Just a quick update...
I was going through some of my old blog posts and noticed I hadn't updated
about how successful we've been at "cutting" the cord.
Now I can't NOT tell you.
So here ya go.

Back in July last year... I had decided that I was going to cut the cord and get rid of my TV service... (Dish)

And you know what... It's been the best decision for me!

It's been over 6 months since I made that decision.

And I'm never looking back!

I never knew how much tv I didn't really watch until getting rid of dish.

We use Netflix... And let me tell ya... to only spend $16 a month to watch "tv"

and to get dvd rentals has been MORE then worth it! 

Yeah, the downside, is I can't watch new episodes right away.

Altough I can't lie, I still watch BRAND new episodes of what I want...

But that's my secret how I do it. And NO, I don't download them.

:)

Have you thought about it lately? Think you could survive without any sort of tv service?

I didn't think I could either. But I'm thankful I tried! (And still going strong!)

When you go to Hulu and click on "Hulu Plus" it offers you the opportunity to receive a free week trial, no thanks! BUT there are other ways to get an even longer trial like I did! :)

1) If you are still in school and you register with an .edu email address, you can get a 30 day trial. Well I am definitely not in school anymore.

2) If you have Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 9, there is a trick to getting a 30 day trial. I don't have Windows 7 on my home computer but if I really needed, I would just use my work computer...

3) But the easiest one of all.... Connect Hulu with your Facebook and VIOLA! 30 day FREE trial!

The really good thing about it, if I want to continue to use it, I won't have to actually start paying for the service until next month {like I wanted}! And if I decide I don't want it yet, I'll just make sure I cancel before the 25th of August. Although, I still have yet to actually have time to sit down and watch something! Life has just been so busy but that's okay! I love it! :) That's a totally different post that I will probably talk about some day soon. :)

So, on Tuesday... barely even 1.5 weeks after I canceled dish... I get something in the mail from them, not shocking to get mail from them. BUT the letter I got, I was like "seriously?" And here is the picture of it...

ALREADY BEGGING FOR ME TO COME BACK! Pssh, it would be tempting... If it was actually some good deals on there but alas, it's a joke! Seriously, the crappiest deals ever! You may be able to see that it says $120 off, yeah that's for $10/month for 12 months. Oh and can you see that Cinemax logo? Yeah, that part of the offer is for a whoppin' ONE month free! Their marketing department sure does know how to reel you in. {hahahaha}

Yesterday, I finally picked up the latter from my parents house so I could get the piece off the satellite dish that I have to send back to them. I'm sure my lovely, strong, and handy bf can do it for me :) Only cause he is the best! {yes, I may be sucking up but honestly, it's all true!} {I hope you read this Glen! :)} I have yet to pack up my dish box and remotes in the box they sent me via UPS. Yes, I am probably procrastinating, I am really good at doing that! But scouts honor it will go in the box by the weekend and shipped by Monday! :)

Honestly, I really think that we're going to be more then fine cutting the cord! We BARELY have time to watch tv! We are too busy cooking good meals and being goofy with Zoie. And by the time we are done doing all of that, it's almost time for Z to go to bed. And she has a TV in her room but it has never been hooked up with dish, so nothing has changed there! And coming up at the beginning of September, Zoie is going to be a BUSY girl! Tuesdays and Wednesdays she will be spending 1.5 hours/night at Fitness and Fun for her dance and tumbling classes. This year we signed her up for Dazzlers, which is Fitness and Fun's competing dance team. PLUS there will be another night during the week where she'll be in girl scouts! {officially} She has always gone with my mom to her meetings but this year with her starting in kindergarten she will officially be a girl scout! WOO! We are going to be busy! :)

Well time for me to get busy at work... If I can find something to do.

-Nik

I did get my box last week from UPS to send in all my stuff... If I remember, I will probably box it up tonight. Well, most of it, there is a piece on the actual dish on my roof that I need a latter for to unscrew and send back with it! Gay. But I will definitely get it done this week!

Also, I haven't signed up for Hulu Plus just yet, probably will next month but I figured when I really WANTED it, I'll sign up for it. Not in a huge rush. :)

Just wanted to update you, life has been pretty busy and the boss is back in the office for now... So it's much harder to update during the day! {hehe} Later!

-Nik

So this morning, figuring I should just get right to it I called up Dish and said I wanted to cancel. OF COURSE they tried to keep me. First, they tried telling me I could downgrade my package, I told them no because the lowest package doesn't even have channels that I like! Yes, there were maybe 1 or 2 but definitely nothing to want to stick around for. So since that didn't work she tried to make me a deal... Which literally felt more like a slap on the face! She tried to offer me 5 dollars off of my bill for the next 6 months... That's it? REALLY??? Cause new customers get about a 20 dollar discount and as their site says "everday price guarantee til 2013". Pssh. Nice way of shitting on your loyal customers! But whatever... She asked me when I'd like to cancel my service since obviously the 5 dollars off my bill wasn't enough... Well seeing that my next billing cycle would start tomorrow and I would be charged for days that I used, I told her go ahead and cut it NOW. She told me that within a few moments that my service would stop. Not like I would notice, I'm not home to see it go "bye-bye."

I am not going to lie, the more I think about it I think I feel like a little "panic attack" coming up trying to tell me "What the hell did you do?" I mean, I've had Dish since I was in junior high and if I ever had to go back to plugging in, I would definitely choose dish... But it is just a weird feeling... I know I will be more then okay! Technology is such a lovely thing!

I am definitely keeping Netflix, both my 1 disc and instant streaming... I figure if I don't get as much use out of the DVD part {like I haven't been recently} then I'll cancel the dvd part and keep my instant streaming. {I'll probably even get an antenna to get some local channels} I also plan on signing up for Hulu Plus and getting an account with Vudu so I can rent movies... Other then that I'll use redbox and other means to get the shows that I really want to watch. Now I just have to wait for UPS to drop off my box to send back my dish receiver parts and I'll be done with that! :) ...to be continued, another day!

-Nik

I am going to sleep on my choices and discuss it with a few close friends... And see what they think. I'll let you know tomorrowish. haha

-Nik

P.S. Found this helpful link about cutting the cord... Check it out {here}