As prices on food, fuel and utilities continue to rise, it becomes apparent to cut back in other parts of our budget. Sometimes those other parts that we have to cut back on include extra clothing, date nights, going out to eat, cell phone plans or cable television packages. As we begin studying our budget, one of the first “extras” that is usually first to go will be the cable television. While you may cancel with your company, there are still ways to enjoy television and movies without having to pay out a lot of cash.
Just because you don’t have cable, doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to watch television. It’s true that we no longer need a pair of “rabbit ears” for standard televisions. These days, we need an HD antenna. With an HD antenna, you can receive the free HD channels that are available in your area. Usually, most of these are the local stations in your area. Each area will be different in the amount of channels that your antenna will capture. Although there aren’t as many channels as you would receive with a cable television package, you can still relish in the fact that they are free.
One new electronic device is the Roku Box. There is the basic Roku Box and then Roku 2. Basic Roku boxes run around $50-$60 while the Roku 2 is estimated at $100. They are a streaming device that you hook up to your wireless Internet router and television. It has a variety of online channels that you can subscribe to for free or at a small monthly fee. There is no monthly cost to have the Roku box. The only costs you will incur are any paid channel subscriptions that you have. You won’t have to pay a fee to all of the channels though; there are plenty of free ones to select from too. Roku 2 is built for more advanced televisions and has the game Angry Birds on it. Most televisions will only require the basic Roku box.
If you are a movie buff, chances are, you have quite a few movies in your home. Although, after awhile, we tend to get tired of watching the same titles. If you would like to see some new movies, you can check out DVDs from your local library for free. Is there a movie that you would like to see that your library doesn’t have? You can ask your librarian if they can order the movie for you through an inter-library loan system. Another way you can get different movies is to host a movie swap with your friends or family. Invite some friends and family over and tell them to bring a few movies. Lay them out on a table for everybody to see. Everybody can take a turn selecting a movie or two that they would like to see. Make sure that you write down all of the titles and who takes them home. Make plans to meet back within the next week or two so you can return movies. Once you return titles back to each other, you can make another switch.
Once you have tried some of these other alternatives to cable, you may begin to realize that cable television wasn’t always what it cracked up to be. There is life beyond cable. If there is nothing playing on T.V., you can always get out a book, or enjoy the great outdoors. The outdoors has always been nature’s greatest television. You can bet there will always be a funny, dramatic or scary moment to watch.
Resources:
http://www.roku.com
http://jennifer.hubpages.com/hub/Benefits_of_Using_your_Library