TV(sort of )-Free Lifestyle!

Over a year ago when Eric's roommate moved out, he made the commitment to go "tv free". He decided that not only could he spend $100+ on something more productive, but he knew that having hundreds of channels at his finger tips would leave him on his hiney night after night, doing nothing more than channel surfing. Wise move.

Going into our marriage I knew the deal: gym memberships for two or cable television. If we got cable I knew I'd want all the fancy boxes that DVR shows for you, too, since we're never home to watch them on time.

And with that, I knew the answer. Gym membership it is! However, this left me lurking for access to my must see tv.

So here you have it...ways to have access to all your favs:

• the library I just went through the library catalog to find old seasons of shows I always wanted to watch, ie Ugly Betty
• www.hulu.com though you must stay relatively caught up. Some shows expire after a few weeks
• iTunes for a mere $40 a season, your favorite show arrives on your laptop the morning after it airs. I save my gift cards to buy seasons of my shows that aren't on Hulu and then take them to the gym with me on my iPhone. You can rent new release moves for $3.99 or old, crappy movies for like $1.99.
• go to the gym while your show is on! it passes the time and it's a two-for-one
• RedBox, Movie Cube, Blockbuster Express - check the exit of your favorite shopping venue for a $1 a day rentals on the latest movie hits. It takes a few minutes to weed through the list, but for a $1 - dinner and a movie is a daily dream come true!

Having to go through the efforts to watch television has forced me to whittle down my shows, and has completely eliminated mindless infomercial watching or countless hours glued to makeover shows (house or person). It's allowed us to do things like, keep our apartment clean, talk, work on our hobbies, visit with friends, read the magazines we've paid for, and play Wii or games.