Life without cable?

We took the plunge. And we love it. We don't miss it at all. I never thought those words would come out of my mouth. We were a family that always had the TV on in the background. What a waste of quality family time and money and electricity.

Our final push came when I read Dave Ramsey's book Total Money Makeover. It has been a life-changing book for us. We looked at where all of our money was vanishing too and decided what things were not absolutely necessary. So just by cancelling cable, we are saving about $100 a month, $1200 a year!

Now, don't let me fool you, just because we cut cable, does not mean that we don't watch any TV. We purchased this antenae. The picture is just as good as cable, and we get all of the local channels. I let greenbean watch PBS cartoons, which are the most educational I believe, and free!

There are also many opportunities to watch free TV online as well. Here are a couple that we have found most useful:

- Hulu Watch popular tv shows and movies for free!

- Network websites such as ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX have full episodes you can watch online with minimal commercials!

We also rent from redbox. If you have not tried this, you must. Great deal and they almost always have new releases in stock.

Overall, I feel that we as a family have benefited tremendously by not having cable. It not only saves us money, but we are no longer TV zombies (well we were not that bad, but getting there) and have been spending more quality family time together doing various activities.

You can find many non-TV ideas for the family in the book, 365 TV-Free Activities You Can Do With Your Child.

Alissa