Ditch TV and Make Millions
Have you ever stopped to calculate how much it costs to own a television? There's the cost of the television itself, the monthly cable bill and the electricity that's required to run it. Then, there's the cost of a DVD player, a VCR and maybe even a DVR or gaming system. And let's not forget the cost of movie rentals and the occasional Pay-Per-View.
Sure, your own TV set up may vary a bit (or even a lot) from what I've described above, but the point I'm trying to make is that owning a television comes at a cost--and that cost can be surprisingly high.
Just how high? According to an article entitled, "How to Earn $1 Million by Not Watching TV," the cost of owning a television can be as much as 3.7 million over the course of a lifetime!
It's a surprising figure that takes into account not only the cost of the equipment and services that I've mentioned above, but also the effect that commericals have on our buying habits and the value of the time spent watching TV.
Does this figure surprise you? Have you taken steps to limit your TV-related spending? Will you now that you've read this? Jump in with your thoughts!
More Household Savings:
Wow. I can see how TV costs could add up if you let them. On the other hand, we don’t have cable, nor an expensive TV set. We do have a DVD player – but I use that for my exercise videos (much cheaper than a gym membership) and we get DVDs from the library for free to watch movies.
I agree with the above comment. Even though I think this is a good article overall, some of the figures are way overstated. With all that money spent on movies, games and pay-per-view it seems someone would be watching tv 24/7.
I’ve not had cable TV for years and don’t miss it. It blows me away what most people think is a necessity. I have 3 older small TVs I picked up for next to nothing and they stay mostly off and unplugged. I have an old VCR and a cheap DVD player and get the tapes and movies free from the library when I get the urge to watch a movie. I’m more than happy with my el-cheapo setup. Blows me away what people spend ongoing with their entertainment setups these days. My grandnephews were glued to my set one day watching an old Sesame Street show on my public TV channel; they’d never seen it before and loved it. (And their folks have the works). Even without rabbit ears (which you can get for a buck at a dollar store), my 7 local channels come in just fine.
I live for the days that I am home alone, and shut the “idiot box” off. I grew up in a family of readers, my husband was a real TV baby. He turns it on the minute he gets up, and off when we go to bed. We did have one in the bedroom for a while, but it mysteriously “quit working.” My day will come.