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Blanch squinted at the television screen, her spectacles perched precariously on her nose. “Micah, are you absolutely certain we’ve scrolled through all 600 channels?”
Micah, who was half-heartedly attempting to untangle a stubborn knot in his armchair throw, grunted in reply. “Blanch, for the love of all that’s digital, we’ve been at this for an hour. If there was a decent documentary on medieval basket weaving, we’d have found it by now.”
It was a Tuesday evening, a prime viewing slot in the O’Malley household. Yet, despite their “Premium Deluxe Platinum Ultimate” cable package, boasting a dizzying array of channels, they were stuck in a television purgatory. Their go-to was usually the 24-hour news cycle, a steady diet of local weather warnings and political punditry.
“Well, what about Netflix?” Blanch suggested, always the optimist, at least in Micah’s eyes. “That new bit about the development of teapots?”
Micah sighed. “We watched three episodes of that. The teapot has a surprisingly boring history.”
The truth was that their viewing habits had settled into a comfortable, almost predictable, rut. News channels on cable for their daily dose of reality and maybe a handful of shows on one or two of the streaming services when they felt adventurous. The rest? A vast, unexplored digital wilderness of zombie rom-coms and obscure fishing tournaments.
They were, as Micah often lamented, “drowning in content but dying of thirst.”
One particularly dull Wednesday morning, as Blanch meticulously reviewed their VISA charges for the last month, a stark realization hit her. Their total charges for cable and streaming TV was much larger than she always assumed it was. TV suddenly seemed less like entertainment and more like a shell game.
“Micah!” she exclaimed, brandishing her iPad with their online checking account filling the screen, “Do you know how much we’re spending on television?”
Micah, mid-sip of coffee, nearly choked. “About what we pay for my golf club membership?”
“It’s $150 for cable alone! And then another $40 for Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+!” Blanch’s finger jabbed at the numbers on the screen. “That’s $190 a month! For … what, exactly? News about squirrels and the history of teapots?”
Micah peered over her shoulder, his eyes widening. “Good heavens! That’s more than our dental insurance premium!”
“It’s enough to cover the grocery price hikes I expect for next year!” Blanch declared.
Micah and Blanch spent the next hour performing what they dramatically dubbed "Operation Content Cull." A quick call to the cable company downgraded them to the most basic local channels package, bringing their monthly bill down to a mere $40.
Then, with a surprisingly satisfying click of a mouse, they canceled their subscriptions to Hulu and Disney+. Netflix remained, as it occasionally offered videos Micah found interesting about the American economy by Bob Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor.
The savings surprised Micah: $110 from cable and another $25 from the streaming services. A grand total of $135 a month.
“That’s $1,620 a year, Micah!” Blanch announced triumphantly a few weeks later, looking at their new, much leaner entertainment budget.
Micah, now happily watching a local news segment about a particularly resilient mosquito, grinned. “Enough for a really, really nice medieval basket, if we ever find that documentary.”
Also hear and read the O’Malley “parent story” from 2024
Go to “Clarence Learns What to Leave Undone”
Age: Our greatest asset!
Jim Hasse, ABC, GCDF retired, author of “52 Shades of Graying”
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Pam, my wife, and I build a budget each year, even though we’re both 82 and probably shouldn’t have to do that anymore. But, we do because we want to keep ahead of expected inflation and unexpected expenses.
Two years ago, we sold our one car because we only drove 1,000 miles a year and we now have a variety of transportation alternatives. That saved us over $3,000 in 2024.
This year we trimmed $600 from our cell phone charges (and updated our equipment) by joining a family plan with our niece and her clan.
Shopping on Amazon is tempting because it’s so convenient, and that’s our target for 2026: trimming “incidental” expenses for rarely-used household stuff etc.
* When have you discovered a comfortable cut in your household budget?