Leaving XM Behind

Posted on September 5, 2007 by Melissa
Filed Under Frugality, Reflection

XM’s outta here I’m proud of my husband. He made a choice that I didn’t think would be easy, and he made this choice easily.

This weekend we noticed a discrepancy in our unbilled credit card activity of almost $400. We hadn’t spent that amount so Eric called Citibank to have them look it up, fearing fraud. Turns out XM had automatically renewed the 3-year contract on Eric’s car for a whopping $389.31. It had been so long since we last renewed that we didn’t even think about it coming due. We decided to examine if it was worth keeping in our budget.

I wasn’t about to tell my husband he couldn’t have XM if he truly wanted it but I knew it would be a waste considering he only uses his car for short commutes. I know how much he enjoys listening to the news during his drive though. I expected him to have a tough time deciding if he would keep it. Turns out, it was an easy decision for him.

He simply felt it wasn’t worth it when he could listen to NPR during that time. I even tried to talk him out of cancelling to be sure he wasn’t sacrificing something he really wanted. But he had made up his mind. He called, cancelled, and got the refund.

I know many people might think of this decision as a no-brainer when you are trying to save money but I see it as a big change. He loves technology and gadget-y stuff like this. The fact that it was a simple decision for him to forgo this subscription is an achievement in itself.

He is doing more than just adapting to a more frugally minded lifestyle, he is adopting it.

When he went to work yesterday morning the XM service had been officially cut off. The now useless XM button in his car’s console serves as a reminder of the sacrifice he made toward our goals.

The XM subscription in my car still has a little while left on it before it runs out. I know I’ll follow suit when it comes time and I won’t think twice about it either. For some reason I still feel like I’ll miss it though. I wonder why. All the channels I like seem to have commercials on them now anyways. Why should I pay for radio with commercials?

Isn’t that already free?

Comments

2 Responses to “Leaving XM Behind”

Kyle on September 6th, 2007 3:25 pm

Your husband made the right call. I have XM on my truck and did not sign up after the free preview. I have enough CD’s and AM news radio to keep me happy. Funny how one big lump sum payment makes you really examine its worth. Easier to tell yourself it is only X dollars a month.
Melissa on September 7th, 2007 8:35 am

Exactly! Staring down a $400 bill made the decision much easier I think.

Sometimes, to get a better feel for the overall cost, I will add up all the charges for the year. I ask myself “That $10 a month data plan actually costs $120 a year. Now is it still worth it?” It usually does the trick.

Thanks for the comment!

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