the alternative to cable

Right after we got married, we decided not to splurge on things like, you know, internet and cable TV.

We didn't have any internet for a couple months. It was actually nice. And instead of cable, we had a digital antenna for local channels and like 500 movies because Aaron owns a lot of movies.

In August 2010, my parents bought me a new phone for a college graduation present. We paid for the data plan, and we added an internet hotspot for an extra $10 a month. Cheap internet, lousy internet mostly, but internet nonetheless.

That worked okay for awhile. We could use our laptops as long as I was home with my phone and it decided to work well. And we started paying for Netflix so we could stream instantly to our Wii. Very slowly, I might add.

After about six months, we had about as much of the hotspot as we could take though. We finally forked over the extra $20 a month to pay for reliable internet access and got rid of the hotspot on my phone.

That was a good move.

But, we didn't get cable TV. And we still don't have it.

I don't think there's anything wrong with having cable, but I'm really glad we don't. It would actually be quite a waste of money for us.

We only care about a handful of shows that come on the air. And we both hate watching sports.

So, we still have a digital antenna to watch Gordon Ramsey shows and a few others that we enjoy on local channels. We also bought an AppleTV a couple years ago that streams Netflix, Hulu Plus, iTunes, and other fun things. We have a ROKU box too. Which is a better deal than AppleTV, but I think the interface is more confusing. Also, if you have other Apple products, they can stream things to the AppleTV. I suppose if you do not have Apple products, a ROKU is a much better option.

Anyway, if you have been thinking about getting rid of cable, join our club! It's fun! I promise!

Although, I guess if you REALLY like sports, you're probably out of luck...sorry...