Of course I can. But same as you, I've never paid for a subscription, but I did try it for two months for free. But I never really find it that useful although I've seen a lot of my friends spending more time playing Live than anything else. I prefer Steam over Live, its free and the service is quite good.
It might seem sometimes that I cannot live with it but once it is not there maybe I will get used to it in due course of time. There are many options today so I may not miss it so much.
I can live without it because I go weeks and sometimes months not gaming and not really miss it. After those "vacations" I feel fresher and get more enjoyment out of playing.
I could totally live without xbox live, as long as I can play PC online or another console. I enjoy online play the least on the Xbox because you have to pay for it when it should be free.