Good morning!
I hope your day is off to a good start! I’m hoping my day doesn’t take a massive dive for the worse when I head off to the dentist this morning. I have an appointment to get a filling repaired. An old filling fell out last week and I have a nice little hole in my tooth that needs to be patched up. Sounds like a rockin’ good time!
Workout
Today’s workout began with a two mile run on the treadmill.
After my quick run, it was off to the weight room for a Best Body Boot Camp workout! I flip flopped the final two circuit workouts for the week and did the upper body circuit workout. That’ll do, pig. That’ll do. (<— If you can name that movie, we should probably be best friends.)
Breakfast
I made myself a plate of scrambled eggs with shredded cheese and spinach for breakfast this morning.
On the side I had a rather questionable toasted whole wheat English muffin. I found it in the freezer this morning and I’m pretty sure it was on its last leg. I ended up making myself an egg sandwich with the English muffin and scrambled eggs and all was well.
Television Decision
Last month Ryan and I started talking about canceling our cable. We actually went without television in our house for two years back when we first started living together.
(That apartment is still my favorite place that we’ve lived! I loved all of the windows and the hardwood floors.)
We weren’t sure how we would handle it, but we both didn’t really miss it at all. We had NetFlix and found that when we would watch TV together, it felt like a planned event rather than just a default activity since we were watching DVDs of movies or TV shows that we were both interested in watching together. If there was a show on TV that we really wanted to keep up with, we’d watch it online a few days after it originally aired. Most days we just didn’t watch TV at all and I honestly didn’t miss it.
We got cable again when we moved into our second apartment (a decision that was motivated by Ryan’s desire to watch the World Cup) and have kept it ever since. When we started talking about canceling our cable last week, we realized we don’t really have many shows we watch regularly. New Girl and Modern Family are the only two shows we watch together weekly, though I also watch The Bachelor and Ryan loves sports.
Paying for cable doesn’t seem worth it when we only care about a few shows, but aside from that, we realized that we’ve started to use TV as a default form of “filler entertainment.” We’ll find ourselves sitting on the couch watching random shows we don’t really care much about at all at night. When we didn’t have TV, we read more, went on more walks with Sadie and were more productive around the house in the evening.
But on the nights when neither of us feel like doing anything, TV is a pretty sweet thing. I’ve already told Ryan I’m all in for canceling cable but he really likes watching sports and isn’t fully on board yet. We shall see!
Question of the Morning
- Do you watch a lot of TV? How many minutes/hours of TV do you watch a day?
- Have you ever considered going TV-free in your house? Would you want to?
Fun fact: According to the New York Daily News, Americans watch an average of 34 hours of television a week.
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Funny you should ask… February is the last month we’ll have cable. We are moving to our new (first!) house this month and the cable is not coming with us! When I lived alone I never had it and just watched movies on netflix or television shows on hulu and never once missed cable. I’m pretty sure my husband’s always had cable and so when I moved in with him we kept it. However, our cable bill seems to keep on creeping up and we decided there are better ways to use our time and money than on television. I think the one thing that will be missed is sports, but I’m sure we’ll figure out how to watch the games that are the most important.
I don’t watch that much TV at all but I don;t think I could ever fully cancel it. I like to watch sports, the news and the bachelor. I also like it for some background noise too.
Babe reference 😀
And I actually cancelled my cable towards the end of the summer and never regretted my decision. I originally got it put in when I moved out on my own because I thought I would need the distraction to be less lonely, but I found that I hardly ever turned my TV on at all, and when I did, it was only to watch one or two shows. Definitely don’t miss it.
Babe!
My sister and her husband recently cute their cable. When I moved into the place I’m in now I decided not to get cable and for the most part I don’t miss it. On occasion, I still wish I had ESPN but I’m not about to pay for cable just for 1 channel! Any shows I like I just watch on hulu.
I would LOVE to cancel cable but my boyfriend would never go for it. Ever. He watches a ton of TV – sports, and then news for his job. So with the job excuse thrown in there, I can’t really push the issue. 🙂
But I rarely watch TV during the week, and then on weekends only a few hours usually as background noise. I could easily let it go.
Look into the Roku. It’s like the Apple TV, but cheaper! http://www.roku.com/meet-roku I am going to be getting rid of TV within the next month and think I’m going to replace it with this. I have looked into reviews and talked to a lot of people about it, and have heard nothing but excellent reviews! Good luck with your decision!
My boyfriend and I don’t have a tv/cable either, but we do have a huluplus account (you can watch New Girl, The Bachelor, Housewives, Modern Family…all the good shows!) and it’s only 10 bucks a month! Also my cousin has HBO go and gave me her login info, so I can watch good shows from HBO on my computer and our other friends share their Netflix account with us (we share the Huluplus with them) so basically we watch less tv but what we want to watch for 10 bucks a month!! I never miss having a tv and don’t really see the point in getting one!! You should cancel your cable!
So totally not on the topic of this post but I had a dream last night that you and I were BFFs and we were talking about how thin our hair was. You had recently gotten a perm and were trying to talk me into it because you said how much it helped your hair have volume!! So crazy!
The movie is Babe 🙂 <— now we are friends!
I got rid of TV in my apartment about 6 months ago when my cable/internet bill jumped from $50/month to $112. I kept the internet and I got a live streaming box. I do miss having TV because there are some things I can't catch on Hulu or Netflix (some Food Network shows, Big Bang Theory, and even just the morning news) but overall, I do still get to watch most shows I like and I like saving that much money.
By the way, I am new to your blog. I found you by looking for new treadmill routines (I found your and carrotsncake that way) and I wanted to tell you, I really love your blog! I have used a lot of your treadmill routines, I'm going to try your training schedule for my half marathon in April, and I've made 3 of your recipes so far (this Tuesday I'm making the lentils in the crock pot). So thanks for everything I've gotten so far from here!
My husband and I use an antennae to get the major network channels and a few others…all for free! I think the antannae cost us $75, so we’ve more than paid for it in cable savings. It works for us since the only shows I regularly watch are shown on the major networks and he watches a lot of his sports stuff online. Let me know if you want more info.
I haven’t had a TV since I left for college (7.5 years ago) and I don’t miss it. The only thing I miss is being able to watch the Today Show in the morning! I watch everything I want to watch on Netflix and Hulu, and if you have a television set I think you can stream your netflix or Hulu through it if you get some kind of box (my brother does this).
Babe!! Love it. I couldn’t give up TV just because, like, Ryan, my husband and I couldn’t give up our sports. I definitely could cut down on the filler TV, but I can’t give up our football Sundays and, well, all of the New York Yankees. 😉
Hey girl! I’m a new commenter but a long time reader – you’re such a positive inspiration. I can’t tell you how much you’ve helped me find balance between being healthy and enjoying life. I wanted to tell you – have you ever thought about getting Apple TV? The box is 100$ and you just link it to your WiFi and apple/iTunes account and its ah-mazing. Netflix, Hulu, sports, iTunes, YouTube, etc etc. there’s no subscription anything that needs bought is just from your iTunes account! It’s amazing! Good luck at the dentist!!
This might not have been clear: you hook it up to your tv and all of that plays right to your TV!
What do you have to purchase aside from the box? Are TV shows free?
I love my Apple TV too. I just pay a monthly fee for Hulu Plus and Netflix and I’m able to stay caught up on *almost* all of the shows I like. It’s so much cheaper than shelling out so much for cable and a ton of channels I don’t care about.
Love Babe, haven’t seen it in years! I might have to add that to the watch list this weekend. I don’t think I have ever had cable in my life! I didn’t grow up with it and now I just have a digital antenna (for basic channels that have sports) and a Roku, which has Hulu Plus and Netflix for all my viewing needs. The only reason I would really need cable is to watch the Food Network, but it’s such a time suck that it’s probably better I don’t, anyway!
The love for TV started for me when I was 13. My parents bought me a TV for my birthday for my room. Big mistake. I need the TV to fall asleep now. My husband HATES it. I wish I knew a way to quit TV altogether. I work from home and have it on all day, usually just as background noise. We are huge sports fans and can’t imagine life without TV. However at $200 a month, it does seem a bit ridiculous. There should be a TV anonymous!!!
I don’t have cable in my apartment, but I still manage to watch all of my TV shows for free on Hulu! I also pay for Netflix, which allows me to watch movies and older TV shows. Sometimes I wish I could sit down and watch some TV at the end of a long day, but I know I’m much more productive without it.
We have Netflix and that is all we need! Cable is so expensive and I honestly find myself doing more productive things when I don’t have “filler” semi-good television to watch. We end up watching shows or movies together, that we both watch. The only problem with Netflix…if you get hooked on a show watch out! You’ll end up watching 8 episodes in a row haha!
Babe!! Excellent movie! 🙂
We canceled DirecTv service over a year ago. And it has been wonderful! My husband is a HUGE sport fanatic and was so worried about missing out on his favorite sports. But he has found that he can watch most things online or at least stay updated on the score. It’s been great for our family. And we’re saving a boat load of money, to boot! For those shows that are on network TV, we watch on Hulu if we can’t watch live.
Another suggestion, if you do have a TV, keep it out of your main living area. You’re less inclined to turn it on if it’s not there. Our TV is in our basement family room, so it’s not staring us in the face 24/7. We catch up on a few shows a few nights per week, but that’s about it. GL!
p.s. I just randomly discovered your blog a week or two ago and I love it!
BABE!!! best movie ever! When I moved in with my boyfriend we just had NetFlix which was great, anything we wanted to watch my boyfriend would just download on his computer. We got cable over the summer because he was working for NBC Olympics and needed to watch the Olypmics but I would be all for cancelling cable as well.
I am with you on the no cable thing. I rarely watch TV (Modern Family, New Girl and Castle are about it) and any shows I miss I can easily catch up on at my parents’ house on their DVR. It’s nice to have cable when I want it but it’s hard to justify paying for it when I hardly use it. I actually called to cancel my cable a few months ago but because I pay for a cable/internet package it would only have saved me around $15 per month in the end. I still debate it all the time though. I’ll be interested to hear what you guys decide!
Props to you for being on board! I don’t think I could go without my weekly bachelor nights and Andy definitely couldn’t live without his 53825 sports channels
The movie is Babe! such a good movie!
We watch a lot of tv. sometimes i just get a little bored with it, i’d rather be out doing something! but the fiance works ALOT, so thats how he kind of dewinds from a day.
I dont think we would mak it too long without tv. we’ve been debating about gettin rid of HBO and the movie channesl because we do have Netflix as well. It too is our default ‘filler entertainment’. The dogs like it too! haha
I hate to say it, but I love TV way too much to cancel it. That apartment is super cute!
Babe 🙂 Dave and I always quote that around our house.
I’m not sure if this has anything to do with the way I am now, but growing up, we never had cable. At the time, I was horrified as one of the only kids who didn’t have cable and hated having to tell my friends when they came over. But now I couldn’t be more thankful, I rarely watch TV unless it’s with Dave. Since we comment/joke the whole time, I feel its more a way to spend some time together, as opposed to just vegging out and staring at the screen.
34 hours a week is INSANE. I haven’t had cable for about a year now, and I barely even notice it. I do religiously watch a handful of shows each week (right now it’s Revenge, Shameless, Girls, Modern Family, and Nashville), and I either record/watch them at my boyfriend’s house (HBO and Showtime shows) or watch them online (ABC shows). I don’t watch much TV apart from that, and I have come to enjoy the peace and quiet. Strange for someone who used to have a TV in her bedroom that was basically on 24/7, if nothing else for background noise.
Moral of the story: do it!
Babe! Baaa-raa-muu (or however you spell it haha). Loved that movie!
I never had a TV in my bedroom until I moved into my own apartment after college. Growing up, we only had 2 TV’s in the house – 1 in the family room and 1 in my parents room. But my mom kept the TV in the family room in a cabinet with doors, so we never really thought to turn it on. We would have to sit down and talk with her about which shows we wanted to watch that week. We were only allowed an hour or two of TV each week, so we had to prioritize. Plus we had to learn how to negotiate and talk to adults! Great lessons for kids! Today I do watch more TV but it’s mostly sports. I could definitely go without cable – but not internet.
LOVE this post! I actually don’t have a TV. Like you and Ryan, my husband and I agreed to not have a TV for the first year we lived together. Well, it’s quite past that year mark, but we have NO interest in getting a TV. We are both so busy and see it as such a waste of time and money. I love being TV-free and I don’t miss it at all. People think it’s so weird when they come over and look around only to find there is no hidden TV somewhere. When we want to watch movies, we just watch them on the computer. Not perfect, but not bad either.
I haven’t had TV since 2008…I have some debt I’m working on paying back, and I decided to choose either Cable or Internet. I found that with Internet and an online Netflix subscription and a free Hulu account I could watch everything I needed to – except the Olympics!! I live in a rural area so even with a converter box I still cannot receive local channels 🙁 I find that I have access to just about all I need, and can watch shows at my leisure rather than rushing home to catch a favorite show. But I don’t watch sports, so I can’t speak to that!
My husband and I are both in grad school, and we went cable-less (and car-less, and eating-out-less, etc.) for nearly three years to save money. Now, I graduate in a couple of months, plus we moved out of our studio, AND we got cable AND a cat, and we are so SO SO excited about it! We feel like we’re living in the lap of luxury with our giant one bedroom apartment and cable TV. Maybe some day it will wear off, but for right now, you can pry that cable out of my cold dead fingers!
Yes to all the Apple TV endorsements!! All the best shows, Netflix, huluplus, and I think you can even subscribe to MLB.com to get baseball games. We pay for a few shows that aren’t on Hulu like Topchef, but $19.99 for 20 episodes (that I can watch whenever I want with no commercials) is still better than $120/month every month!
Look into Roku! You can stream from Netflix instant, Amazon tv and others. Great deal.
Babe!! I’ve used that quote a few times and I am usually met with blank stares. I’m with you on canceling tv. I follow very few shows, no need to get hooked on more. Occasionally I wish I had espn. They should offer an online subscription so you can watch sports games for cheap.
My husband and I agreed to cancel cable once football season ended and now I’m still hesitant to pull the plug. It’s true…there are only a couple of shows we like to watch and those can watched online (we have a mac with a screen the size of a TV!). For me, it’s hard because I’ve never NOT had cable so it will be adjustment. I do agree that it will lead to more time reading, etc…which is great! We need to watch all the shows we have recorded on our DVR and then I will call to cancel.
BABEEEE!!!!!
The quote is from Babe, but it’s also referenced in an episode of Gilmore Girls when Lorelai teaches Emily how to annoy her mother in law.
I don’t have cable. I have a Roku player for watching Netflix and catch New Girl on Hulu. The only downside is live sporting events. You pretty much have to know people who have cable and go watch it with them. Sometimes games are on espn3.com
We went without cable (satellite, actually) when we first moved into our apartment, just because we didn’t set anything up for awhile. We did use a digital antennae for local channels though. I’ve been thinking a lot about going back to this lately! I completely agree about making the shows you do watch into ‘events.’ It was much more special to sit down together and watch something we were excited about from Netflix.
We’ve been cable-free for four years now, and its the best decision we ever made. My hubby is a computer nerd who built a computer specifically for the living room TV. We’re able to pick up a few local channels (for New Girl and Sunday football), but between Netflix and Amazon Prime, there’s really no shortage of entertainment options.
When we first moved into our new house we didn’t have cable or internet set up for the first couple of weeks. Now we have both and since I work from home half of the week, I find that having internet (where most of my work is done) at my fingertips all day long makes it hard to switch from “work” to “off time.” My husband told me last night that our internet was going up to $65/mo and I’m thinking that I’d like to go back to that quiet time we had when there was no internet in the house. I’m totally fine with going to work at the library or coffee shop and supporting a small business so I can use their WiFi rather than spending so much for internet at home. That way too, work “ends” when I head back home again. I’m really considering it.
I would be perfectly fine with cancelling, but my husband is way too obsessed with sports. During football season, we regularly have 3 flat screens set up and he pays for the NFL Ticket. Ridiculous!! 😉
We canceled our cable a year ago and just use a digital antena. Its free and we still get the basic channels. Its only hard when football season rolls around but then it gets us out of the house
My husband and I have lived without cable for a while now. We’re in Canada, and the cable company we use also delivers our internet. So we cancelled tv and would keep our internet. After we cancelled, the company started calling us with promos: Add basic cable to your services with us and get the first six months free!
So we take the free six months and then cancel tv again. Like clockwork 3-6 months later, we get another call offering for a free 6 month tv package. We’ve been through the cycle about 4 times now and we just keep taking the free tv services!
My husband’s love for Sports is the ONLY reason we still have satellite. I never watch the regular tv. I watch all my favorite shows on my laptop with headphones plugged in. I wish there was a way to get all of his Sports online or another platform, and then we would definitely get rid of the satellite once and for all!
My TV died last year and I waited about 7 months to buy a new one. I think the most extraordinary thing is how much time you suddenly spend in your other rooms! All of a sudden nothing is drawing you to just park in the living room anymore. I have a working TV now but I’m also considering cutting down to just Hulu plus and Netflix to be a bit more intentional with how I spend my time and what I watch. My biggest drawback: no more Bravo 🙁
Ughh, I debate this a lot! I think if I lived alone I would cancel it because its $100 a month for TV and internet! And we have Netflix, but through my boyfriend’s playstation so his parents are paying for that (shhh). He loves to watch sports on TV though so I’m not sure he’d be on board. It’s tough. I watch Revenge and sometimes the Kardashians. I do notice we do a lot of mindless TV watching though…like if he’s working late I will turn it on when I eat so it’s not total silence! 34 hours is wayyyyy too much, no wonder there’s an obesity problem in the US.
I’ve thought about this too actually, since I watch a lot on Netflix and my laptop anyways… It would save money, however with my cable company, it was (oddly enough) less expensive to do a bundle with internet AND cable compared to internet only.
We haven’t had cable ever since college and I don’t ever really feel the need for it. Instead we Netflix it up or stream through the xbox or ESPN online (for sports). It’s just too expensive for something that we would waste a lot of time doing. Not that we don’t still veg out in front of the TV for an hour or so every night. 🙂
My boyfriend & I have been living together for about 3.5 years and when we first moved in we just couldn’t afford it, I thought it would be the end of the world but I haven’t missed it! I watch shows for free online, plus netflix, and – if you have an Xbox, Xbox live has an ESPN app on it so my boyfriend watches a lot of sports on there. They aren’t all on there but it’s certainly something!
Haha, the only person I say that line from Babe to is my husband, as he is the only person that knows how much I love that movies.
Babe the Gallant Pig is one of my favorite childhood movies!! 🙂
My fiance and I don’t have TV at all right now! We watch all of our shows through online services on his big PC monitor. We’re considering getting a flat screen that will be internet compatible so we can watch somewhere other than our office, but still use Hulu/Hbo Go/Netflix. The only issue I sometimes have with not paying for cable is that it can be a pain to find reliable feeds for political events (although they are more often being broadcast on YouTube), or, most recently, the Puppy Bowl 🙁
We use a ROKU + NetFlix at our house. The ROKU lets us get TV shows sooner than NetFlix, but it’s still TV watching on OUR time. It’s not a default to do when we’re bored, but something we can schedule. Plus, it’s much cheaper than satellite or cable. An 80$ one-time-fee for the ROKU, plus the monthly for a 1 DVD at a time NetFlix subscription. It’s well worth it!