Cutting Back on Cable TV Was Hard But a Necessary Financial Sacrifice

I am a die-hard Star Trek fan and it has been killing me that I am extremely late to the Star Trek Discovery party.

It’s a new Star Trek prequel TV series set a few years before the original Kirk and Spock saga from the 1960s.

I don’t mean to geek out too much. It’s just that I don’t pay for streaming TV services, which Star Trek Discovery is available on.

Online streaming services are too addictive for me, and financially costly, so I avoid them as much as possible.

Like potato chips, I can’t just partake in one streaming service TV show.

However, because of my budget cable TV package, I have one of those cable channels that package syndicated TV shows, and online streaming TV shows, as first-run airings on such channels.

So now, about two years after its original airing, I finally get to see all of the episodes of Star

Trek Discovery that people went nuts over two years ago.

I am up to season 2 and I am absolutely over the moon about this show.

However, I doubt I will get to finish the season.

Last month, I couldn’t pay my cable and the service was cut off for about 3 weeks.

It wasn’t the end of the world. There were special binge broadcasts where they show a marathon recap of every episode.

Still, I am on a fixed income, I am pinching every penny, and for some reason I am harboring dreams of launching a small business.

Something has to give. And, it just might have to be my cable TV subscription.

The Never Ending Battle of Need Vs. Want

I really wanted the $50 monthly cable package. Unfortunately, that costs about $600 annually.

So, I opted for the $20 monthly budget package. That still costs about $240 annually.

That may not sound like a lot of money, but it is when I must consider all of the other expenses in my budget.

For instance, cable TV expenses could cost me anywhere from $2,400 to $6,000 over a decade.

Also, while I love TV, its just not a practical expense for me. I am a full-time writer and I can spend up to 10 to 12 hours daily working.

That is no exaggeration. If I don’t write, I don’t make money.

So, what is the sense of having all of these channels, even 100 or so I am accorded on a budget subscription, if I don’t watch them?

As such, it is more sensible for me to allot $240 to other expenses, like food for example.

Cable TV is a want for me, not a need, so I will soon cut it back.

The basic package does feature a channel that shows TV shows from the 1950s to the 1990s, so there’s that.

So, there won’t be much Star Trek Discovery in my future.

However, the key to better financial future is prudent sacrifices in the present.

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