Paying money for a program to be running at all times "protecting" your computer is one of the dumbest things you can do. I guess it gives people who just use their computer for email and shit (n00bz!) a sense of security..
Haha yeah, I know what you mean man. I never really recommend anyone else goes completely without some form of AV, but I personally don't run any. I just have Spybot SnD, and Malwareabytes for double checking my personal findings when I suspect I have something. I usually find it myself before the scan finishes though and the scan just confirms the location for me.

Intel Core i7 870 | Corsair H50 Watercooler | 16GB G.Skill DDR3 1600MHz
Asus P7P55D-E Pro | Galaxy GTX 460 768MB SLI | OCZ Vertex2 60GB SSD
2x 1TB Seagate Barracuda HDD RAID-0 | Corsair HX850W PSU | Samsung Blu-Ray