The conversation started months ago. Maybe even years. My cost-cutting spouse wanted to cut the cable. I told him he was crazy! Abso-friggin-lutely crazy! Television was my escape from the daily grind. If I had a bad day at work, there was always the comfort of a classic movie on OnDemand brighten my mood. If I was feeling bad about myself, there was always some jackass on insert-the-name-here Reality Show that proved I was smarter than that guy. If I needed a break or wanted to cook dinner without interruption, there was always some educational programming that could buy me at least 20 minutes.
Cable was my security blanket. An expensive security blanket, but one that I was not willing to give up.
Or so I thought.
When the economy started to show signs of collapse, my spouse convinced me to reduce our costs. Digital cable was converted to basic cable. It cost just $15 a month to have about 40 channels. Sure, a third of them were in Spanish or some version of QVC, but surely he couldn't argue with just fifteen dollars a month. Even Mr. Cheapskate could appreciate that, right?
Well, when the digital conversion finally took place in June, we lost another third of our channels to digital cable. We were down to just the local channels plus a few extras. I was upset about paying more for less. But at the price we were paying, it didn't seem like enough to change or cancel it. Even knowing that we get very little more than what a pair of bunny ears and digital converter box would supply.
After weeks of having to hear about how we aren't getting the value from the price we are paying, I finally did it. I agreed and canceled the cable. No more America Idol. No more Big Brother. No more Desperate Housewives. No more Lifetime movies. We are going to the end of the year before we go the bunny-ear route. Living without TV for a while would be good for us all.
At least I still have the internet. There's no way we're cutting out that.
Original post for the Silicon Valley Mom's Party
