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For the last six years we chose not to have cable television. Many times when I talk to people they tell me they just can’t give up cable because they can’t live without a certain show or the news.
We traded cable for a trip to Disney World. Over the past six years we have saved about $2,160 by not having a cable bill. This does not include the savings from not purchasing a bigger and better television, or converting to digital. Our 5 Day trip to Disney World (for 8 people) cost less than 6 years without cable.
I can’t think of any television show that is worth more than the memories we made on our vacation.
As for the news, I get it online, I watched the debates online, and I plan to watch the inauguration online too.
Some people think cable is a small expense that they are unwilling to cut from their budget. I say little things add up to big things. What is in your budget that is keeping you from doing something big?
Editor’s note: Lawanda makes an interesting point, she says, “Our internet would increase if we didn’t have the cable.”
That is what we thought too until we started negotiating with the cable company. If you live in an area that is serviced by more than one internet provider you might be able to get a better deal. We basically told the company what we wanted to pay for cable and they found a “special deal” that would give us that price. The cable company will never offer you a low price for only one service because they want you to purchase the package… it is more money for them. Some people I know I have not been able to negotiate a better price, but others have. If you want to lower your bill it is worth a try.
For more tightwad tips visit Mary.
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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Great thought. Seriously. Even if you can’t get rid of cable, pare it down and save the excess.
We had cable. We switched from cable to satellite to save money. We don’t have a ton on our satellite, but we do subscribe to DVR so we can watch what we want, when we want.
It’s an outlet for me. I only ever get to watch it at night. I like being able to record shows with the kids to watch.
I will be taking your advice, though, and saving as much as I possibly can. We did everything but Disney in 2007, and vowed we’d do Disney next time – and we did it all in cash then, having saved for it. We’re working to do it again, hopefully this year.
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Well, I haven’t gotten to the point where I want to cut the cable yet, but I *was* thinking about my cell phone bill. I currently have unlimited text messaging, which costs me $20 a month. I think I’m going to cut that down to the $5 a month feature and just tell everyone that texts are to be kept to a minimum. $15 doesn’t sound like much, but I can literally feed the four of us for 2-3 days on that!
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Our cable comes with our internet. We pay $40 a month for both internet and basic cable. Our internet would increase if we didn’t have the cable. I could totally live without cable, but I am glad we get PBS in our basic.
We did not have cable for years. It seems like it kills my dh to not have it. But when we do he is always complaining that there is nothing on tv. haha
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Great perspective!
We’ve cut our satelitte to the minimum of minimum so that we could have a bigger “snowball”. Since we cut it, we’ve not missed the other channels and have even thought of getting rid of it altogether. It seems as if the TV is always off anyway.
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What a great picture and really, it’s scary when you look at the expense for cable. Hope you had a good time!
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We turned it off over a year ago and haven’t missed it. We “convinced” Comcast that it was better to give us a deal on internet than to lose our business altogether. It’s possible! Try it!
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What a great thought! We have done without cable for 5 years. At about $50 a month, we’ve saved $3,000
Really enjoy your blog!
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I have tried getting them to come down, and managed to do it for about a year or so, that is they charged me the same for my internet without the cable, but they re-do their stuff or are bought by another company or what have you, and it goes back up again. when it switched to Suddenlink it all went back up.
We have two companies that service our area, but the other one doesn’t come out this far. If they ever do, I’ll have some better leverage
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We really want to get rid of cable. We did not have cable for the first three years of Big Brother’s life. Then we became a very serious hockey family and there is not hockey on TV without cable. We know exactly how much it is adding up to. The only thing I figure is that Big Brother had better go to college for free with a hockey scholarship and then it will all have been worth it.
Good for you for not having cable. We literally only watch the hockey games. We would not miss cable if we could somehow see the hockey games without it.
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Very inspiring! I really don’t watch any shows that I couldn’t watch on the web- Lost and The Office.
The only problems is my husband’s sports programs. You have to have cable to have ESPN. And according to him it is his “one” hobby/thing he does for himself…guess I’ll give it to him
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We had satellite until last fall. I was finally able to talk my hubby into cutting it off. Now we just watch things on the computer if we can’t pick up a certain channel.
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I’ve thought many times about ditching the cable. I have an empty nest now, and I don’t watch TV except during hurricane season and on special occasions like this historic day. I don’t like to spend too much time in front of my computer, so I do watch these few things on TV. It’s still a lot of $.
Thanks for sharing he ziti recipe and your and your husband’s story. It’s amazing what happens when we stay focused on Him!
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We have been without satelite for 2 years now and really do not miss it. We cut it for finanical reasons but I see a real difference in my kids. We don’t know the latest commercial fads, we are not locked into a specific show that we have to watch, we spend more time on reading, crafts, family games etc. Recently we were able to get tv with just an antenna. We plan to watch the president today. But really found very little worth watching. So its a good thing! I too get my news on the web.
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Since dh’s work has been cut way back, I have been trying to get him to agree to cutting out the cable. At this point, I’m ready to cut the cable AND the internet. It would save us nearly $80 a month.
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Dh and I were just looking at the cable bill yesterday. We spend $50 extra just so he can have his sporting channels. He thought it was just $5 but we have to have expanded cable and then add on the sports. Ugh!
I like watching the food network but I don’t have to have it. I don’t watch it that often anyway.
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You are so right. We have given up cable a long time ago. But it is neat when you take that amount and put it in a sub account and save it for a specific goal like a trip. We did that to go to Little Bear Wheeler Adventure Camp on year. It was worth ALL the memories that we now share. Plus I was able to see my sister’s in Nebraska that I hadn’t been able to do before. Yes, these so called sacrifices are worth it !
Blessings and ((HUGS)) my SSiC
In Him<
-Mary
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We cut our cable a couple months ago. It was a little hard for my DH but he has since really enjoyed it. The picture on our HD actually comes in better with satelite.
I’m just letting the cable $$ in our budget envelopes build up and then we’ll use if for something like this one day
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For those of us who live out in the sticks Cable doesn’t exist neither does fast internet. There isn’t anybody to negotiate with and since there aren’t 10 households for each mile Cable will not be coming to rurual TN anytime soon. There is also nothing but a walmart (13 miles) away and the closest park with both swing and a slide is 45 miles away so our satellite TV is are only form of entertainment. This week I am realizing just how hard it is to get to the library 10 miles away when it is only open 8am to 6pm and we run on a 2nd shift schedule.
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