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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BABE!!!! I love that movie, I haven’t seen it in forever.
As for cable I wish I could survive without it but I don’t know if I could. Both my husband and I watch to many show… Which I suppose isn’t good 🙂
I watch too much TV!! My boyfriend watches a ton of sports too (and so do I if I’m being honest) We have two tv’s set up in our living room and frequently watch both at once (a sports game on one and a tv show on the other). Part of me wishes we could go TV free, but I think at this point, it’s too much a part of our lives. I read a lot too, but I’m sure there are things I could be doing other than watching TV!
I thought my husband and I were the only ones to have two tv’s in our living room! Too funny. We bought a house last year and the living room only has the one tv, but the basement still has the two tv set-up. I usually put a workout video on one tv and a show on the other 🙂
Babe began my obssession with pigs and spurred my goal to own a pet pig one day…I still yell “Christmas is carnage” way too much when the holidays roll around.
I don’t have cable because I live outside of the US and watch all my shows online anyway. I am a huge college football fan, and I’ve had no problem finding live streams to watch my games, and I know other fans who hook up their computers to their TVs and watch sports that way. Sometimes I miss having cable for the ability to come home and just veg out in front of the TV instead of having to decide what I want to watch and then find a link to it on the internet, but at the same time, I’m kind of glad I can’t just veg out in front of the TV.
I was just saying that Babe quote to my producer yesterday. Weird.
Went through the same discussion when I first cancelled my cable! I and my significant other both love watching basketball and football, but like you, don’t have too many shows otherwise that we keep up with (just Modern Family, which we catch online). We were lucky enough to be able to watch the big games at friends and relatives’ houses, so if Ryan has a good buddy maybe he could do that? We did that for about a year. Although I will say we caved in the fall and got cable again… just to catch those games.
Or if there’s a way you can negotiate with the cable company to give you the lowest deal with at least ESPN maybe that would help? I’m all over the place, but good luck with the decision! 🙂
When my roommate and I were apartment hunting last year, we thought about doing away with TV to help save some money, but we wound up finding a place where cable was included in our rent, win win. I don’t actually watch that much TV so I don’t NEED cable (though it would take me a couple days to get over the loss of my beloved Food Network) but I constantly have it on for background noise, especially if I’m at home alone, I just can’t take it when things are dead quiet!
I so wish my husband would let me cancel the cable!!!!!!!!!!!! Life would be so much quieter:)
I guess I need to watch Babe, because all I thought of was Charlotte’s Web!!! That’s my only pig movie I know….
I really only watch cable news in the AM – otherwise everything is via Netflix and Hulu!
My husband and I were just talking about this. It saves a lot of money! There are a couple shows we watch that don’t get put on-line or are only up for a week or so, but it does seem silly to pay so much for just a few shows and the convenience. We’re planning to move this summer so we decided we won’t sign up for cable right away and see how much we miss it. I am afraid we’ll miss it though! We both work a ton and after long days we aren’t going for walks or reading high brow books at 10 pm.
I went TV free in law school, and didn’t find it too bad. I have been pay TV free since I moved to Australia, but they give you a few channels (probably 10) for free, so I don’t feel like I’m TV free. I even got to watch the Superbowl but without the commercials – what good is that?! Haha
We actually DON’T have a tv. We watch everything we want to see on the computer, but that’s about it
Same here! I don’t mind watching a few shows after they originally air.
I wish my husband would let me cancel it because I never even watch it. The bachelor doesnt count..plus I could watch it online.. he wont get rid of it for the sports!
My husband and I recently made the decision to cut the cord when it comes to cable for very similar reasons to the ones you mentioned. We recently moved and adopted a little doggie, so we’ve been so busy that we haven’t even noticed it yet. We’ll see if we notice it a bit more when things start to settle down. But, I’m really happy with our decision. We don’t want to spend our down time watching TV. We want to play with our new doggie and make some new friends in the new city we moved to. And, we want to spend quality time together. In fact, we even decided to exclude a television all together from our living room in our new home because we don’t want that to be the focal point of our home and our lives. 😀 I totally get the sports thing, though. That one’s a toughie. Good luck persuading the hubs. 😉 Hehe. I like a previous commentor’s suggestion of trying to negotiate something with your cable company to see if you can just get the sports channels. It’s worth a shot anyways. They always hate to lose customers.
I love Babe!
My husband and I don’t have a TV, but we watch a few shows (New Girl, the Mindy Project, Office, Parks and Rec) on Hulu and anything else that sparks our fancy we can usually find streaming on Netflix. As for sports, we can count on friends to have us over for big games (as long as we bring snacks!).
We ditched cable a couple of years ago. We mostly use Netflix and Hulu to watch tv. We were paying a lot of something we didn’t use enough.
i have a tv but i did go w/o it for the month of january. it’s such a time waster for me. i’m not sure i’d ever give it up but i am trying to be more conscience about the amount of time i’m sitting in front of it…
I just moved into a new apartment and am only using Hulu – I actually cancelled my Netflix subscription because I wasn’t using it. I am sooo happy with my decision not to get cable. The one show I can’t get on Hulu is available for $1.99/episode on Amazon after it has aired.
When I switched rooms in our house (living with roommates), I decided to not put a TV in my room. I found it really hard to sleep after watching a buttload of TV, but ended up just being on my phone until bedtime!
We have TV in the living room, so that’s where I get most of my watching done. I only like a handful of shows that are on air right now, so I maybe spend 5 hrs/weeks in front of the TV. Not too bad!
BABE!!!!!!!
My husband and I cancelled cable two years ago, and have not gone back – we watch a few shows online and can stream things like the presidential debates and Superbowl! And during the Olympics, I visited a friend’s apartment to watch the Opening Ceremonies, which made TV time = social/bonding time too.
My husband and I went without cable for about 4 years and honestly didn’t miss it! You can watch your shows online now days anyways. I like to watch the Bachelor and a few others sometimes. When we moved to our new house, we got cable and I wish we didn’t have it again. I find myself doing the same thing–watching filler shows and being non-productive. Sports are harder to watch online, so I understand Ryan’s issue… my husband liked watching football all season for sure.
Babe, what a classic movie! 🙂 ha
My boyfriend and I have been struggling with this same issue for quite some time! I don’t think it’s necessary I agree it only forces us to watch more tv than we would if we didn’t have cable, yet he continues with the “well maybe after the world series… maybe after the super bowl…” I don’t think I’m ever going to win this one! ha
I didnt have cable for a year and during that time I also had no internet for a solid 5 months! It was AWESOME…but no thaving internet was difficult, I was REALLY happy to get thatback! I would love to cancel cable…like you said, too muhc “filler” time.
My room mate and I don’t have cable. We have Canadian Netflix – which isn’t nearly good as the American one, and watch other shoes online. When I go home I love watching me some TV though!
We have a TV that we connected to a Roku box so we get Netflix and Hulu Plus (for a whopping $15/mo). We still watch a fair amount of TV (maybe an hour or 2 a day) and the only time we missed cable at all was during the Olympics. The biggest downside to not having cable is not being able to watch sports, which we don’t watch much of anyway. Going on 2 years cable-free…
We do the same thing! Roku is awesome, there are still great shows (portlandia, the mindy project, walking dead, etc) that you can access through netflix, and you can add local/network channels as well. it makes for a more mindful tv wathing experience, if that makes sense? i will agree, you’ll have to go out or to a friends for the superbowl/worldcup/any other live sporting event but that kind of makes it more fun anyways!
I also have a Roku! We have a combo of Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon prime, so between these we don’t miss many shows. In order to watch the Bachelor and the news and things, I bought a digital TV antenna off Amazon for $12 and can watch all network stations for free! HIGHLY recommend canceling it as well, it saves a ton of money and I agree, I waste a lot less time these days now.
My hubby and I have been married for almost 4 years, and we’ve never had cable. We’ve only had Netflix and Hulu+, so that means that we pay about $16 a month for entertainment as opposed to $100+ for cable. Anyhoo, we love it and find that we watch a LOT less TV and movies without cable. Works for us 🙂 Also, we’ll go TV-less every now and then, and it’s always nice. We play games, read, and go do fun things together. It’s nice to mix it up a bit 🙂
We just canceled our cable subscription this month. Instead, we got Hulu Plus to compliment our Netflix account. I really love it, and feel like I get everything I need (which is Biggest Loser and The Carrie Diaries at the moment!). I agree–it cuts back on the mindless TV watching and makes it feel more like an Event when we sit down to watch BL.
We Just have Netflix and Antenna TV, Saves some money and we don’t ever feel deprived of TV shows.
We’ve thought about it too in our condo but with the NHL back there is no way my boyfriend would agree to that now. So for now, cable it is. Can’t lie I do love watching tv, I would definitely miss it
Isaac and I have been married for 18 years and we have never had cable and I don’t believe we will ever get it. Like you, we don’t want to just sit down and watch random shows that we care nothing about either. We watch movies when we want to see something good or find a series we have heard good things about on Netflix or Amazon. We have 2 teenage boys, also and we are so happy that they have never had access to just random garbage because it is “on the tv.”
My husband and I recently just cancelled our cable and it has been so amazing. We were very very hesitant to do it but like you mentioned we have found ourselves going on more walks and doing more active thing as a couple..anyways I think it’s awesome you guys are even considering it, you should do it it’s the cool thing to do 🙂
My boyfriend and I just did the same thing! We replaced cable with a Roku. It is a super tiny device that hooks up to your tv to easily access app like Netflix and Hula. We do all of our watching through there. Way more convenient then hooking up your laptop every time you want to watch a movie!
No cable. We just have the bare minimum of channels. And it’s totally fine. I watch all my shows I love on my laptop or iPad a day later when I find time to sit. It’s actually kinda better. And it keeps you off the TV and you get to spend more time with family because you have no TV watching holding you back.
We cancelled our cable almost 3 years ago, and we hardly miss it. We have a HD antenna so we get the local channels and pay $7/month for nerflicks streaming, it works great, like you said we watch so few shows, and what we watched were on local channels anyways. We used to be able to watch sports through a 1 year ESPN subscription for Xbox, but ESPN figured it out and quit showing your local market games.
It does make sports watching hard, but the few games we are serious about, we go out to a bar or restaurant to watch it and make a date out of it. It’s costs us less to watch it out than our cable bill, so we figure we still come out ahead.
I think i could with netflix and all the shows available online these days… Hubby might another story
I’ve been without cable for almost two years. When I had it I only had basic cable, so not a lot of channels, but I got mad at my cable company because they took one of the only channels I watched regularly (HGTV) and bumped it up to the next package. I was going to have to pay more for my cable to get one channel, and that did not make me happy. As it is, I’m a shift worker, and couldn’t always watch my shows when they first aired and would have to catch them online. That’s when I decided it made more sense to cancel, and just continue watching things online. It’s convenient, easy and cheap:) I just plug my laptop into my TV and watch straight on the TV.
I could definitely do away with the TV! I could care less…I don’t even have time to watch anything. The only thing that mildly interests me is the Food Network. But my fiance watches sports so…
How funny! We just made the (long debated) decision to get rid of cable today too! Comcast is just too darn expensive, and we have both Netflix and Apple TV. Looking forward to doing some other things (reading, talking, blogging, working out) instead of plopping down in front of the TV.
Have you ever heard of the Roku? My husband and I quit cable and got the Roku which allows us to stream shows like a day later. We get to watch New Girl and Modern Family still. It’s great. Paying for the Hulu on there to watch the shows costs us about $7 a month, which is much better than cable!
If I’m lucky I get 1/2 an hour and like Ryan and you we have discussed sans cable. Something stops us though and yet we use to live in a remote Northern community where we had 3 channels with a rabbit antenna and like Ryan and you we had the best time in those days. I will admit I use he TV as background when I am working out in the home gym and I watch news to stay on top of things for my profession about current events. It’s also a source for my husband and I to watch the Golf channel religiously so it would be a tough bandaid to pull off especially in the cold Canadian winter months. Summer I could do it no problemo! Too busy with outdoor activities to care about TV! Hey if you do go cold turkey you can always get hooked back up as my Dad does every time he returns to Florida for his winter fun!
Roku is the best thing ever! 88.00 to purchase, the 7.99 for netflix.
My husband and I debated canceling our cable recently, but I have a weakness for shows on TLC so I don’t know if I ever could. And, my husband likes Discovery and food/cooking shows. I guess we’re keeping our cable!
We moved to a new area this past fall where the cable deals are basic or quite expensive. Since we didn’t want to pay the $ for the “quite expensive” we had the basic package (a whole 30 channels or so), but to me, it’s not “real cable” since we don’t have HGTV, History, Food Network, Travel, E!, etc….
I was majorly disappointed and still miss it, but to make up for it, I watch Hulu, Netflix, or, like you said, wait a couple of days and watch the show online later.
It’s manageable for us, but then again, we don’t really watch sports (sorry, Ryan!) Good luck with your decision!
I am currently having this debate (with myself). I travel all the time so I DVR everything, which is an additional monthly charge. I can watch a lot of shows online, and I’ve considered Netflix as well. Missing sports would suck, but if I really really wanted to watch something, I could go to a bar or watch it at someone else’s place. I’m leaning more towards canceling…dave time and my precious money!
-AJ
FitTravelerAJ.blogspot.com
I’m clearly in the minority here, but I’d never get rid of my cable! I live alone, so the TV provides background noise in a quiet apartment, plus I’m invested in a handful of shows that I just don’t want to miss!
Totally random! I got my first filling last Friday, and whenever I chew on something it hits a nerve. Almost like a certain part is sensitive. About to call the dentist, but some people online say the feeling will go away! Will probably call tomorrow because its scaring me!
We have Apple TV and a rockin’ rabbit ears antenna. We get to watch everything on Hulu and Netflix plus anything on regular tv channels. Totally worth it. My sister got Roku instead of Apple TV. Either way we only pay for our Netflix and Hulu accounts and a one time fee for the box.
we just canceled cable (within the past week) and got netflix. my son doesn’t even miss it – he’s 11. we are outside more. we clean the house without dragging our feet about it and we pay more attention to each other. and this is just from a week! super glad we made the move to cancel.
I tend to watch a small amount of tv myself–about 2 hours a day after work when I’m just ‘vegging out.’ Most of the time I’m online or doing planning for work, so it’s usually background noise. I feel like once a week there’s usually a show on that I try to catch (& then there’s my daily E! News too!). I only pay $17 a month for my cable though, which seems like a nice compromise–I get my E Network & the major networks, but don’t get sucked into everything else. It only causes us the occasional problem when my bf wants to watch college basketball & I don’t get ESPN, but luckily we can crowd around my laptop when we need to. He gets cable at his place & every once in awhile we’ll get sucked into something on the weekends (more so me than him–I am a sucker for reality shows!). I feel like it’d be great to go cable free (I don’t know if I could ever go tv free!), I could really see us having more time to read or do something other than watch the screen! Plus, it’d save a lot of money!