Football is Coming

A little over a month ago, our long time renter moved out. It was time. We'd been sharing a house with her since 2011, and at the four year mark we'd found the space too small for all of us. The quirks we found endearing about each other for the first year or so turned out to be annoying in the end. It's the way of things. But we parted as friends. She still comes over on Sundays to hang out, catch up, and play board games.

Oddly, I don't mind missing out on the $400 of rental income. I know this makes me seem like a rich jerk, but we make enough that we don't really need the money. Especially since we have the mortgage paid off, the rent was always seen as 'extra'.

But I do miss having someone pay a third of our utilities, because now all the bills, the water and trash and electricity, seem more expensive. Anchoring is at work here: we're used to a certain price, and are irrationally using it as a reference point. Now the internet is a full $30 per month instead of the $20 we were paying. Electricity is $100 instead of $67. The one that really hurts is DirecTV, since it's truly just a luxury, and was coming in at between $50 and $60, even after negotiating hard with these guys every year or so.

So, we cancelled our DirecTV. Like so many other hip kids, we're getting by without the tether of cable or satellite TV, and are just watching Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Prime. We only pay for the Prime ($49 per year with the student rate), as our old renter is nice enough to let us keep sharing her Netflix and Hulu log ons.

It's a pretty sweet deal. Between the three streaming options and our little HD antenna, we've got more than enough shows and movies to keep us entertained all year long, and at only four bucks a month.

But football is coming, and there is no acceptable substitute for the NFL Sunday Ticket, complete with the RedZone channel which shows every touchdown in brilliant high definition, and Game Rewind, which lets you watch an entire game in 30 minutes. I get excited just thinking of it. You see, dropping money on the NFL is my only vice.

Okay, two vices. That's still very good.

I just am not going to miss out on Steelers football. Since moving away from Western PA in 1999, my obsession with the team has grown every year. Part of it is feeling like the team is my connection to the city: a way to show I'm still a yinzer at heart. Except for those couple weeks I was in Peru and Ecuador last year, I haven't missed a game in fifteen years. And I'm not starting now.

So, as I always do with tough decisions, I'm going to poll the smartest people I know, my readers, and let you make the decision for me.

Option One: Paying for DirecTV

• This option allows me to watch in the comfort of my own home, eating my own food and drinking my own beer. By far the most convenient option, and the one we've used for most years.
• There's no cost for the Sunday Ticket as "new" customers (Mrs. Done by Forty will call in), and we found a deal where we get 25,000 American Airline miles for signing up (62% of a roundtrip flight to Europe), but we do have to pay for DirecTV for two years. Roughly $62 per month the first year (when factoring in the $15 DVR cost per month, and $6 for the receiver), then the price goes up to $92 the second year. Though we likely will be able to negotiate this down in year two.
• Average annual cost: $924 ($77/month). Possible higher cost in year two, if I can't negotiate the Sunday Ticket for free.

Option Two: NFL Game Rewind

• Definitely the cheapest option of the bunch, this allows us to watch all the NFL games...but they're not available to watch until the day after the game is played.
• And there's the rub. It's impossible to avoid the scores for a full 24 hours, with how connected we all are these days. Heck, just watching the live game via my antenna, or talking with co-workers on Monday, or keeping track of my fantasy football team, is going to let me know the Steelers' score. 
• Still, it's an intriguing option as it's so cheap. If I can be a complete hermit on Sundays and avoid any work calls on Monday, there's a puncher's chance it could work. But I imagine a lot of excruciating Sundays, knowing football is happening live and I cannot watch it.
• Total annual cost: $40

Option Three: The Bar

• Being in my mid-thirties, the bar doesn't have the same appeal as it used to. I remember turning 21 in San Diego and being thrilled with the idea that I was allowed to drink beer at 10 a.m. while getting to watch the Steelers. Now, I have to drink beer, in public, at 10 am if I want to watch the Steelers. Perspective.
• As a game lasts over three hours, figure a bar tab of $30 per game with sixteen games.
• Total annual cost: $480...but that comes with beer and chicken wings.

What do you say, wise readers? Vote in the poll below, or just leave a comment.

Photo is from EDrost88 at Flickr Creative Commons.