The Dark Ages

We have re-entered the dark ages. After a $65 hike in our cable/internet/phone bill, simply because we were just getting "too good of a deal", our family had to re-evaluate what was necessity and what was a luxury.  We switched our internet to a plan for $15 a month with a different company, yes it is slightly slower, but overall, I have not noticed a glaring difference between the services. And we moved our phone service to a different digital phone company as well.  That just leaves television.  Let me just say here, that it is hard not having a DVR anymore.  And when it seemed that there was nothing ever on television with several hundred channels, you can be assured that there is even less with only a handful. We have kicked around the possibility of adding television back in with another service provider, but have decided to wait for awhile. What does this look like for our family?  Well, I can honestly say, that the television is hardly ever on now.  If anything, it goes on for a little bit at 8 or 9 in the evening, but aside from that, we rarely watch it. The biggest hiccup that has occurred in our television detox is that I missed a series finale of one of my favorite shows, because I was not home when it aired. Just my luck, I can't even view it on the internet.  And I refuse to revert far enough back into the dark ages to resurrect our VCR. However, my parents do still have a DVR, so sometime very soon I need to get over and see the finale since they have saved it for me. 

My husband and I often talk about getting rid of television all together, but I am not sure I could actually do that just yet, but I think we are moving the right direction.  If we hadn't had such a ridiculous hike in our billing I am not sure we would have ever taken this leap willingly. It forced us to re-evaluate where our money is spent and in turn where our time is often spent.  Sometimes I relish the mindless activity of just kicking back and watching a show, but for $80 a month, which is now what we are saving by letting tv go and switching our other providers, I am not sure that luxury is as necessary as it once seemed.  For the most part, our children have taken the deprivation in stride as well, which forces me to consider that maybe they really don't miss it that much either. I am constantly struck by what we consider "need".  We have gotten so used to having things, that simply because we have them, we think we NEED them. It is so easy to measure ourselves by others, and accept that was is common to most, is also necessary for most.