Cheating on the TV

I’m halfway through my week without TV. So far, it has NOT made me more active, which I had predicted. It HAS made me:

- Fall asleep faster

- Use Facebook & play online games non-stop

- Get ready for work a little faster

- Cook/clean more

- Question what qualifies as “TV”

- Listen to a lot of “This American Life”

You’d think Ben & I would be spending a little more quality time together instead of sitting in front of the idiot box. You’d be wrong. Ben eats dinner in front of the TV while I eat at the table and play on my laptop. He watches TV in the bedroom while I try a new recipe.

I’ve been home by myself a lot these past couple days, and it’s been a little weird not to have the TV on, but I don’t miss it half as much as I thought I would. I still see bits & pieces of shows at work, and I still get to watch stupid YouTube videos online. Although I haven’t watched any full shows online on Hulu or movies on Netflix, I have watched a lot of video online on sites like ted.com or wimp.com. I wouldn’t classify a funny :30 cat video as “TV”, but when the link is a 2:00 clip taken from a British TV show – does that count? How about a 20 minute lecture? I guess I didn’t realize how much programming I watched away from my TV. Sorry to cheat on you, television. I'm seeing the radio and the internet on the side.

My first FAIL!

Well, I almost made it. I didn’t spend any money until Saturday at 7:30pm, when I donated $20 at a fundraiser dinner. Sabotaged my week without spending, but it was for a worthy cause.

Friday and Saturday were significantly more difficult than the rest of the week. Since I played in a kayak polo tournament in Omaha both days (and stayed the night in between), I needed to pack my own meals. FAIL! Ben bailed me out and gave me the peanut butter sandwich and Triscuits he’d packed for his day in Omaha. (He went to Burger King instead) Phew! Plus, my teammates are the nicest people ever and kept giving me food to snack on between games. (Thanks, Honey Badgers!) No hotel cost, because my friend Jessica lent us her guest room! Here’s where it gets a little iffy: Ben & I BOTH used my car to get up to Omaha, because we both had events there. We’ve also both been using my car this week. I don’t know for sure if the remaining gas in my tank would’ve lasted. In any case, Ben put some gas in my car. He also bought me dinner on Friday & beef jerky/Sun chips for my Saturday snacks during games. It’s fair to say that even though I didn’t technically spend money, Ben bailed me out.

This challenge definitely made me think twice about how much I spend & how much I need. I didn’t think that my standard of living had changed that much in 10 years, but I go out to eat way more and spend money on things I didn’t used to – like getting my nails done and buying things for the house. This week made me look into the back corners of my kitchen cabinets to really inventory what I had – I had to get creative with a couple meals. I hope I continue to do that & waste less.

This week I’m giving up TV at home. Forewarning: I’ve already failed. I turned on the CBS Early show while ironing my dress for work this morning. It’s ingrained in me. Since I can’t “block” TV like I did Facebook, I may have to unplug our TVs or hide the remote controls this week. Yeah, it’s that bad. Due to the nature of my job, I’ll still have TV at work, but I don’t really consider that cheating. “Watching TV” at work is more like “having Ch. 10/11 programming on in the background while I may or may not be at my desk, and intermittently monitoring promos & PSAs which air during the commercial breaks”. Trust me, it’s a far cry from kicking back and watching Simpsons on the couch. Here goes…