TV Fix

SavingDiva wrote the other day about ideas for TV/movies since she doesn’t have cable, and I thought I’d talk a little about what I do. Like SavingDiva, I don’t have cable. I do get the major networks and a few random channels through an antenna, but there’s a lot that I really like that’s on TV that I don’t get to see. I also gave up my Netflix subscription a few years ago, and I rarely go to the movies, so I get pretty creative when it comes to seeing movies and TV shows. Here’re a few things I do:

1. Library. This is, of course, a great resource for DVD’s and books, but one that I don’t use all that often for DVD’s. The reason is simple: with as many people as possible crammed into Manhattan, Bronx, and Staten Island, the New York Public Library’s DVD collection often involves looooong waiting periods, and I’m too impatient. If there’s an older, less popular movie I want to see, though, I’ll usually try the library system first. (And with our system, if any library in those three boroughs have it, they’ll send it to whichever library you ask them to.)

2. DVD Exchange. A lot of my friends and I do this informally. I have a pretty large DVD collection (about 300 or so), and can easily afford to lend out DVD’s to friends and family without missing them. In return, they often lend me DVD’s back. Alternatively, one friend who has cable, but not a very big DVD collection “repaid” me last year by DVR’ing “The Riches” for me, so I didn’t have to wait until the end of the season to watch it. That was a great solution for us both: I got to see a show I normally would have to buy on DVD, and she got to borrow the entire 8-disc Eddie Izzard stand-up collection from me.

3. Buy TV on DVD. Every August or September, I buy Nip/Tuck on DVD. Can’t get around it; I love McNamara/Troy too much not to watch the show. Since I don’t get FX via antenna, I splurge on the box set. The cost of that box set once a year is still less than one month’s cable, though, so I don’t ever feel too bad about it. (Season 4 just arrived this week, so I’m ready for my marathon this weekend–hooray!)

4. Buy used DVD’s. Nip/Tuck comes to me brand new, shrink-wrapped every year, because I want it the day it comes out, and I’m willing to pay the premium price of about $40 for the privilege. However, for most everything else (including another TV show I buy), I’ll get my DVD’s at half.com for a few bucks. If a DVD costs more than I would pay to go to the movies, I’ll wait until it goes down in price. Usually, I pay around $5 for a movie and about $15 for a TV show, and I get to keep it forever or resell it if I don’t like it. That’s far cheaper than going to the movies, and I usually buy one a month.

5. Ask for Christmas/Birthday Presents. I keep a list of DVD’s I want, and when I think of a new one, I add it to the list. Once I buy a DVD, I’ll take it off the list, so it’s constantly updated. Every year when friends and family say, “We don’t know what to get you!” I hand out that list. I always encourage them to buy me used DVD’s, though some of them don’t because they’re not comfortable with that idea for gift-giving. I usually score around 10 new DVD’s or boxed sets around the holidays. (My birthday is around the holidays, too.) Family Ties is at the top of my list this year!

I usually budget about $30 per month on entertainment, and about $10 of that goes to TV/movie-related entertainment, except of course for the month Nip/Tuck comes out, when I budget more because I know that I can’t wait one more minute for Liz and Christian and Sean and Kimber and Julia. (In that order, usually.) Overall, it comes out a lot cheaper than cable. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a certain show to watch…