Dear FB wrote an excellent post the other day on the true costs of watching and owning a TV.

I thought this was a truly excellent post because I, myself have realized the cost savings of not having cable.

When my roommate and I moved in, she had already been without TV for a while. It would have been difficult to run the cable into the TV room we set up, so I decided to see how long I could go without watching cable TV. I’m happy to report that it has been almost a year I’ve gone without it, and I’m still cool about it!

That’s a savings for me of approximately $5o/month or $600/year!

Our TV was secondhand and given to us, so there is no real cost associated with it (unless you’re counting hydro…) so we’re really saving a lot not having TV.

I do have a set of bunny ears that let me catch the news on CBC and CTV, but all my other programs I either download or watch at my parents’. So far it’s been working out really well for me. No commercials to deal with, and flexible times to watch. Working in advertising I get sick of seeing it all 24/7 so it’s nice to be ad-free when I’m at home.

Although I must admit that sometimes I do miss just being able to sit and channel surf when I’m bored. But with all the time I’m saving by not watching TV anymore, I’ve been able to do more things I enjoy, like kung fu and reading. I also get more stuff done like cooking and spring cleaning!

So readers, how many of you think you could or currently are cable-free, and what do you think about it? What about those hardcore TV watchers, what do you think of us that choose not to watch?