I was recently interviewed by the Miami Herald about saving money on your cable bill. I offered a few suggestions for cutting your expenses. My thoughts on cable may be a bit different than you might expect.
In our house, cable TV is a big portion of our entertainment and education. Paul and I are both huge history buffs so the History Channel and History International are must haves and a large portion of our viewing.
We also subscribe to HBO at about $12 per month. We were avid fans of Carnivale and Deadwood. Rome and Big Love are worth the price of the entire cable bill!
For the first time in months, I rented three movies this past weekend for $12 total. It dawned on me that I was receiving about four and a half hours of entertainment for that $12. However, with my HBO subscription, I receive 8 channels of 24 hours of entertainment for an entire month. I'd call that a good deal.
One of the things that keeps our TV watching to a reasonable amount is Tivo. Since purchasing it about four years ago, we actually watch less TV. Because you record what you want and view it at your convenience, there is no more mindlessly scanning channels looking for something to watch. The other bonus is that you save about 15-20 minutes per hour-long show by fast forwarding through the commercials. Once you go Tivo, there is no going back.
Because Paul owns Fearless Fitness (www.fearlessfitness.us) where we teach Mixed Martial Arts fighting, we get to write off our basic cable bill (for the Ultimate Fighter on Spike) and any pay per view UFC fights. It is a legitimate write off as Paul gets a lot of great ideas from the workouts he watches on the show as well as the fights. Granted, not everyone has this option.
The definition of being "budget savvy" is to save money on the things that aren't important to you so you can spend money on the things that are important. In the Tosetti house, cable is an important component of our lifestyle. Good thing I saved so much money on my new car!
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