to get rid of my tv

[emms1981]

I'm on a money saving mission at the moment and doing anything and everything to save some cash, I'm trying to rebuild our savings.
I hardly ever watch tv by the time I've settled the boys, had a shower, tidied up done dishes etc I'm ready for bed, husband works evenings mostly and I don't watch day time tv, we have bt vision it was ok when we first got it but now I find very little to watch on it. I pay my tv licence monthly so think I might be able to get some kind of refund. Also I think it would do the kids better to stop watching rubbish on tv and play with some of their mountain of toys. We have been looking into changing phone providers too at the moment my bt bill is £70+ a month and I hardly make any calls on my landline

Hmm, do you have a computer where you can watch stuff if you really need to? You don't need a license for that stuff do you?

Whatabout the kids though, do they watch it?

Be prepared for monthly threatening letters from the TV Licensing mob who just can't seem to comprehend that anyone - quelle horror! - might not have a TV.

Yes, sounds like a good idea.

Nope... There's never anything interesting on!

How would kids feel? Do you have something they can watch DVDs on instead?

Yes we have laptops, tablets etc so could still watch I player.
My kids do watch tv but I'm sure if they had something else to amuse them they might be ok.

Oh and yes to monthly letters and calls from the licensing mob... They may even ask to inspect the house to check (I didn't have a licence a couple years back because there was no working ariel for the house, and I couldn't be bothered to get it fixed). I showed them the lack of ariel and they went away after that.

Oh and remember that if you don't have a licence you can't watch anything live on iPlayer, only catchup :)

Yes, with tablets, laptops, with a good enough internet connection you can stream things on demand.

Suggestion: look at what internet services are available in your area. Samknows.com can tell you about your local phone exchange. Fibre can be cost effective these days, though do expect to pay around £30 a month once adding in cost of line rental. If you need something cheaper, then ADSL connections are very cheap now and many have unlimited data, though speed may not be suitable for streaming video to more than one device at a time (depends on area).

Many companies let you pay line rental as one payment per year. This is sometimes called Line Saver. It can save you money as it is cheaper than paying monthly, though does require the money upfront. I think it is around £120. Internet costs are then on top of that, as are calls.

Primus is worth looking at as a low cost phone carrier. Think they offer line rental now as well.

Q. How do you know when someone doesn't have a TV?

A. They fucking tell you.

Yes do it. We've spent plenty of time without a TV (see, I'm telling you...), a lot of it in dial-up days, so no Netflix, Youtube etc. We read books. Did things. It was pretty good actually. Go for walks in the summer, curl up with a book in the winter.

If you're doing it for financial reasons... a) don't just spend as much money on Netflix, Lovefilm movie downloads etc. as you did on the TV and b) be careful you don't fall into the "I'm bored... sod it, let's go to the pub" trap we occasionally fell into.

Use it to spend better time with your children, better time with yourself. Toys, games, books, fresh air. Make the most of it, it can be great.

I don't know why we have TV anymore. Anything I do watch is recorded or on catch up so I can skip the adverts and watch it at a time that suits me. I don't need a TV to do that and I wouldn't miss most of it anyway.

Thanks everyone for your replies, these nice evenings I don't need tv for sure, been in the garden blowing bubbles with the kids tonight and they enjoy walking round the fields near us