When we sold our house and moved in with my mom while our new house is being built, we also made some pretty big changes to our daily routine and lifestyle. We brought with us less toys, less clothes….and basically a lot less junk. We simplified our routine and I’ve got to tell you…I’m sort of loving it. We also said goodbye to cable TV. As a nursing mom this change was the most worrisome for me. I had got in to the habit of nursing Sadie (all hours of the night) while watching TV. I also used it to entertain Hudson WAY MORE than I should have. It was an easy way to distract him while I took care of Sadie. And while it worked, it wasn’t the best for our family. I felt like the TV was on too much. Basically it was the easy way out. And it wasn’t healthy.
I’m happy to report that after over a month of living TV free we are all happier. Can you believe it? We survived. And we have a little extra money in our budget. We have Netflix if we want to watch an old show or movie. But now in our house, watching a movie is a treat. We don’t have the TV on constantly and instead play games, do puzzles, listen to music, and generally just enjoy a little more simplicity.
Now, when I have free time, I don’t waste it sitting on the couch watching TV. I get my work done, read a book, spend time with my family……it’s so much better.
And when I’m missing my favorite shows, I can use NBC TVEverywhere to catch up on what I missed! It’s hard to be left wondering what happened on my favorite shows. I wanted simplicity, but I didn’t want to completely shut myself out! Basically it has redefined how we watch TV. NBC TVEverywhere allows us to watch the latest episodes of all our favorite NBC shows on our computer the day after they air, plus we can watch a live stream of our local NBC station (in select markets).
So basically I can still watch all of the new fall shows – no TV provider login required! And I can do it on my computer while the kids sleep.
One of my favorite guilty pleasures is watching The Voice. I have always wished that I had the ability to sing well….but the reality is, if I was on The Voice not a single judge would turn their chair around. And they would probably cover their ears and cringe a little bit. I’ve been watching it on my laptop thanks to NBC TVEverywhere and I’m hooked! I’m totally Team Adam….what about you?
Click here to watch your favorite NBC shows on your computer!
I also just watched the first episode of Heros Reborn. Have you watched that show? It’s so good!
So here’s my question….what NBC fall show are you hooked on?
The Voice
Heros Reborn
The Blacklist
Chicago Fire
Chicago Med
Chicago PD
We rarely watch TV, except for live sports! And movies are a big treat! I want to cut the cord but the whole sports thing has prevented us thus far… I just need to do it!
I love Blacklist, but am not caught up this season. This is great, did not know I could watch online!
I love the idea of it, but not sure what I would do without my weekly Scandal fix and the Hallmark channel over the holidays. Would love to save the money though!!! Caleb really only watches kids shows here and there on Netflix, we don't let him watch tv that much, so he wouldn't miss it.
We cut out tv for like 6 months! But the sports tv made us bring it back 😉 we don't allow lex much tv time either. It makes her squirley and that annoys me to no end !
We also don't have cable. We love saving the money, and just get movies from the library for free if we want to watch something we don't own…but we have quite the DVD collection!
We've been toying with the idea of getting rid of cable for years. But, we just can't seem to pull the plug.
And, give me all the Chicago shows!!
We pulled the plug on cable in March and have never looked back. Netflix and YouTube provide plenty of entertainment for our son and we also have Sling TV for $25 a month so we can get CNN and SEC network to watch our Auburn Tigers play. The great thing about sling is that there is no contract, it is month to month.
Chels @ Red Velvet Rooster
I've been mentioning to the Mr. we should cut the cord.. We don't watch much anyway and when we do it's something we've recorded/Netflix, etc.. I'll have to share your post with him. 🙂
We also don't have cable, I asked my husband just the other day "do people still have cable??" I feel like it's going the way of DVDs! It's like you don't need it, there are better options now.
We have cable but we'll be cutting the cord in the new year. It seems like such a waste of money. With DVD's and all the online streaming options, there are – we just don't need it.
Thanks for sharing.
xoxo
We said goodbye to cable 5-6 years ago now. And I don't miss it one bit. We barely watched TV and when we did – there was NOTHING on that we wanted to watch. We have Netflix to binge watch shows (Scandal, FNL, Parenthood, but we barely watch movies. And the best part is that Kimber barely watches any TV (only cartoons on public television), she's never known a world with cable…and doesn't know who all these characters are. So we also save money by not having to buy all the character themed toys! Win/Win in my book!
We have a dish, mostly for football season and thankfully my hubby is great at getting amazing deals so we pay very little for it. We love Heroes Reborn.
The more I hear about people cutting cable the better it sounds. I just don't know if we can do it, yet!!!
Good for you guys!! I feel like we'll get there eventually, but sports really throw a wrench in things!
We haven't had cable in two years.. maybe three? LOVE IT. But we do have netflix/hulu because I love me some Voice, also.
and sports. –we stream it, which I still don't know if that's legal?
we got rid of cable about 4 years ago and haven't looked back! we have an apple tv so we watch netflix, hulu, or hbo go. so much better and we just watch the shows that we know we want to watch… all of the chicago drama shows!! (fire, PD, med…) love watching shows that take place in our own backyard! my hubby had a hard time getting rid of the golf channel though.. 🙂
My husband wants to eliminate cable so bad (I just want to eliminate his football watching!) but it's the really crappy reality shows I would miss haha!
We did that too! Netflix becomes your BFF lol. But now we just have cable and no Netflix, so not sure which I prefer because either way, all we watch are kid shows 😉
So glad you're finding life without cable managable! I cut it when i moved into my first apartment I couldn't afford it so I just didn't have it and it was great. Netflix is my number one source.
liz @ sundays with sophie
We haven't had cable for almost 11 years, and I have never once missed it. What I can't catch online (which sometimes is tough in Canada), I wait and get from the library for free! Our kids still watch plenty of DVD's from the library, but I have an easier time regulating what they watch.
I think i'd like to ditch cable but my hubby just can't seem to do it. His idea of relaxing is the TV which drive me a little nutty. If Callie isn't watching a specfic show the TV is off and I watch like nothing. 🙂 Maybe some day i'll win that battle! Sounds so much quieter and simpler 🙂
A bulb in our tv went out earlier this year and for weeks we were constantly on the go and kind of forgot about it. Well, we started enjoying time without TV and went 6+ months before we even purchased a new TV. It was nice! I feel like we watch more in the Fall/Winter months because it gets so dark out so early and we can't go outside and play. But in the Spring & Summer months we could totally ditch it!
I have thought time and time again to ditch our cable but am so scared to! We are huge football watchers on Sundays (we even have Sunday ticket). But that's so awesome NBC has a service you can use to catch up on live shows!!
We have used Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu for several years now. Only time we have turned on the regular tv (we have an antenna) is when a baseball game is on network tv, so not very often.
I guess NBC shows aren't on hulu anymore? I don't think anything we watch is on NBC.