I just read an article about the 'real' costs of watching television. They broke down the 'start-up' costs, added in all of the reoccurring monthly charges, accounted for the increased consumerism, and factored in the opportunity costs of all that 'wasted' time. The figures are pretty astounding... from the article:
"So what does this all add up to? Say you're 25 years old and you initially spend $2,000 for your TV, DVD player, entertainment cabinet and gaming system after getting your first job. Add in monthly costs of $100 for cable, $10 for electricity use, $20 for renting movies, $25 for buying games and $20 for an occasional pay-per-view event, and you're looking at $175 a month. Add in another $525 a month extra you spend due to the influence of commercials if you are the average person, and you are costing yourself $700 a month watching TV."
Using an 8% growth rate, only compounded annually, that $700/month would grow to more than $3.7M by the time you're 70 years old if you ceased watching TV at age 25.
Of course what's not considered here is that from time to time you may learn something from television that actually saves or makes you money and one may also derive some stress relief or relaxation from their time in front of the screen.
Article Link.
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