Frugal Village Forums banner

Anyone getting rid of the tv yet?

Tags
rid
4K views 38 replies 33 participants last post by  VanVivCam 
#1 ·
I'm really thinking about it! The cable bill would be gone (frugal), I wouldn't have to suffer through anymore (un)reality shows, I'd miss the the whole ridiculous political campaign lie-athon, Christmas and Thanksgiving could actually be about....Christmas and Thanksgiving,and when I call folks to dinner, they wouldn't be zoned out in front of the flickering light and make me repeat myself 3 times! How about you?
 
#37 ·
Ditto. Ditched mine in 2006 before second child was born. Have never regretted it even for a moment.

As an aside: Seeing my three children get the "I Wannas" after seeing a Toys R Us catalog makes me wonder how much worse it'd be if they'd been subjected to commercials every day. Oh my... :eek:
 
#4 ·
Dh and I have a TV, but the only times that we watch it are to watch the Superbowl game and to watch the news only if there is a catastrophic event like the tsunami in Japan recently. Otherwise it stays off. FIL watches TV alot, so the cable stays on for him. We are not into reality shows. We get all of the news that we need from the internet and most shows these days are just not family wholesome shows, so we choose not to watch them.

A2M
 
#6 ·
I still have cable but I am going to be getting rid of it my cable, phone and net cost me about 90 a month. I bill I can't afford. So I am thinking about getting rid of my house phone, and cable. I will probably have to pay 75 dollars to get out of my one year contract. Which is not bad when you consider the money I would save. I have a cell because I have to with DD and her issues. So I would just use my cell. I just have to get down to cogeco and get it all taken care of.
 
#8 ·
I have cable for my internet but no TV! I miss it sometimes, but it has been... what, maybe 5 years since I have watched TV anywhere other than at the gym.

One thing I noticed in not watching TV is how many references people will make to TV shows/celebrities/commercials that I know nothing about. I'm really amazed at how much people talk about this stuff!
 
#10 ·
Haven't had "tv" for a couple of years now. I have the physical tv but only internet service, not cable or antenna. Netflix, Pandora radio, eventually will have Hulu+ as well when local with the bf. He is on board as well, we wont miss it. I like that when I choose something from Netflix there are no commercials.
 
#11 ·
We still have a tv, but we just watch selected DVD's. We haven't had cable since 2000 when I got tired of DD watching "witchy" shows like Witch and Charmed. I detest that type of influence on my child. I had been telling her for weeks "if I catch you watching that junk, it's outta here" so I talked to DH and we cut it out. That & the fact that we got tired of paying $60 a month for re-runs; but the deal-breaker was that witchy garbage.
 
#14 ·
nope . we dont do much for entertainment outside of home . with 4 of the 5 kids still at home with an age range of 23 down to 10 - sports and the religious program channels dh likes to watch , and i have maybe 2 shows i watch regularly . its worth the cost to me .
having FMS - on bad days i spend time on couch and or bed more watching TV as my eyes often blurr easily reading when i am in a flare.

no one here is connected to the TV in such a way they would rather watch it then go out on a nice day or not come to dinner ( i call once - they dont come they can reheat their dinner later- thats not the TV - thats just letting them think you will call 3x they know that and it will happen whether its TV puter or outsude with friends )

cable is alot cheaper than a movie or sporting event ticket .
 
G
#15 ·
We went without a TV set for 3 years. I'd like to say we used the time productively and took up gourmet candy making, brought about world peace, or worked on advanced degrees, but in reality we just spend more time goofing off on the internet.

I do find that most of what we watch is recorded - DVD's or things we buy on iTunes. I maybe watch "real" TV once or twice a year. I hate commercials. DH and I rarely agree on movies, so a lot of what we watch is kids stuff.

DH works for the cable company, and the discount is very hefty, so it's not a $$ decision. We pay $25 a month for cable (including HD and premiums), business class internet, and home phone.
 
#17 ·
No, No!!

The tv is my Friend>
 
#18 ·
I gave up Cable a year ago and in doing so gave up TV as I have an older TV and no box so no TV I do spend more time on the internet.
 
#19 ·
We still have our tvs, but we got rid of cable back in 2009 and honestly we don't miss it at all. We have an antenna, so we get all the local broadcast stations, plus 2 different pbs stations. We typically only watch the news and a very few weeknight shows. Mainly the kids watch movies that have been given to us or play video games. I wouldn't get rid of the tv though, since we don't really leave the house for any kind of "entertainment".
 
#20 ·
I haven't had a TV in years, but since I live alone, I don't have to consult anyone else's wishes. I have more than enough fun with hobbies, reading, audiobooks, and computer games. I agree with another poster that it's frugal in a way many don't consider. Since I don't see the ads, I don't start wanting a lot of things I don't need. I don't even know they exist. I'm sure I miss some products that I would like and that would be useful, but on the whole, I consider ad free to be a real bonus. Now, if there were just a way to avoid them on the computer!
 
#21 ·
Haven't had cable for 15 years, and don't miss it.
Still have a tv, from my mom's estate, and I just use it for watching videos and DVD movies. My rabbit ears pick up 2 channels, and I haven't watched tv programs since January; but switched it on last Sunday night and watched 'Desperate Hosewaves': and whaddya know, another murder, another adulterous affair. :censor: Won't bother to watch any tv for another good while. I have no tolerance for it; it's almost all garbage now. :brainy:
Might still vcr tape an interesting late-night movie once in a while.

Have also cut down on the internet :blah:, so I can get things done.
I get the sense that I'm 'actually living again'.
 
#22 ·
We got rid of the TV when we realized we'd had it on once in three years, to watch Ken Burn's WWII series. It takes up the space of a bookcase. I have too many books that I want to keep and reread to have this hole in my house that is used once in three years. We rent movies through itunes. No netflix for us either.

Judi
 
#24 ·
~We've never had cable. The kids watch a few episodes of a kids' show every day on Netflix and DH and I watch classic tv shows at night when they go to bed. Other than that we watch things rarely. When it's on it's just background noise to me. I usually draw or do puzzles while DH and the kids watch. We all prefer video games to tv.
So no, we won't be getting rid of it.
I just bought a tv timer though, to control how much it's on. The kids have to earn tokens to get time. We'll see if that helps. ;) ~
 
#38 ·
Just wanted to mention, if all you use it for is Netflix, you can do that on a Wii hooked to a computer monitor. That's what we do. :)
 
#25 ·
Never had cable tv. Don't plan on getting it.

Up until a few years ago we had a 13in tv. Then a friend gave us a nice 26in flat panel tv. We have it hooked up to one of our computers and also use it as a monitor.

With some $10 rabbit ears we can get about half a dozen local channels, including 2 PBS channels. We can watch PBS stuff, the Simpsons and some news.

We get DVDs from the library, I love our library! Occasionally we get a DVD from Redbox.

We have found tons of stuff we can watch on the internet. Our 3mbps DSL (from Qwest, negotiated down to $15/mo) is adequate for watching videos. We've gotten into the habit of watching The Daily Show and the Colbert Report (the day after they air, they are available).

We have found a website that has hundreds of documentaries free for the watching. And there is Hulu too. That will keep me busy for a long time.
 
#26 ·
We don't have a TV...obviously no cable, either. I prefer to not have one. It takes up space, the wires just collect dust, it's noisy, sucks electricity. We have Netflix for our computers, but watch it rarely. Dh likes Anime and it's a relatively cheap way for him to get his 'fix'. I really like documentaries, but don't seem to find time to watch them much. I love not having commercials, political ads, etc. in our lives! We check the news (international/national/local) online.

We have found a website that has hundreds of documentaries free for the watching. And there is Hulu too. That will keep me busy for a long time.
Would you be willing to post the link to the documentaries website? :)

One thing I noticed in not watching TV is how many references people will make to TV shows/celebrities/commercials that I know nothing about. I'm really amazed at how much people talk about this stuff!
We've noticed this, too...people are constantly referring to commercials and current shows. We have no clue what they're talking about!
 
#27 ·
kind of

Well we still have the physical TV sitting in the living room (the ONLY one in the house). We gave up cable almost 2 years ago and hooked the TV to the computer/internet. We pay $50 less a month and have Netflix for streaming and watch Hulu, carntoon network, CBS, etc through the computer. Honestly we don't miss it at all.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top