Revisiting the Grand Experiment

I want to take a moment to revisit my earlier post http://seekinginacrazyworld.blogspot.com/2010/09/grand-experiment.html
where I discuss cutting off the cable. We are now 6 months out and still doing great. Instead of a pc box in the master bedroom, a new hdtv (small mind you) found its way to the room. It allows us to watch netflix via the internet. And then at Christmas, Santa brought the DH an HD antenna so that we could watch broadcast TV again. Perfect! The new combo gives us access to news and weather quickly and who knew there were so many new channels out there!

As for the other benefit of the Grand Experiment, well that seems to have diminished somewhat. DS has taken to playing more computer games, specifically MineCraft, and we have to limit the computer time for him.

In all, I still consider the Grand Experiment to be a success. We saved money and have truly not missed what cable brought us in terms of content.

The Grand Experiment

We began our grand experiment a month ago. While it might sound like a noble cause, it really all came down to our budget which we wanted to tighten up a bit. So after much consideration and discussion, we called the cable company and turned off our cable TV. At the same time, we ordered a free month of netflix. It took the cable company quite a while to come out to the house to turn it off. I was beginning to think they had forgotten about the order it took so long! Netflix started right away and we took only 1 disk at a time so that we could have the entire month free. Now we have upgraded to 2 at a time. We still are saving about $45 a month on this arrangement. But the best thing is the improvement we have seen in the attitude of our son! It is like night and day! He does his chores (usually) without reminding. He is pleasant most mornings too! It is such a joy!

The funniest part of the experiment is walking into the bedroom to find my DH staring at the blank screen which is that tv. We do not have tv in that room for now. He is working to put a netflix compatible pc in there but it hasn't happened yet so all he has is the blank screen of the old tv! I think we have all enjoyed netflix and hulu is another great source of entertainment for us. I would highly recommend the grand experiment for other families. And if you try it, I would like to know how things turn out for you a month down the road!

Update: Read more here!