My husband and I have decided to give up cable TV. This is a small deal for me, because I watch very little—daily pre-recorded Jon Stewart shows and Bill Maher on Fridays. It’s a bigger deal for Steve, but he found an article online about how to get a bunch of TV shows through his computer and we’re expanding our Netflix subscription. He seems excited to make the change. The motivation? I got tired of writing that $162 check every month for 20 minutes of daily entertainment. I told him we could spend the savings anyway he wanted. (I suspect we’ll end up with motorcycle accessories.)

The bigger benefit though is that we both plan to do more reading. I was so excited by this possibility that I ordered a stack of books from Powels. Here’s what’s in my to be read pile:

A Nail Through the Heart, by Timothy Halinan
Kidnapped, by Jan Burke
Money Shot, by Christa Faust
Invisible Prey, by John Sanford
Safe and Sound, by J.D. Rhoades
The Black Path, by Asa Larsson
Lost Dog, by Bill Cameron
Go Go Girls of the Apocalypse, by Victor Gischler (Steve plans to start with this one)

Any bets on how long Steve lasts without cable?

6 Comments
  1. I’m guessing that Steve isn’t much for sports – my hubby couldn’t breathe if I took ESPN and DirecTV football away from him.

    As for me, all I’d really miss is USA (Monk, Psych, Burn Notice) and Turner Classic Movies (mmm, Cary Grant).

  2. You’re right. He doesn’t watch sports. Yeah!

  3. Bravo for the no TV thing. The only reason I keep TV is that I’m a sports fan and love to watch college and professional sports. I can do without all the rest, except maybe for occasional good stuff on discovery and history channels.

    BTW, you’ll want to bop over to Free Spirit today, LJ – I just finished The Sex Club, LOVED it, and wrote a review/blurb. Posted it on my blog and on amazon.

    Marvin D Wilson
    Blogs at: http://inspiritanmdtruths.blogspot.com/
    eye twitter 2 – http://twitter.com/Paize_Fiddler

  4. In a fit of frustration at the way Comcast Customer Service was treating me, I cancelled. I thought I’d get more accomplished…writing, reading, emails to friends. What I found, though, was that I really missed it. It’s very comforting when I need a release to turn on Food Network or watch a really stupid reality show. Also, gone was our DVR…so if I wanted to watch the Olympics in real time, I had to, well, actually WATCH.
    We gave in after almost 2 months and went with Verizon Fios (and got a great dirt cheap deal). The DVR has freed up time for me and maybe it means I’m shallow? because I just love cable. MAD MEN! TMC! AMC! Discovery!
    I applaud you and hope you don’t suffer the w/drawl that I did.

  5. You won’t believe this. We have no television channels at all. I have a TV I use for yoga tapes and the occasional DVD, but we just aren’t interested in watching stuff. I had no idea we were saving that much money! Wow.

    I bet Steve never wants cable again. Go Steve!

    Dani
    http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com

  6. People ask me “How do you find time to write, with a family and a day job,, etc.?” The answer is I don’t watch much TV when I’m writing. You’d be amazed how much time it frees up. Now, if I could just cut back on the damn Internet…

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