To get cable or not?

We haven't had cable since 2005. Mostly it was a cost decision. Before then, we had always caught a deal, or the cable company accidentally gave us cable in some cases.

So once we actually had to pay, we decided $700+/year was too much to pay for something we don't watch that often.

And it's been nice. It's a treat to go to a hotel or our family's houses and have cable, although I still can never really find anything of interest on and tend to go back to my comfort zone of the main networks. Further, I've secretly enjoyed being on the outskirts of conversations when people talk about different cable network shows.

Overall, we try not to watch a lot of TV or get "addicted" to certain shows, although nighttime and relaxation seem to go hand-in-hand with flipping through our 6 channels. And if we were really dedicated to the whole no-TV thing, we would just get rid of it altogether. Afterall, we've both lived without TV before and will probably live without it someday when we move to Alaska. But for now, it remains in our lives.

The still-weak economy brought another killer deal our way. Basically, we'd be paying $170 extra per year to indulge in cable. I wonder if we are ready to break our cable-less streak. There are pros (J can finally watch some sports) and cons (will we become couch potatoes?).

Help us decide Internet. What do you think?