After three consecutive years of double-digit returns in the S&P 500 through 2023, I’ve decided to cut the cord.
The reason was simple: I prepare myself to prepare for difficult times by not only reducing costs, but also by freeing up time to focus.
Yes I know. Here in America, if you make more money, you should spend more money and YOLO. But I didn’t get to FIRE by spending my money. I got there by saving and investing until it hurt for 13 years straight after college.
Pain makes me feel alive!
Besides, when times are good, there’s no need to spend a lot to feel good. You’re already in awe of your stock portfolio and you’re feeling great after a great local bid closes.
Instead, the time to spend the most is when conditions are difficult. Not only can you buy more merchandise, you also get to ease your financial woes with new products and experiences.
The Key to a Better Life is Anticipating Your Grief
It’s important to think twice when it comes to building wealth and maintaining happiness.
There is the current you, who has made a fortune in stocks and real estate since the pandemic. But then there is the future, you have to fight with the decisions you make today. In the end, you will be miserable. And when that time comes, you need to make a choice.
Given that nothing good or bad lasts forever, it’s reasonable to assume that the good feeling of making the most of your investments won’t last forever. After the 2000 bubble burst, we went through more than 10 years of stock market gains.
We know that when future stock returns are plotted against the valuation, the higher the prices go, the smaller the expected returns tend to be.
Therefore, we must prepare ourselves for difficult times before they come. If we do, we will have a much better chance of survival and perhaps success.
Why Cutting the Cable Finally Made Sense
Our cable and internet bill was $180 a month with Xfinity. Because I’m not the one who owns this debt, I didn’t think much of it until I asked my wife how much it was.
When I found out, it didn’t sit well with me.
Yes, we really need the Internet to write, record, and publish on Financial Samurai. We also need internet for watching shows and homework for the kids.
But the cable? Not for $120/month for $180.
The only times I watched cable was when the Golden State Warriors were playing or when there was a good sports game on ESPN. But about a year ago, being able to watch the Warriors on Channel 720 somehow disappeared, leaving me with only ESPN.
So I asked my wife to cancel the cable, and she did.
The funny thing is, at first, I couldn’t believe he actually did it! I thought the cable dealer would fight back, cut our bill in half, and turn on Channel 720 for my heroes.
But no. My wife received no such gift, and we ended up going to the store to return the cable box the following week.
Withdrawal Symptoms Were Real At First
I have had cable for over 20 years. So when I turned on the TV and found nothing, I felt lost. I tried to scan for channels with what I thought was the built-in antenna, but they couldn’t be found because my old TV didn’t have one.
Oops.
Before cutting the cable, I thought I would easily be able to find the main channels to at least watch football on FOX, CBS, or NBC. So we went to Target to get a $30 antenna, and it worked for a bit.
It was nice to be able to watch some sports and news, even though I don’t. The antenna was like an insurance policy, like all that responsible parents get life insurance after having children.
But then I realized that without my cable box, I would no longer be able to record shows and games and watch them wherever I wanted while fast forwarding through commercials.
I began to miss this luxury, which took me about two weeks to get over.
Then, after Daddy Day Camp with the kids on Sunday, I came home expecting to watch the Super Bowl upstairs in my office. But my wife said the antenna could not pick up NBC.
What?
This was the main show I would happily watch for free without cable. I wanted to get my $30 worth of mid-quality Philips antenna that we bought at Target. It is said that there is a $90 version, which my wife skipped because the sales clerk said $30 was enough.
Our Janky Super Bowl Antenna Setup
No matter how many channels we scanned or how we adjusted the antenna on our high-end TV, we could not get NBC to come on. I think the antenna was facing the wrong direction compared to the broadcast tower.
So instead, we took the antenna down to the TV in our family room, which never had cable in the first place, and hooked it up there.
We also had a hard time getting NBC, even though we could literally see the broadcast tower a mile outside our window.
My wife or I had to hold the antenna at a certain angle and not move, otherwise the picture would be completely blurry.
Holding the antenna up with our arm to maybe get five seconds of Super Bowl action when it was obviously not working well. So I got an idea.
We unscrewed the lamp shade from our lamp and cut it off and attached the antenna to it. Then we moved it carefully to see if the NBC signal could be picked up.
Of course, the only place that worked at that height was in front of the TV.
But hey. Not bad for a $30 antenna and save $120 a month on cable.
It was fun for the kids, and a chance for them to see Mom and Dad work together to solve a new problem. And when we finally settled down with the antenna in front of the TV, we laughed and told the kids, “That’s just life sometimes.”
After Two Weeks, I Stopped Missing Cable
After the Super Bowl, we ended up watching 30 minutes of the Winter Olympics, also hosted on NBC. But it was.
Since then, we haven’t watched a single minute of live TV. In fact, as I was writing this post, I realized that my high-end TV no longer had an antenna.
After 20-plus years of cable, there was the first two-week adjustment period to not having cable. But it was easy to adapt because of the antenna and all the other broadcasting facilities available.
We pay for Netflix, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime. And part of my reason for cutting the cable is that I learned from my dad during our winter holiday trip to Honolulu that Premier League hosts NBA games every Thursday.
I didn’t know.
And the irony was, my father was using it ours Main account!
So apart from cable, I recently found other ways of viewing entertainment from the packages we were already paying for. And while My Warriors won’t always be shown on Thursday nights, it will be shown every once in a while on Prime.
This Was More About Mind Than Money
At the end of the day, I’ll save $120 X 12 = $1,440, minus $30 per pole, for a total of $1,410 saved this year on my cable bill.
It’s not a huge amount of money, but it’s significant enough to feel good about saving.
Not only do I feel good about saving $120 a month, but I also feel good knowing that I no longer have as much temptation to watch TV. This is the year I want to finish the first draft of my latest book, Your Kids Will Be OK.
Not only does saving money and having fewer distractions feel good, and I feel good knowing I’ll be making better use of my existing streaming resources. I downloaded the Prime Video app and set a reminder to check what NBA games are on Thursday.
And I don’t feel bad about being an Amazon Prime member since we get great value on free grocery delivery alone, as well as same day or next day delivery on any other items we buy.
This service was especially helpful during the pandemic when our children were infants and toddlers, ie they received wipes and diapers.
Preparing for When Money Gets Tighter
So there you have it. I cut the cable and I don’t plan on going back.
I’d rather spend money on healthy food or high-quality running gear than spend a lot of time in front of a screen. But more importantly, I feel lighter.
With more free time, I can better focus on creating. FIRE moves are back in full swing thanks to AI glitches. It forces me to cover expenses and pay more attention to the future while times are good.
Given that I can no longer save 50% or more of my income – one of the key principles of FIRE that I recommend – the next best thing is to cut costs and get used to living comfortably.
With the cable cutting action I took, now you know why there is no way I could get $60,000–$120,000 to restore my almost 11 year old car after all those electrical problems. To prepare for the sinking times, the most responsible financial move was to try to fix the car, which I have.
The next expense I’m thinking of cutting is my second $205/month sports club membership. But I’m not sure I can since I take my kids there to teach them to swim and play tennis every week.
Let’s see how far I can take it to reduce costs.
Questions and Suggestions
Readers, have you cut cable or other unproductive expenses from your budget to prepare for the tough times ahead? How much do you pay for streaming services? Do you feel better paying more often if you let friends and family use your account? And are you preparing for hard times now while times are good?
A great way to review all of your expenses is to link them to a wealth management tool like this one Empower or Boldin. You’ll get a clear, real-time overview of what you’re spending so you can easily cut back on excess.
If you would like to get a signed copy of me USA Today the best, Millionaire Milestoneslook at mine free to enable financial review for instructions. Finding an expert to review your investment in any blind spots or areas of development helps build a wealth that is more risk-adjusted over time.
