In December our contract with Direct TV is up (Woo Hoo!). This is one time that I am like, "Come on December! Hurry it up!". Father Time please don't take that literally, okay? Today I called and downgraded our package to help lower the bill. Canceling our service before the contract is up would cost us about $500 so we are just trying to ride out our contract as cheaply as we can. I was hesitant to downgrade though, I will be honest. There is only one show my husband watches... River Monsters. There is also only one show I watch (when there is a new season on).... 19 Kids and Counting with the Duggars. The package that I wanted to downgrade to, that just happened to be the most basic package they offer, would mean dropping both of the channels that these shows came on. I didn't know what my husband would say, so I brought it up to him and to my surprise he was all for the downgrade. I wish I could be more like him sometimes. I wish I could just say "that doesn't matter at all" the way he can. I am working on it though. I grew up, not spoiled per say, but fortunate. I kinda want my kids to live a bit more primitive than I did. I don't want them to think that TV is everything, I want them to see TV as a privilege they get. I always thought I could never live without TV, but I am learning that I really really can, and that I really really want to. Cable is just so expensive and just feels like a huge waste to me. I like having PBS and Disney Junior, but I know I can find little clips for the kids to watch on the internet too. Plus we have DVDs that the kids love, and we have Netflix so we can keep new DVDs coming that we think are appropriate for them. So why be tied down to a bill! I feel good about our downgrade, but I really can't wait to be able to cancel our service all together.
I am slowly, and I mean s-l-o-w-l-y, learning that less is more. I am learning that we need to lead a more simple life because it is biblical. At the same time, I am learning how hard living simply can be. Funny how God does that, huh? Making things that are so necessary seem so impossible. When I see my daughter satisfied with the simplest things (empty paper towel roll, a few books, junk mail, crayons and paper, a bowl and a wooden spoon) and my son satisfied with just having my attention and a hand full of toys.... I know living a simple life is necessary and so incredibly possible.
What do you do to help you live a simpler life? Any tips?
3 comments:
Since we knew we would not be staying in our house long we decided not to buy cable, also because Robbie can download all of our TV shows. However, that being said I so badly wish we had at least basic cable. I mean it would at least be some background noise for me when I am here alone at the house. But living without cable I have realized how much I can live without having TV.
We've been wanting to downgrade! That TV is never on except when we sit down as a couple and watch a DVR episode of "The Mentalist" (don't judge :)
So it's our quiet time together... and I can't get it online because it isn't captioned. Stuck! We're working on it...
Very cool for you guys!
We dropped our Direct TV last summer. Best. Decision. Ever. I was afraid I'd miss HGTV and Food Network, and my boys went through about a 3mo withdrawal before they stopped griping about it.
We bought an antenna at Walmart (not the horrid things you put on the top of your house, it's just a little black box that connects to your TV). I think it was around $50, but we get ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, PBS World, and several Christian channels. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. it. And, the best part is we pay nothing every month. :)
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