To Cable or Not to Cable

I am disconnecting my cable!

I had been mulling over the idea of disconnecting my cable for a couple of weeks now and I finally decided that is was the best decision.

• Reason #1 - In May my cable/internet bill went up by $30 and is now well over $100 a month.
• Reason #2 - My final year or graduate school begins Monday and I need to eliminate as many distractions as possible.
• Reason #3 - I have been asking myself 'is cable really worth it'?  I will admit, I do love BRAVO and watch my fair share of MSNBC and NCIS reruns on the USA Network, but I feel that I can definitely live without them.  Furthermore, I stream Netflix through my Ruko and I am considering signing up for Hulu Plus so that I will be able to catch up on any shows that I deem 'essential viewing' 
• Reason #4 - My only two requirements when eliminating cable is that I still be able to watch the local and national (nightly) news and be able to watch football in the fall, and with digitial converter cable boxes I am able to do both!

Growing up we never had cable in our household and it was not until I went to college that I experienced cable on a consistent basis.  And I must admit the idea of saving $70 a month and $840 a year quite appealing!  So after consulting my anti-cable friend Jessica (who also let me borrow her digital converter cable box for a week to try out - thank you!) I went ahead and purchased two converter boxes and two antennas.  The total cost of the four products was $116 which will easily pay for itself in a little over one month of not having cable.  Dare I say I am somewhat excited for this new exploration!  I believe that not having cable will allow me to focus more on my school work (especially given the 20+ books on feminism and transportation history and policy that I am required to read this semester) and it will allow me to be more productive in other areas and spend less time in front of the TV.