“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”…Christmas movies are on TV. I love Christmas Movies…my family…not so much. Usually it is not a problem unless there are two new movies on at the same time. I can watch one while recording the other.

We have a TV in our living room and in our dining room in the basement, as well as one in our bedroom. My daughter purchased a TV of her own for her bedroom.

We found the Dish satellite to be the best value in our area and when we switched to it we were given a box with a DVR for the two main TV’s and a plain box for the two bedroom TV’s. I would record movies on the TV in the basement while Mr. Frugalfish watched a game in the living room. I would watch the other movie in the bedroom. Then the others started recording shows they were missing, and when college boy is home, he watches the TV I normally record on.

I got excited when Dish came out with “The Hopper”. I wanted it! I did a little research on the cost and realized I didn’t want to increase my entertainment budget that much for TV…I’d rather eat out!

As I was dusting my bedroom TV, I remembered that each TV had a DVD player or a DVD/VCR combo hooked up to it. I smacked myself on the forehead and said, “Duh, we can record the shows or movies on the VCR!” The best part is I will have tapes of new Christmas movies to watch all winter long without tying up the hours on the DVD player. I don’t need “The Hopper”.

The VCR player that is attached to the bedroom TV.