Life Without Cable: One Year Later

/

Let me start by saying this: I do not miss having cable one bit.

Last year, after cutting cable service down from multiple TVs to one, the bill was still $50 a month for basic cable. That's $600 a year that is now being saved. Nope, don't miss it at all.

I wrote about cutting the cord and really, I wish we would have down it sooner.

Here are a few things I've learned in the past year:

  • You Don't Have to Have Cable to Be Happy....or to Be Kept in the Loop

Somehow, I thought the kids were going to suffer or miss out on something. A few months back, I asked the six year old if he missed cable. His response: "what's cable?" Guess that would be a no.

Really there's been no lack of things to watch. The only difference is more money in the pocket and less channel surfing since when we sit down to watch TV, we usually already have in mind what we want to watch. YouTube surprisingly has a lot of shows shown on cable.

  • Many People Don't Think There's a Way to Watch TV Without Cable

A few months back a family member came over and was shocked to see an antenna behind our TV. She asked what it was for? When I told her to watch TV. She was surprised to find out that regular network TV is free over the air and comes in HD. Crazy how people think the only way to watch TV is through cable.

My mother came to visit a few months back and was lamenting our cable-less home. She wanted to watch a network TV show. So I went to the networks website and she was able to watch. She still complained. I think it was more out of not understanding than for a lack of things to watch.

Our set up is pretty much the same: two Roku boxes and an Apple TV box which is what we mostly watch (because Netflix has separate viewing profiles that Roku does not.)  I still hook up my MacBook to the TV sometimes, if my iPad is tied up. But for the most part, we can visit a website like MTV and play it on the TV via AirPlay. It's great how all the Apple products play nice.

Tonight, after the kids go to bed, I'll catch up on The Biggest Loser via Hulu or The LaVigne Life on YouTube. Really looking forward to Nashville, Parenthood and Scandal. What are you watching these days?