Got No Cable

In my experience, people are either television people or music people.  I am not a music person.

I enjoy music, sure, but it is not my go-go companion.  If I want background noise while cleaning or cooking or getting ready for work, I turn on the TV.  TV is social; I follow shows and discuss them with friends, and I go to events like Paley Festival and Comic Con to see panels on my favorite shows.  When I was working my first job, even, I recorded the audio track from favorite TV episodes ("The X-Files", mostly) to listen to on my (haha!) Walkman.  In fact, my iPod--one of the early generations--is used almost solely for listening to audio books instead of music.

So.  That being said, Steve and I have been about a month cable-free.  And it feels awesome.

This is not to say I don't watch TV anymore.  Oh, no!  Here is my recipe for cable-less TV:

• Antenna.  Yes, we have a totally old-school, super-macho antenna in our attic.  There was a lot of tweaking and yelling between floors.  Is channel 2 coming in?  No... oh wait!  No.  Sadly, we still don't get channel 2 (CBS here).  But that's the only one, and we get a few dozen more than I thought we would, being in a valley two hills over from the one everything's broadcast off of.  And, most importantly, I can still watch my morning news while I get ready for work!
• TV Tuner.  The old-school antenna feeds right into a new-school computer, which acts like a DVR so we can watch "Chuck" and "Modern Family" and "Supernatural" without being tied to the programming schedule. 
• Play On Station.  They have a CBS channel and a Comedy Central channel!  "How I Met Your Mother" and "Big Bang Theory" and "Daily Show" for the win!  Also, Hulu.  "The Dick Van Dyke Show" is a favorite.
• Roku Box.  This makes it so that things recorded on Steve's computer upstairs can be watched on our TV downstairs.  And it makes it possible to watch Play On's programming on the TV.  Somewhat inexplicably, we can also play Angry Birds on it.

The total up-front cost was less than three months of cable.  By Saint Patrick's Day, we will be  firmly in the savings column.