less TV = More Money

_Here is a blog post I did for a blog contest a while back. I didn’t win, of course. Apparently they were looking for someone who would write about switching dog food brands to save money and not fabulous sarcastic witty writers who come up with less mainstream ideas on how to save money. Have I whined enough and convinced you I am being a sore loser? Either way, I miss writing blogs and came across this and felt it was fun to share even though it was not good enough to win a contest on ways to save money- I am glad I submitted though since I always feel I will fail 100% of the time if I don’t try. Enjoy._

“I think we should get rid of our TV.” My heart did a little skip at my husband’s suggestion. What was he thinking? I don’t know anyone without a TV. I think the government requires every American household to have one. I was immediately fearful of life without a TV.

“What are you talking about?” I was hoping he was joking, what would we do for entertainment every night? What about all our weekend projects inspired by watching the Home Improvement channel or lets not forget the couples bonding experience we had spending an entire weekend watching Beauty and the Geek on the Reality TV network.

“Well, my brother and his wife just did this and they are saving so much money.” I was instantly skeptical. I was usually the one who came up with the money saving ideas that were on the extreme. Something this extreme coming from my husband I knew must have some flaw he didn’t think about. And then he laid it out for me, “Ok, everything is going digital, we either have to get a converter or get a new television. The one we have is extremely old and breaks a lot, so we will probably be tempted to get a new one. We will want to buy a nice flat screen with good picture quality that will be at least $700. We already pay $55 a month to a satellite subscription. I think we should consider just getting rid of the TV.”

I was shocked. I worried about all the shows I currently watched and how much I would miss them. I loved to read, but sometimes I wanted to unwind and not think. Television allowed me that special kind of numbness. Plus we had just had a baby and I didn’t have the time or the hands to read any more. I needed it as a window to the world I felt isolated from while I dealt with colic, diapers, and spit-up. When my husband pushed again I just shoved the idea off with “give some time to think about it.” But really hoped he would come to his senses.

Months later he was still dropping little hints and they all centered on the same idea of divorcing our television. “What are you afraid of?” he would ask me. “What shows do you watch that we can’t get for free from the ABC, NBC or Fox web sites?” he would tease.
We sat one night and made a list of our favorite shows and afterwards I realized that everything we watched we could get for free online or through a digital antenna. For $200 dollars we could purchase this digital antenna to hook up to our new computer and after this point we could begin to save $55 dollars a month.

So finally with that logic I took the plunge and looking back I don’t know what took me so long. I don’t miss our old eyesore of a television. And it ended up saving us time and money in the long run. We didn’t have as many spontaneous household projects inspired by the Home Improvement Channel and we didn’t spend entire weekends watching old reality show marathons. So we actually had time to ride our bikes and go for walks, eventually leading my husband to cancel his gym membership. Overall that one bold act led to a new world, new possibilities, and over $1000 dollars a year in savings. Beauty and the Geek weren’t that interesting anyway and I already knew how to fix my own toilet.