It wasn't a big deal for us to cancel either the home phone or cable because we felt we were overpaying for both. The last month that we had our home phone, we used it for maybe 40 minutes (we would go 4-5 days without even using it). Our per minute rate was probably around $1/minute. We have virtually unlimited minutes on our cell phones, so it seemed like a no brainer. The cable was a little more difficult decision. We really watch very, very little TV. There is no sitcom or similar show that we watch, we don't watch the news and I've watched only 7 or 8 movies so far this year. We have dozens and dozens of children's shows recorded on our computer, as well as about 100 movies, many of which we have never watched, so Ada and Kate haven't had to suffer.
The one thing that Alison and I do watch, though, is sports. We are dying not being able to watch the Jazz during their amazing come-from-behind win streak. We've been tracking each game using gametracker, but it's obviously not the same. Same goes for watching the Utes (for me) and the Cougs (for Alison). Luckily, I get to watch half of the Utes games in person, but Alison isn't so lucky and is feeling the pain more than I am. Sidenote: We are able to watch many sporting events on ESPN3.com, but if the game isn't on an ESPN/ABC network or they decide not to stream it online (such as Monday Night Football) then we are out of luck.
What this has really done for us, is to motivate us to get our student loans paid off as soon as we can. As soon as they're paid off, we'll reinstate our cable and once again be able to waste away in front of the boob tube as is our pleasure.
STUDENT LOANS
Start: $10k
Current: $8,000
20%
START
END
3 comments:
Your television-watching habits are pretty much exactly the same as ours, right down to having lots of movies recorded, but only having watched a handful. We have cable only for the sports. Way to sacrifice though to knock out that debt. You two are some of the biggest sports fans I know so I am sure it was hard to make that decision. You'll be so happy to have that off your chest, I am sure.
I just taught a personal finance course in our ward, so I've got to applaud your effort. Have you figured out how much you're saving by paying off your loans early? The church has some financial calculators that will tell you that: http://providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,6657-1-3438-1,00.html
Squi, we recently did the same thing, cancelling our Satellite and only having one cell phone instead of two. Saves us some SERIOUS cash!!! Good luck cutting the debt, I am sure you will do fine.
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