Cutting the cable cord. Kinda.

One of the ways I've decided to trim my monthly budget is by downgrading to basic cable. I never had premium channels, anyway - just 4,000 channels that I never watched. Though I thought about cutting the cable cord all together, my old TV needs the extra cable boost for even local channels. I also shaved a little speed off my internet connection (though I can't tell any difference so far). The monthly savings? $75. Yes, true. $75.

Today is the first day I had to go without standard cable. I will indeed miss my favorite channel, Turner Classic Movies (sigh), but I still get all the local channels (and this is New York - there are LOTS of local channels) - CBS, NBC, ABC, TBS, Fox, two PBS channels, ION, all the shopping networks (could do without those), several Spanish-language nets (wasted on me), ION and a couple of other little surprises.

Thanks to a Netflix subscription ($14/mo), I can watch thousands of television shows and movies online, as well as the DVDs via mail. I plan to spend the weekend catching the first seasons of favs like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Dick van Dyke Show, and whatever else strikes my fancy. And just maybe I'll finally figure out the big deal about Lost, since I've only seen a few random, very confusing episodes. Plus, in addition to Netflix, there's Hulu. I suspect I won't miss all those extra cable channels.

There's just me, after all. I'd just as soon sit on my bed with the laptop watching stuff, as to sit in front of the TV. I have friends who've cut the cable altogether (and by cable, I mean satellite, too). With online options, Netflix DVDs, and a few local channels, I think I might survive. And save a chunk o' change every month.

Take that, Time Warner!