How to Earn $1 Million by Not Watching TV

A recent study found that it would take $1 million for someone to be willing to give up TV for the rest of their lives.

Guess what? If you decided to give up TV and invested the money you saved, you would get that $1 million -- and probably a lot more.

People rarely consider the cost of watching TV, and when they do, they usually focus on the cost of their monthly cable bill. The truth is that there are a wide variety of costs associated directly and indirectly with having a TV.

Here are some areas where your TV drains your finances:

TV: The cost of your TV can range anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand if you decide to go for the newer plasma flat screen TVs. Take this cost and multiply it by several times, since you will likely own far more than one TV during your lifetime.

Entertainment cabinet system: Most people don't consider this cost when purchasing a TV, but you need a stand or entertainment cabinet on which to display your TV and other components of your entertainment system. This will cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars on up, depending on how fancy you decide to go. You can also assume that you will replace this at least once during your lifetime.

Cable: Once they have a TV, most people aren't satisfied watching only the free basic channels. Most will subscribe to a cable or satellite package that will cost them anywhere from $20 a month for bare-bones cable channels to well over $100 a month.

Pay-per-view: There are an increasing number of special pay-per-view sporting and entertainment events now found on TV. You might spend nothing to over $100 a month on these, depending on your viewing habits.