Actually Paying For HBO

I've been watching HBO shows since I was in high school. I saw every episode of Sex & The City, all seasons of Six Feet Under, and I never missed an episode of Big Love. But I've never had HBO. See, I was one of the bajillion people who got my premium TV shows from *cough* completely legal *cough* websites. Did you know Game of Thrones is, by a large margin, the most watched illegally downloaded show? Let's just say I wasn't doing anything to bring down that count. I thought it was a real pain to find good links and wait for them to load, then watch my show in what was usually not the best quality, but I wasn't about to shell out the bucks to get HBO for reals. That was for rich people. I had totally accepted this way of thinking until a few weeks ago when my friend Hilary told me her rationalization for subscribing to HBO: You'll spend $10 to go see a movie, which is what? 2 hours of entertainment? So it's a steal to pay $15 a month for like, 20 hours of entertainment.

This blew my mind right open. I kept repeating what Hilary said and every time it became more and more obvious: I needed to get HBO.

It was super easy to change my cable plan. I actually did the whole thing online and never had to speak to a person (this, to me, is the perfect type of transaction). After just a few mouse clicks, I had HBO within 24 hours. I immediately caught up on True Blood, then moved on to Game of Thrones. I haven't been keeping up with my premium cable shows for the past 6 months or so, so I have a lot of catching up to do. I've been using HBO Go more than the actual TV channels, but with my Roku Box I can watch all the HBO Go I want through my TV. And even if you don't have a Roku Box, there are about a billion things available On Demand.

I've been watching TV, movies, and documentaries like they're going out of style. I don't know how I lived without HBO for so long. Seriously, take stock of your life and you'll see that HBO isn't a luxury - it's a necessity.

HBO Subscription: $15 a month