Cable TV Free

You might be wondering what we've been up to lately.

Life keeps us pretty busy, as I'm sure you're experiencing as well.  And because we're so busy we don't watch very much television.  But for some reason we still had cable TV.  It's a bit of a hard habit to break.

The TV keeps me company sometimes when I'm alone at night.  It's dynamic and mindless so I don't have to think.  Just hit the "on" button and then surf around until I find something that catches my attention.  So, the thought of a dead TV: one without a life line of network feeds from around the continent was a scary one.  One that I was not willing to embrace.

About a year ago I got up the willpower to cancel my cable subscription. But, the lovely supervisor of customer service convinced me that what I really needed was cheaper services.  So, they wooed me to stay on for another 12 months by offering me a 10% loyalty discount as well as discounts on the equipment I was renting from them: effectively reducing my bill by $30 a month.

Now finally, at the end of the year I found the gumption to pack up my DVR and my cable box and return them.  In the process saving myself  $55 a month over and above the $30 savings that I was on the verge of losing. So, effectively saving myself $85 a month.

I have been watching streaming videos on my computer for a while now.  The trouble is that in order to watch programming online you have to have an idea what you might like to watch.  It's not as easy as just browsing the listings and flipping to your channel of choice.  You need a place to start.

So, to help myself "surf" my favourite shows (and the favourites of other adults who use my TV like Grandmothers who child mind sometimes) I started a blog called Cable Free Lisa.   Many of the shows I like to watch are now visually displayed on my computer monitor for perusal.  I told a couple of friends about it and they wanted the link so they could surf shows easily.  Albeit, they are my favourites not necessarily theirs.

I've begun to build a page for the kids as well: you can find it at CableFreeKids.  I haven't got much up there yet, but I'm sure you'll see a few more shows there as time passes.