Wife insists on keeping Netflix? (010-Q1-Gabe)
Gabe says, “I tried telling my wife we were cancelling Netflix because she spends too much time in front of the T.V. She said to me, ‘You just try it and see what happens.’ Bob, what should I do? Should I cancel Netflix?”
Answer (From Podcast Episode 010):
Well, Gabe, this is a tough one—she wants Netflix, you don’t. So who will win?
She said, “Try it and see what happens.” All right. I’m assuming you’ve already attempted to have a rational discussion about the pros and cons of having Netflix. And if so, and if she’s just flat no against cancelling it, then I suppose I would personally see what happens if I cancelled it.
I favor the idea of agreeing on monetary expenditures—and if we don’t agree, then we don’t spend money.
So you can have a big argument about Netflix, but the underlying issue is bigger, or more important. Her spending too much time (as you say) in front of the T.V. is symptomatic of a larger discussion that you need to have.
Okay. So maybe pull the plug on Netflix, and if that starts the discussion, great. If she calls Netflix to hook it back up, well, then that’s going to happen. If she moves out because you pulled Netflix on her, that seems awfully extreme to me.
That’s the best I can do. It’s one of those things that, you know, try it and see what happens. But you need to be having a discussion. That’s the whole point. You need to nip these things in the bud.