The End of Cable Begins Today

With the Great Recession well underway, everyone's looking to pinch a few pennies without disrupting their lifestyle. Some are putting off big ticket purchases, others are mortgaging their amassed crap on Craigslist. But most are looking to limit their monthly expenditures. If that means making a cup of coffee at home or renting a movie rather than hitting the mega-plex, people are doing what they can to save some scratch.

For us, it's cable. We've had Comcast's expanded cable service for years, but combined with our internet and phone service (all though the Big C), our monthly bill easily eclipsed $150 a month. For others addicted to the premium goodness that delivers movies and sexy original programming, $200 or more isn't unheard of. And we won't even get into sports packages.

So after a minimal amount of soul-searching, we called Comcast and had them kill our cable and phone service this past Sunday. For $1,200 a year, we figured we could make better use of our money -- not to mention our time -- than paying for a service that neither of us truly needs. Now that's not to say we're television abolitionists, nor are we immune to the sybaritic pleasures of Top Chef, the Daily Show or the Soup. On the contrary, we're dedicated to a handful of programs that we've come to know and depend on over the years. My occasional trips out of the country turn into full-blow Colbert withdrawl if I don't get my fix within a few days of returning, so turning off the tube and going cold turkey isn't an option for myself or the misses.

So what are two admitted TV junkies to do? For $60 a month, the wondrous WorldWideWeb is plumbed into our home, providing us with a daily source of news, information and entertainment -- exactly when we want it. So we've decided to harness the power of The Tubes and attempt to live off iTunes, Hulu, NetFlix and the occasional torrent to get our daily dose of living room entertainment. We've got a plan to execute and a budget to stick to, and we hope this blog will keep track of our progress and exploits. If we succeed, it might give others the tools necessary to make the switch themselves. If we fail, we'll be forced to pimp out our puppy to guys looking to pick up women at the dog park. Either way, it'll be the biggest adventure we'll experience on our couch.

Check back tomorrow for more.