Cable Bills!

Yesterday I got a bit frustrated, yet again, with the massive cable bill from Comcast. I get my Internet and TV from them, and realized that I only really need one of their services—high-speed Internet. When looking at the numbers, I realized that I could get the fastest Internet package for around $60.00. The package I had yesterday included a slower connection (12Mbps) and digital cable. Not only is their remote control utterly annoying to use (the buttons have a slow response time, and there are just too many of em’!), but everything seems so clunky to me. I needed a cable box, remote, wires galore, cable modem, more wires, a router, and a few more wires. And I had to pay more money.

The problem I was running into was that only one outlet was of enough quality to support high-speed internet—the same one the digital cable box was plugged into. That creates quite a bit of congestion in terms of wires mixing around in the TV stand. When I realized I was spending $100/month on cable TV and Internet, more than all my other bills combined (yes! you read that correct!), I decided it was worth it to, yet again, live without the TV. I did this for about 3 months a year ago. The difference was, at that point in time, I didn’t have a TV, just a computer.

Here’s what I’m thinking, I’ll save approximately $40/month by cancelling cable and snagging the fasters Internet connection speed. That $40 will go to a long way—I can go to a movie once a week every month, get popcorn and a drink! Or, I suppose I could put that money towards my daily cup of coffee—that’s three weeks of coffee paid for! Maybe I could put it towards my savings account, or invest it in something cool. I could use the $40/month to get a Sprint MiFi plan and then have the internet with me everywhere I go. I’m not sure what exactely I’ll do with the spare change—granted it’s not a bunch, but $40 x 12 months = $480. If I go without cable for a year, I can buy myself a pretty awesome gizmo next summer.

So, you may be thinking, what are you actually gonna do with the money??? I’ve decided my time is more well-spent reading. But I tend to go crosseyed if I read for a long amount of time, so I’m investing that spare change in Audible.com. These guys are professional story-tellers, and I can put it on my portable music device and spend the wasted time in front of the tube exercising my brain for a change. Novel, you say? Exactely my point!

But, alas, I can still watch TV online. There’s always Hulu and the big cable network websites to check out, so I don’t think I’ll starve myself of mindless (though oddly enjoyable) entertainment anytime in the near future.