We’ve done it!  We cancelled cable TV all together.  There are so many other, cheaper or free ways to watch TV that it just didn’t make sense any more, especially with tightening  budgets!  But it actually doesn’t feel like we have any less options.  There are two ways we get our shows now …

One of them is Hulu.  Most of the major network shows and cable shows are online for free on the streaming video site Hulu.  It’s totally legit, and way better than cable TV for a couple reasons.  While you do have to wait a day for shows to be available, after that you can watch it any time you want without the hassle of a DVR or VCR taping the show.  They only make you sit through a couple minutes worth of commercials instead of the massive amount that the networks do, and because you can subscribe to your TV shows, it puts them all together in a queue that you can watch one at a time or one after the other.  And did I mention that it’s even in HD?  We have a computer hooked up to our TV (most new TV’s have inputs for that) and use a wireless mouse and keyboard to navigate with.  There’s even a Hulu Desktop program that if a free download that you can use with a windows media remote if you want to feel more like a ‘normal’ TV viewing experience.

Our other way of getting shows is through Netflix.  That $9 a month represents the total amount we now spend on TV and rentals!  We don’t even bother with the discs anymore; it’s all about the 20,000+ movies and tv shows they have available for unlimited streaming!  There are a TON of kids shows that our kids love like Arthur, Dora, Diego, Avatar, Spongebob, Thomas the Train, and a bunch of other Disney and Nickelodian shows all available commercial free.  On top of that are kids’ movies, hits that Heather and I want to see, and countless full seasons of shows we like as well.  We can stream Netflix to our TV through the computer, the XBox 360 and the Wii, so it usually depends on which one happens to be on at the time!

Even the boys prefer it this way because we can pause like a DVR, watch when we want to, and they have more options!