Hello XM, Goodbye Neflix

So a few months ago I bought a new car. I splurged a bit for a brand new car (rather than used) and one that was a little nicer than my '97 Honda Accord. Along with this car came a free three month subscription to XM Radio which honestly didn't weigh too much into my decision making process. I'd never been exposed to satellite radio and never thought I would want to pay money for it. I can deal with commercials... why pay for something that I can get for free?

However over the past three months, I've really grown to like it. It's not just the lack of commercials but it's the variety. Radio stations in DC are so watered down that regardless of the genre of music you like (or the station), you are still doomed to listen to the same 20-25 song playlist. XM gives you multiple flavors of classical, jazz, pop, rock, rap, country, talk, weather, traffic and the decades (70s, 80s, etc). I went from 10 so-so stations to over 175 which is kinda like upgrading from bunny ears to digital cable with HBO and Cinemax. You have so many channels to choose from, it's almost a bad thing.

When the trial subscription ran out last week, I found myself missing the variety. Knowing I wanted it back and despite the relatively manageable $12.95/month cost, I had to find a little room in my budget. (Buying a brand new car versus a used one necessitates such a decision.)

A quick glance at my Quicken (Is it a shock I track things in Quicken? No) and the choice was obvious... Netflix had to go. And to be honest, Netflix should have probably been canceled a long time ago. It's is a great service and I would love to keep it going for the pure sake of having new movies around but I just don't ever watch them. I've had "Saw" and "Little Miss Sunshine" on my coffee table for the past three months. I might as well set 12 one dollar bills on fire every month.

So those two movies went back today (unwatched), my Netflix account was cancelled and I re-upped for one year of XM.

Can't wait till the Sirius merger goes through (barring approval). The NFL is on Sirius.