Video Roundup: Credit, debt and the whole shebang

There was a period this winter when I simply did not watch television. Which is not to say that I'm one of those folk who like to pretend that I'm awesome because I prefer books and newspapers. But because of two very important factors sort of beyond my own control.

When we were living beyond our means we signed a contract with our cable provider and the good folks at TiVo. So we've been unable to cut those expenses completely from our budget. We signed a binding contract informing them that we'd pay a certain rate. If we broke it we'd incur all sorts of lovely fees and fines, which essentially would make the whole cancellation process moot. I love television, cable and having a DVR. But it's spoiled me a little.

Now I cannot stand watching commercials. So when our TiVo started to malfunction and not record properly, I found myself at a loss. I could watch straight television. But who has time to sit through commercials and arrange their schedule to catch programs? Not me, that's for sure. Working two jobs made it nigh impossible to watch anything besides the morning and evening news.

So we simply stopped watching television. Then we rediscovered the brilliance of having a broadband connection. Soon I was watching full length documentaries on Google Video and all my favorite programs from the network websites. Our living room for half the year is a 3 season porch, so eventually we just stopped going into the living room, leaving the TV in the cold. Another reason not to watch television.

Now that we've moved the television to our winter living room and fixed the TiVo I often find myself watching internet programming more often than not. Since I'm nerdy you should know for certain that I'm going to watch documentaries most of the time.

Here's a short list I've compiled in my journeys that coincides with the niche this blog occupies. I've found them invaluable, I think you will too.

• Videojug: Credit and debt defined
• Videojug: Managing debt
• Videojug: Financing your car
• Google Video: Money as Debt
• YouTube: Destination Debt

While they're all very informative and a good way to spend a couple of minutes Destination Debt is probably the best out of them all, detailing how predatory and manipulative credit card corporations can be, especially to college students. Sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it?