Our TV antennaA couple of weeks ago we made the decision, based solely on finances, to cut out cable TV and our land line.
We have had some form of cable for as long as I can remember, so this is a bit of a shock to the system.
Tho we are not huge TV watchers, I DO like my national FOX NEWS and Food Network!
But we took the plunge and went cable free...saving us over $100 a month.
We actually had our phone company's "triple play", meaning we got cable, land line, and internet for one price.
Sam wants the internet so he is taking over that bill...which means WE still get internet!
We still wanted to be able to get in our local channels...if, for nothing else...the news.
So....
We had to buy one of those TV converter boxes, but we still needed an antenna.
We stopped at a local thrift store and picked up a small one for $1.00.
You can see it perched atop the file box,
which is resting on a picture of the Eifel Tower,
which is laying across the blue clothes basket,
which is stacked on the green clothes basket,
which is sitting on an old kitchen chair,
which is on the floor in our bedroom.
Whew!
You should see what we have to do to get our local channel 8!!!!
I'd show you a picture, but we'd likely get in trouble with the FCC!
Just sayin'...
I can STILL see national FOX NEWS via the internet, so I can get my fix of conservative news.
And BONUS!
We get some oddball channels with the antenna.
So we have seen episodes of "The Beverly Hillbillies", "All In The Family", "Ozzie and Harriet", "Lawrence Welk", and "Jack VanImpe"!
Meanwhile...I have been in the Word more, got a bit of crocheting done, and cleaned under the fridge.
It's all good!
xoxo,
Cindy
21 comments:
Such an encouraging post! I love your positive outlook, friend.
Good for you! I definitely don't think my hubby would go for the loss of his precious cable... but it's definitely something to consider.
We've thought about cutting out cable, however we have it wrapped into our internet so not sure if it would save $. I love ya Cyn but really, Fox "news?" ;-)~ It is nice being able to get most TV shows on the internet.
We are getting rid of the direct tv we have netflix so that will be our tv movie fix...we can get most of everything else on the radio and or the computer via internet...even at the smallest package about $45 a month with box charges taxes and the tax on the tax...we will save enough to have a vacation at the end of a year...
We cut dish many, many years ago and rely totally on antennae. Our TV was on the little box for a while but it had given out on us so we did buy a new tv that doesn't require the little box. I counted that we get 25 channels! No monthly fee and a roof antennae. Did I say 25 channels that are ALL PERFECTLY CLEAR! Everyone should at least try to go without cable/dish especially these days when antennae can bring in so much (including food stuff on CREATE).
Alice
I think anyone would really enjoy no TV. The other things that fill the space lead to higher quality interactions with family. More board games, long walks etc... I wish I had no TV but DH is dependent on it, especially for sports. Try Hulu on the internet, it's free. I watched some intersting documentaries on it. My friend hooked up a hard drive to TV and bought Net Flix for about $9/month. Good Luck!
Yup, we have an antenna on our roof and our signal collector thingy for our radio wave internet. We live WAY out in the stix :-) My kids say our house looks like we work for NASA!
Plenty of channels to get the news and a sewing or food show here and there :-)
LOL!! You are too cute Cindy. :) Love the leaning tower of pisa (sp?) going on there. Yaay for conservative news! And...well done for being frugal. I'm so glad you still have internet...I would miss you.
Many blessings,
Camille
We decided for now (and the next few months) to not sign up for cable either. It's been hard some days, but if you have internet you can watch almost all your favorites online for free.
Bravo for you...I think we'll survive!! :)
Have never had cable and so we don't miss it. We tried satelite one year when I had to have back surgery. Don't miss it either. Now Internet on the other hand would be a huge sacrifice but you already know that. LOL
Oh, Cyn, you are so sweet about everything and I admire you so much for your cheerful spirit and can-do attitude in these hard times. You are an example to so many.
I have to say one recent morning, I had FOX on in one room and ABC/GMA and here's the difference: one the entertainment channel, we had twenty solid minutes of Nutty Charlue Sheen, and in-depth coverage on the royal wedding (for the tenth time!) and coverage of Brittany Speers' latest "comeback. On the FOX channel, we had an in-depth discussion about the fed and interest rates, inflation, food/ commodity prices, and information on why we aren't allowed to drill for more of our own oil.
So I can see why you'd have major withdrawal: the other channels never report in-depth on issues that matter to most serious-minded Americans! Tell me how I can watch it on the Internet; there have been times I would love to be able to do so!
xoxo
Joni
Been making some changes around here too...Car is paid for, no car pmt husbands truck is paid for too....Put in a new garden a couple of years ago and this year will be expanding it and adding fruit like blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and cherry trees.....looking into producing more of our own food and getting out of debt other than our mortgage we are close :o).....looking into a lifestyle change that does not depend on the weekly trip to the grocery store.......putting in a clothes line for warm months. Only so many changes at once though! I don't think I'm quite ready to give up my dish network but the way things are going it just might be in our future too....like you, I'm smiling! Its all good!!!
I'm open and willing (wanting) to learn a better way, a simpler way of life at least I believe most of us are going to have to get used to.
We have been seriously thinking of doing the same thing, but all we have is our land line, we do use cell phones, but would like to rid ourself of the Dish, we are rural and it is really hard to get any form of picture out here, so not sure if we got a box and antenna it would work, we had a very high antenna a long time ago and it did not do very well either, hope you can keep up on this, Hugs Barbara
I don't blame you one bit and that's some serious change you can save! We were able to say goodbye to our landline when we sold our former country home. We only kept it there because of the security system. At our new place, we have a wireless call-in for our security system. Every little bit helps!
LOL - your tower reminds me of things we've done to get our TV working (before we had houses with the antennae attached to the roof & a socket inside the house. Of course we don't have out TV hooked up anymore, so it's much more peaceful around here - plus you can see a lot of shows right here on the internet anyway. Here in Australia almost everybody just has free - to- air TV - it works fine!
Hope you enjoy this new peacefulness!
Have a wonderful day
Renata:)
this is the funniest post you've ever written ... not funny
ha-ha, but cute and edgy, and oh so good for the soul ... for all of us.
We have the bundle, too ... but you KNOW we watch as little or little (er) than you ...
missn u as always
Hi Cindy!
We did this too last year, but then resigned when my dad fell over the summer and came to live with us...
{I'm up soooo early! It's not even 5am}
anyway...
When we were sans cable {which we're prob going to do again soon, since Dad's not living with us right now}
we discovered internet radio!
http://affiliates.foxnewsradio.com/Radio/player.html#
I think you must have already found this link ...
I didn't miss cable very much at all once we found internet radio of our news channels.
All the home and food shows have so much on the internet ...videos of their old shows... plus
my sister told me about Joyce Meyer and we've been watching her online videos now. So much else to do than TV!
wish I had chickens too! but you know that already ;o)
take care, Cindy!
love,
Maria
We haven't had TV for years, like almost never our whole marriage. We do have one but it's used only to feed our vcr / dvd player for movies our choosing.
You must Cindy "market" your antenna tower..LOVE IT...LOL!!!!!
Best thing we ever did was get rid of cable. It's been 12 years and I will NEVER get it again.
Love my DVD player and Netflix Watch Instantly.
As time goes by, you'll wonder how you ever lived WITH it. We've been tv-free for 13 years and would never go back.
I have to applaud you! We got rid of our cable in December and it was the best thing we ever did. We also did it because of the large expense of being entertained by someone else. Now we just watch what we want, when we want and IF we want. We can watch the network shows either from hulu or the actual network and that's good enough for us. We also have netflix which is one dvd a week and unlimited streaming. We cut our monthly expenses by $150 when we got rid of the landline and cable.
Good for you!!!!
Hugs from Marilyn in NM
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