Bye Bye Cable

We are without cable! Sounds crazy doesn't it? I honestly thought the same thing when my husband first suggested it. How am I supposed to watch all MY shows?

We actually cut the cable cord a year and half ago and the truth is neither of us actually miss it. So how did we do it?

When we first made the decision to drop cable we started out with Netflix ($7.99 per month) and Hulu ($7.99 per month). Now we typically only subscribe to Hulu 7-8 months out of the year when the few shows we watch are on and have only used Netflix for one month this year to watch the new season of House of Cards. It’s really easy to drop and pickup subscriptions to Hulu and Netflix as you want. We also use our local library to rent movies and TV series for free.

The equipment - We use my husband’s PlayStation on one of our TVs and a Roku 2 on the other to stream channels like Netflix and Hulu. We use a basic antenna to view over-the-air shows (most top shows are available over-the-air). We have considered upgrading our current bunny ears antenna to a Leaf antenna but according to their website we wouldn’t gain any additional channels. We will probably upgrade it soon to the Leaf Metro just so we get rid of the unsightly bunny ears we have now.

But what about sports? Truth is we do miss out on a lot of sporting events and it is something to consider before cutting the cable cord. We are able to watch the big events like the Super Bowl, World Series, local NFL games, NBA finals and golf tournaments. On occasion we are able to stream other sporting events from network’s websites via our laptop and use an HDMI cable to connect it to our TV.

Also, don’t be afraid to call up your cable or internet provider when your promotional pricing goes away. When my husband called our internet provider after our 12 month promotional price expired they gladly brought our bill back down to the promotional price. If they aren’t willing to lower the price then switch!

Here is breakdown of the savings.

Prior cable and internet bill - $1,440 spent per year

Hulu - $63.92 (8 months)

Netflix - $15.98 (2 months)

Internet - $497.16 per year

Total current - $577.06

Initial cost of the Roku was $79.99 (Amazon now has the Roku 2 for $59.99) – This ended up being a wash for us since we got a $100 gift card for 12 months of internet service. 

Savings of $862.94 a year!

We now have more time and money to do what we enjoy -  spending time with family and friends, reading, traveling, and enjoying the outdoors.