It has been just about a month now since we canceled our TV service.  I’m happy to say its going alright.  Not that I haven’t thought of signing up everytime I get a DirectTV “special welcome back” deal in the mail.  Why they can offer those crazy $29/month prices after you leave, but not while you are with them, I’ll never understand. 

We have been surviving well on our Netflix account and free Redbox movies on Mondays.  Like I said previously, we hookup our laptops to our LCD TV and watch movies and TV shows online either at Netflix, which we pay $9/month for, or at the network websites (i.e. www.usanetwork.com – Psych, and Monk).  We recently discovered www.hulu.com, and www.fancast.com.  Which are operated in joint venture by the major broadcast networks, Fox, CBS, ABC, NBC.  They have a ton of content for free.  Of all the online options for watching video, Netflix by far has the best quality and reliability.  Hulu and Fancast (which share content with each other) have “iffy” quality.  They seem to take awhile to start playing smoothly, if they ever do.  Considering the fact that  I have a very stable 10Mbps internet connection, I can only assume that the problem is on their end, or that CDE is somehow throttling my connection. 

Aside from all the online video options, (and I forgot to mention Sling.com, which is still in beta testing) we really have found that we watch less and seem to be getting more done when we are home.  We eat more meals at the kitchen table, and have been cooking at home more as well.  All in all, I have to say that canceling our TV service is one of the best things we have done for our family.  The real test is going to be when Kayce is home all day with two boys over the summer.  We’ll see what happens then.