In mid-March, I received a devastating phone call -- my DH had lost his job. We did our best to prepare for a long drought even before that. We'd begun a small garden to supplement our groceries, stocked up on certain foods like coffee, and -- this is the biggie-- we unplugged our lives.
What do I mean by "unplugged" and how is that possible? Unplugged means that we started to unplug certain appliances and modern conveniences. One of the first to go was cable television, followed closely by a land line phone. Let me explain.
The cable company had us in a vise that was squeezing us bloodless. We had not only cable television, but also cable internet and "digital voice" phone service. This cost us a whopping $170 a month. Others tell me that's not such a bad bill, and proudly tell me they have bundled services that cost them over $200 a month. This is something to brag about?
I disagree. So, we cut the cable television and phone service. Yep, just turned them off. Do we miss the television in the evening? Yes, and no. If I want to watch the news, I can watch streaming video from my favorite news channel's website. If I want to watch a TV program, many are available on www.hulu.com . If I want to watch a DVD, it's probably available as a "watch instantly" on www.netflix.com for $10 a month, and that includes unlimited access to DVD's sent to my home as well.
Because of all this and my job as an internet author and marketing coordinator, we have to keep a high-speed internet service. That means cable. However, we cut our bill down to a mere $60 a month, and if necessary I could probably cut it more. I'd rather not.
Is it easy going unplugged? No. There are times when I wish I could just simply flick on the TV remote and go brainless in my comfy recliner rather than look guiltily at all my undone work piles while watching "tv" on my computer monitor.
Would I prefer if my DH found work so we could restore our lives to some semblance of normalcy? Yes. However, I may stay unplugged. I'm beginning to like it.
Lena Austin
http://depravedduchess.blogspot.com
2 comments:
Unplugged - it's something I've been considering lately. I could save about $120 a month ( keeping the internet) It's not a "have to" situation at the moment, but I honestly don't think I watch enought TV to warrant that kind of money goitn out every month.
Maybe I'll wait and see if you survive LOL
Anne, DH has requested we return to basic cable or perhaps basic satellite after he gets a job. He misses being able to go brainless. (sigh)
However, I'm loving being unplugged now. We each now enjoy watching what we want, when we want it on the computer.
Dante catches up on his favorite TV shows on Hulu.com on weekends, DH and I watch our fave documentary shows on weeknights using Hulu or Netflix streaming.
I admit, I sometimes go to Netflix and Hulu for research as well. I'm thinking of creating a Harry Dresden type character, so The Dresden Files on hulu.com are very useful. (wink)
Not to mention the fact that we are saving a ton of money. It's jaw-dropping to get my much-reduced cable bill (internet only). We cut our phone, cable, and miscellaneous entertainment bill by well over $100 a month.
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