It’s hard to believe that I finally cancelled cable! I consider myself a recovering TV addict because I used to watch too many TV shows. At my worst, I was watching 20 hours of shows per week plus movies. I don’t watch reality TV, and the increase of those shows definitely helped make it easier to watch less TV. Now, I don’t expect to see annoying commercials for reality TV, and that’s exciting.
In 2012, I decided not to watch any new series, but I would finish watching my existing series. The first season of each show is usually the best, and I’m tired of dedicating ten or more years to each series. I’ve been impatiently waiting for them to end, and they have slowly died. My last one finally ended this month! I cancelled cable the next day.
I also consider myself a movie addict, but I’m not ready to stop watching movies. Unlike TV series, I can watch a movie in two hours and be done with it. For way too many years, I’ve been watching almost every made-for-TV movie that’s aired on four different networks. During the last two months of 2019, I was overwhelmed with 85 made-for-TV movies, and 68 were holiday movies. At some point in December, I decided that I would no longer watch made-for-TV holiday movies after 2019. Shortly after I made that decision, I started wondering if I should stop watching all made-for-TV movies. After all, the story lines are very repetitive; each network has a handful of movie formulas.
The decision was made for me by my cable company. The final straw was when I read that the “Broadcast TV Fee” was increasing by a large amount. Even though my package rate is locked in, the company increases the fees whenever it wants. Fees typically increase a little every year, but this was a huge increase. Several years ago, I changed my package to eliminate the “Sports Fee” since I don’t watch sports. I only lost a couple of good movie channels when I did that. I’ve been keeping cable since the bundle was worth it considering the cost of internet alone. Well, internet prices decreased, so cable is no longer worth the extra money, especially with outrageous fees. When I cancelled cable, I decided to downgrade my internet by one tier. So far, my new internet has been fine. After the recent fee increase, my monthly internet/cable bill has been $105.12. With a downgraded internet, my monthly bill will be $57.79. I’m excited!
Side note: Here’s the history of my “Broadcast TV Fee.” Effective January 2020: $14.95; January 2019: $10; January 2018: $8; October 2016: $6.50; October 2015: $3.75; October 2014: $1.50. The fee did not exist before October 2014.
I sort of miss my Music Choice channels since I loved listening to commercial-free music all day. I’ll also miss some of my favorite actors who tend to focus on made-for-TV movies.
I bought a little streaming device that plugs into the TV. It’s a one-time cost, and I have access to an amazing number of free movies without a subscription. I’m actually stunned by the number of free movies, and I’ll have to limit myself! For those who are interested, free news and sports are also available. The commercials aren’t worse than TV, and some free channels have hardly any commercials. I love that the movies aren’t edited. When I miss something, I’m able to read closed captioning using my 20-second replay button, and that has been a nice benefit. I also have access to free music, and I don’t have to hear talking hosts, annoying contests, etc. Plus, I’m able to configure it to never play certain songs. Of course, flipping through preset radio stations works pretty well.
Have you cut the cord? If not, why?
Linda 🙂
The Heart of Frugal Living 