Goodbye Cable TV

     Did we really say goodbye to cable tv for good???  I think so.  The one thing I have worked hard at not getting rid of throughout all this job loss, was cable tv.  There were times throughout the last two years when we had to give the lovely HD, DVR box back, but a good portion of the time, I found ways to cut in other areas so I could keep my DVR.  With three young children at home, the only time I could really enjoy any television was at night after they were in bed.  With DVR, I could watch anytime and I LOVED IT!
     About a year ago, I read an article somewhere about young couples giving up cable tv and watching the shows they love online.  Mike and I had often hooked our laptop up to our tv when we forgot to record something on the DVR and it worked fine for the most part.  So I started bringing the idea up to Mike, we talked for about six months about the tv shows we watched, looked all over the internet to see what we could find and the results were pretty impressive.  There are only two shows we watch regularly that are not available online.  American Idol being the biggest of the two, but heck, was I really willing to pay $100 a month to watch American Idol???
     Well, just about a month ago, we finally decided to make the big decision.  We had found many options for television enjoyment that was much cheaper than cable tv.  First, we subscribed to Streaming Netflix for $8 a month.  The number of television shows you can watch on Netflix is crazy.  There are shows I was never able to watch and all the seasons are there at the touch of a button.  We also hooked an old laptop up to the television so we could watch shows online at the network sites or on Hulu.  We also decided to try Hulu Plus for $8 per month as well.  There was a special offer for college students to get the first month free.  We were able to watch Netflix and Hulu Plus through Mike's Sony Playstation (an XBOX will work as well), so for $16 a month, we have an unlimited selection of television shows and movies at all times.
     Two weeks ago, I was talking to my brother about our decision and he introduced us to a magical little box called a Roku.  It is a nifty little box that will stream Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, Pandora, MLB, games such as Angry Birds and Connect 4, and a variety of other "channels" with shows to watch.  When you receive the box, you go online and register it and then begin selecting the channels you want to watch.  Then, there are tons of codes on the internet where very computer minded people (or "geeks around the world" as my brother calls them) are streaming other shows of their choice.  It really is amazing all the channels there are to watch.

   
     Honestly, I do not totally understand all of it, but I know that our house is full of entertainment options and we spent $100 on the Roku (there are less expensive models) and $8 on a connecting cable for the old laptop and will pay $16 per month for Netflix and Hulu Plus (we are not sure we are going to keep Hulu Plus, we have not found much we want to watch there).  The $192 per year is a huge difference from the $1200 per year we were spending on our Cable subscription!  Goodness, that is a Disneyland trip!  Check out the Roku today and start saving some money!  Send me an email to erathier@yahoo.com f you have any questions on what we have done!