Cancelling our cable... one step closer to isolation.

Under.the.Rose · January 2011

It feels good to cancel it, don't get me wrong. Our cable/internet bill is almost $200/mth. It's insane. I'm on mat leave until October and if I ever want to be a SAHM, I'll have to live with making some financial compromises.... but when I'm home alone with baby while DH is working, the sound of the tv being on makes it feel less empty and eerie around here. I feel connected to the outside world if I can turn on the news. This is not going to be a fun adjustment.

It'll be awesome to have that money back in our pockets though. What other things are you ladies doing to save money while you stay at home? Open to ideas here

triplea1819 · January 2011

Get rabbit ears, or an HD converter. It is a 1 time cost and will make your tv some what usable. you will not have a monthly bill and get the basic channels, abc, nbc, fox, cbs. This way you can get some TV and have it on in the background.

KoalaBear103 · January 2011

I'd be more than willing to give up cable but DH cant function without ESPN, so we will never give it up

torii · January 2011

JKat876:
I'd be more than willing to give up cable but DH cant function without ESPN, so we will never give it up

I wish we could get rid of cable too. DH is spoiled though and doesn't know how to live without so we'll always have it. I wish we could put that $200 toward debt or savings.

hmp1 · January 2011

You are brave, I couldn't do it. Project Runway, Top Chef, Daily Show...no way could I give up cable.

We use to eat out all the time, that has stopped and DH is bringing his breakfast and lunch to work. That is saving us a bunch.

We are also considering moving to a less expensive home closer to DH's office so I can be a SAHM. We currently live right by my office and an hour from DH's office. He would get more at home time time with us and we wouldn't have to pay someone to spend the day with our son. But we love our house and don't want to leave the nursery we worked so hard on!

csells021383 · January 2011

We don't have cable. I think it's really freeing! I like the extra time with my little guys and working on projects.

Also we got rid of Netflix.

We coupon like crazy and save a lot money that way.

HappyMommy28 · January 2011

triplea1819:
Get rabbit ears, or an HD converter. It is a 1 time cost and will make your tv some what usable. you will not have a monthly bill and get the basic channels, abc, nbc, fox, cbs. This way you can get some TV and have it on in the background.

This. DH and I canceled cable in September. Ours was also nearly $200/month. I also am a SAHM and didn't want to work for tv. We did get rabbit ears (about $70 one time) and also have netflix. Between the two we have plenty to watch. Still get local channels and news and then get all the movies we want for $10/month

searcy7 · January 2011

I buy commonly used products by bulk. We alo only have one car so I am isolated at home. We still have cable and phone/internet but I paid my phone/internet up for 6 months so we do not pay monthly.

lilmgirl · January 2011

We haven't had cable for 2 years and since the digital conversion, we haven't had any TV at all. Now don't get me wrong, we *have* a television, but nothing hooked up to it but our DVD player. We did break down and get Netflix a couple months ago and it's suited us fine.

The silence is golden!

kmawb · January 2011

I feel for you, DH and I are looking very carefully at our cable/internet/cell phone bill (it's all in one) to see if we can cut some of the frills! I don't know what I'd do without the tv during the days while DH is at work, otherwise it would be so lonely around here.

spunkyprincessmande · January 2011

lilmgirl:
We haven't had cable for 2 years and since the digital conversion, we haven't had any TV at all. Now don't get me wrong, we *have* a television, but nothing hooked up to it but our DVD player. We did break down and get Netflix a couple months ago and it's suited us fine.
The silence is golden!

This.

I thought for sure once LO was here I'd want cable so that I had something to do while I was stuck home all day taking care of DS, but I was wrong! I feel like if I had TV I'd never get anything done. When DS is sleeping I try to do some housework, go online, read, get dinner ready, bake, etc. When he's awake I spend all my time feeding, changing, and playing with him. When I'm feeding him, I use my H's iTouch to check the Bump or I read on my Kindle (which DH got me for Christmas just for that reason). I don't even miss the TV.

crazgrljes · January 2011

We haven't had cable for several months now. We do have netflix and a ton of DVDs, and we download any shows we want to watch and then play them on tv through the xbox.

I use a lot of coupons and try to buy things on sale as much as possible- and of course stock up when I find a good deal.

This is going to sound really cheap and it doesn't save us *that* much money but...we don't pay for trash pickup. I have a good diaper pail, and we recycle A LOT, so we only have about one bag of trash a week. We drop it off at the dump once a week, and we take the recycling whenever the containers get full.

I examined our wireless phone bill recently and we don't use anywhere near all of our minutes or texts, so we'll probably drop that down a notch.

We cloth diaper *most* of the time so that saves money...I need to buy more, so we can do it all the time.

We have a nice thrift store where I live...I go there like once a week to look for books, toys, baby clothes. And we get a lot of hand me downs from my sister- she has a baby just 3 months older than mine!

Wow. We're cheap.

cndmexbaby · January 2011

We don't have cable! We bought an antennae and get all the main channels like NBC, CBS....plus there is always Hulu. Plus, we don't have a landline.

We also keep record of every penny spent with a budget app on my iPhone. It helps us stay organized with our money and not overspend. We also save a little every month.

I love being a SAHM! I will stay at home as long as we can put food on the table.

SimoneSays22 · January 2011

We gave up cable as one way to save money now that I'm a SAHM. We have rabbit ears but only pick up two channels - NBC and FOX, haha. We have a netflix account and also watch a lot of shows for free on hulu.com. I don't mind. Our cable bill really went down! Plus we hate our service provider.

Nhev · January 2011

We also got rid of cable when I was a few months pregnant to save $80/month. DF was also laid off for much of last year and reduced his phone plan and skipped a bowling league, but has gone back to those since he got a new, more reliable job w/ better pay.

He also cancelled Netflix and XM in his car. We own both of our cars, don't have any credit card debt, and still go out to eat, but not nearly as often as we used to. We do use coupons occasionally but I really need to get better about that!

I totally understand the cable thing though! It was tough at first. Now if I want to watch t.v., I generally watch it on hulu.com. We also recently bought a cheap antenna and get ABC, NBC, and Fox. It helps to be able to watch something when he's gone, even if it's just the Today show and I'm busy doing dishes or something! The noise helps.

lmkelker1 · January 2011

We consolidated our cell phones to a cheaper plan and then made our business pay for as a business expense. We also don't eat out nearly as much as we did. We sold two cars and got a van with no car payment. We got a Costco membership that the business pays for as well, but it helps when we buy household items as well as clothes and coats and gifts.

As much as I hate to admit it, we started to grocery shop at wal-mart. There's nothing wrong with Wal-Mart, but they dont have very good produce and meat... so our diet has sort of suffered!

Want a personalized experience?

Cancelling our cable... one step closer to isolation.

Re: Cancelling our cable... one step closer to isolation.

Choose Another Board

Search Boards