Day Nine
I called Comcast to cancel my television service yesterday afternoon. After a semi-frustrating hour on the phone with 3 different people, they got my monthly bill down to $75 for cable, internet and phone service - it was $130! That saves us probably around $45 - $50 each month (because of taxes and fees). I had no intention of keeping cable service, but when they shocked me by getting all three down to the same price that AT&T was going to give me just internet and phone, I agreed. Maybe I will think about calling back to cancel the cable to save an extra $20/month, but we'll have to discuss it.
I was very excited about that - cancelling cable would have saved us only $30/month if we had stayed with Comcast (which we were planning to do because with AT&T we would have had to buy a new modem for $90, which would have eaten up any savings we would have had).
As exciting as that is, it brings up the idea of what do we do when September is over? I know it is only Sepetmber 10th, but Cornbread and I have discussed how we both like not having TV and then it ultimately leads to the conversation of possibly phasing it back into our lives. How in the world do we go about doing that without it getting out of control? The same question applies to sugar. It may be September 10th, but it is definitely worth thinking about now and I don't have any ideas or answers.
I don't want to go back to life as it was. I feel like I'm living life more intentionally right now rather than following along with whatever is happening at the moment. I'm getting more stuff done around the house. I'm motivated to do more. I don't feel like the candy in the cupboard is calling to me now that it simply is not an option. The house is quiet a lot more than it used to be - there is more of a peace about things and about myself, I suppose. So in a way, I wish that I hadn't been able to keep the cable and still get the cheaper price - if it had been cancelled we would have no options when September was over. I know, though, that Cornbread would like to have the tv back after this month and he was happy to hear that we still have cable... but he's not home all day, he apparently doesn't struggle with this as much as I do. So after September is over my self-discipline is going to be tested in a big way.
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3 comments:
Let me know if I am commenting too much on your blog. :) We have only had a full cable package twice in our the last eight years (and we had satellite the summer we lived in SD). Sometimes I wish we had cable for a couple weeks once or twice a year (especially in the winter when it rains all day, all week) because I do miss some of those shows on TLC, Animal Planet, VH1 etc. But we do like having basic becaue it is very cheap and we still get all the networks and a few extras.
Makes me want to call Comcast and renegotiate my rates! I read this entry to Doug and he grunted and said "No!"
I love that you were able to get the lower rates that you were originally hoping for. I know that there is the dilima with watching too much during the day.
A few years ago, when I started homeschooling Clarisse, the Lord quickened me about not watching tv until the kids were in bed at night. It was hard to figure out what to do with myself when I wasn't watching tv, but I know for sure that the homeschooling went better and I was more productive. I will occassionally watch something if there is nothing going on, but only if the kids are occupied or busy because if there is one thing that I have learned is that when I do try to watch something on tv when they are around, they get crazy and loud and I can't hear what I was watching anyway. Craziness!
I love the network channels the most (okay and a little HGTV too :)!), but Minsan likes the upper channels which is fine with me since he watches them when I head off to bed at night (we don't typically go to bed at the same time since he is a bit of a night owl and my early up with kids doesn't support that for me).
Anyway, that is helpful with the tv controls for me at least. Minsan will joke from time to time about not having tv, but neither him nor I are really all that prepared to get rid of it. It does help that Minsan's work pays for our cable internet so at least we are only paying for the cable tv which turns out to be something like $48.00. WHICH, if Minsan's work didn't pay for the $45.00 worth of internet on top of that, I am quite certain we wouldn't have the expanded basic plan!
Anyway, more than you care to know in any case. I am proud of you going this month and unplugging from everything! Thankfully you can go online and watch some of the new shows that start this season if you need to catch up when your tv is back.
Take care!
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