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Bye Bye Internet!
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February 8th, 2010Budget, Law SchoolIt was a tough decision to make but I decided to cut my internet. First and foremost, it is sucking up a lot of my time. One of my personal goals this year was to watch less youtube and not play around on the internet. One month in, I realized that I am not doing a very good job. You see, I have a huge addiction appreciation for foreign movies. I watch movies in at least 10 different langugaes. So, its time for the stick. Second, it is really not a necessity for me. I am at school at least three to four days so I can check my email and blog.
But, it will hurt. A lot. In late September, I got my internet connection for the first time in all three years of law school and I told myself that I would cut it if it got to be too much of a distraction. It has.
Do you consider the internet to be a necessity or a luxury? How do you control your internet use?
Tags: Internet
20 responses to “Bye Bye Internet!” 
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I consider it a necessity.
I waste the most time when I’m sitting on the internet in class. Would be more useful to me if the school removed wifi from the classrooms.
At home, it’s my primary source of news, entertainment, connection to the outside world. My boyfriend and I will have arguments and discussions and then immediately take to the internet to see who was right. We learn new things 24-7 because of the internet.
I also much prefer doing my research and school work at home in my pjs!
What stops you from watching youtube at school?
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To be honest, I know I should be good like you and cut my internet service at home. I use the internet at work with ease so you would think the last thing a girl should do once she gets home is get back onto the computer. However, cutting the internet service will leave me without connectivity during the weekends so there lies my excuse to keep the service going. But to me internet is a neccesity. Like you mentioned, I can surf on Youtube or watch movies online for free. But probably won’t be able to do this so freely at work.
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Wow. Big choice. I don’t think I could do it. Although I do get internet on my phone, so I would switch the computer for my phone. Still don’t think I could do it. Hope it saves you some money though!
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Hmmm, no internet at home, ouch that hurts just thinking about it…
How about this as an alternative, split the cost with neighbors? Or better yet strike a deal where you’ll only pay 1/4 of the cost. Of course, that wouldn’t help you with the movies and time spend on the internet…
If you did share the cost with a neighbor, depending on the router, it might be possible to restrict the access time of your access by PC.
Sorry for going off on a tangent. What you say makes sense, but it’s also sounds pretty harsh. Maybe you could look for a cheaper provider with a slower speed (that would definitely deter you watching online movies!!!)
I know that even some of the major isp have deals where you can pay per usage or have a slower link speed for a reduced fee.
When are you thinking about joining J.Money’s club? I’ll definitely go in too!
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How intense! If it’s plausible for you do to, that’s awesome self-control.
I don’t think I could do make such a drastic change, using skype and having ~10 problem sets due each week for classes.
Something happened to the sound on my laptop, though, which has eliminated a lot of media from my life. I made a list of the shows that I was missing, and was stunned to see how many hours it added up to!
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Absolutely a necessity now that my work base is at home. But it’s very easy to waste a lot of time so I have to be diligent about kicking my own butt into gear whenever my internal clock says the work/play ratio is out of whack.
Once full time work commences, I’ll naturally cut back on the amount of time I spend online, and it’ll probably be a lot more streamlined, too. TV watching will go out the door entirely.
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Ronnie February 8th, 2010 at 20:20
It’s a necessity for me, especially during those times when, like now, I can’t physically get to work (thank you 15 inches of snow in VA) but have work to do. I remotely log into the computer, which isn’t feasible to do on the phone, but still allows me to bill hours.
I applaud you though. That’s a huge step in terms of getting your life back. Good for you.
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Good, fast, reliable internet is a MUST for me.
I like my online computer games and hulu.com. I think those two alone would prevent me from ever going skimping out on internet. I split ~$104 a month on internet/cable television with my roommate. Though I can definitely go without cable television, I have to let him have his TV so I can have my internet.
I can get all the entertainment I need each month for $52. Roughly $1.75 a day is not bad at all in my opinion (internet AND tv)
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@sunflowers
Welcome to the blog! I have to say having WiFi at school is great especially in really boring classes. You asked what prevents me from watching Youtube at school. Well, I am usually in class or at the library and I don’t take head phones with me and it is never fun watching anything without the volume.@MoneyHoneySF
I plan to get the internet back when I am working and I am not short on time like now.@MeinMillions
I will be saving around $30 a month. I have really cheap internet.@MoneyReasons
Don, I would love to get something where I pay depending on how much I use because I think that will cut down my actual use. Right now, cost isn’t a problem because it is pretty cheap and my connection isn’t the fastest in the world.@Caity
I was stunned at how much time I was on YouTube and how difficult it was to avoid its siren call. I don’t have a lot of stuff due online so I am good.@Revanche
If your work base is at home then it is definitely a necessity. I don’t have a TV but slowly the internet came to take the place of the TV.@Ronnie
I agree with you that for attorneys it would be a necessity because access to the internet allows them to take the work home rather than being stuck at the office all the time.@Dave
Welcome to blog! I think the internet in general can cut down costs in other areas like entertainment but for me the cost isn’t a problem because it is pretty low. The problem is my ability to control how much time I waste on it.
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You are crazy Jane. Simply put. Lol. If it is an addiction, I do agree you should cut it off. I hope you don’t have horrible withdrawal syndromes.
Not to be an enabler, but I wanted to know: Do you watch the foreign movies with subtitles or do you know that many languages?
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@InvestingNewbie
Lol, no I don’t speak 10 languages. I watch the movies with subtitles. I love watching movies that are made in America or other Western countries and watching the foreign version of the same film. Its interesting to see how a different culture interprets and presents the same story. For example, there is a movie called About Adam which is in English and set in Ireland. You can also find that movie in Korean titled “Everybody has Secrets.” Both have essentially the same story but slightly different endings. Its fun to compare.
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Have you seen “The Departed”? It’s the same movie as some asian movie. I don’t know the name since it’s in Chinese. But the asian movie has a 3 part story and made into 3 movies. I also recently watched a foreign horror movie called “The Orphanage”.
The only drawback for me on foreign films is that I have to constantly read the subtitles.
Do you do the same or are you multilingual?
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@MoneyHoney
I am not multilingual so I am reading a lot of subtitles too. But, I don’t mind it so much because I am used to it. Sometimes its fun not reading the subtitles and see if you can figure out what they are saying. This is super hard with languages I have absolutely no clue about like Chinese but doable with languages like Spanish that I took in school.
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@eemusings
I agree that if you are using it to generate income such as freelanching then it can be a necessity. I definitely don’t need to have it right now. I hope it goes down after your move. -
Kudos!
A few of us (OK, maybe just me!) are old enough to remember the days before cell phones and internet were widely available. Amazingly we not only survived but even progressed without.
Unless you are generating income, it is almost guaranteed to be a luxury. It is amazing to me how addicted most have gotten to the internet and other forms of cyber-communications.
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@LeanLifeCoach
You point out that the internet is a luxury unless helps produce income. Wow, that is a tough standard to meet. How much income do you have to make for it not to be a luxury? Enough to cover the internet bill?
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I was thinking about this while doing an online pset — er, okay, I’m actually still midway through the problems since I got sidetracked reading blogs. The internet is so distracting!
I would be so much more productive with no media, just a pen and notebook…
This has also inspired me to not travel with my laptop this weekend, since I should be able to survive two days without having my online bookmarks and media files, while being able to check email occasionally on other machines
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@Caity
The siren call of the internet is so difficult to ignore when doing school work. I try to give myself short breaks but I certainly lose track of time.Good luck with the 2-day short break.
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Wow I applaud you for having the willpower to cut off your internet! I am completely hooked to mine and use it to keep in touch with so many people I can’t imagine being with out it!
I think it’s great your watching movies in different languages! It’s such a great way to learn and understand another culture so it’s not exactly unproductive right? At least that’s how I justify it to myself!
As for the Chinese version of Departed…it’s called Infernal Affairs..I’ve only seen the first one but I thought it was great! In fact I liked it better than the Departed. You can actually rent it at Blockbuster with subtitles!
Making Me a Millionaire´s last blog ..My Favorite Places for a Good Deal
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@MakingMeaMillionaire
I am going to have to add Internal Affairs to my list of movies to watch after law school since it is so highly recommended by more than one person.I love how you are helping me justify my movie watching. Yes, it does help you understand another culture but of course its the media representation of other culture.
Sunflowers February 8th, 2010 at 15:33