Being an 80's kid myself, I remember when all we had were local channels. Saturday morning cartoons were a big deal. I still remember when we got our first satellite dish, it was ginormous. Fast forward twenty five years later and most people can't fathom going without 200+ channels to pick from.
Honestly, how many of those channels do you even watch? You are paying for 200+ channels and most likely probably only find yourself watching 5-10 of them. If you have a voice telling you that you need those channels, that you need cable, dish, whatever - muzzle it. Because you don't. I was once in your shoes too. Telling myself that I just couldn't fathom life without Lifetime Movie Network or Investigation Discovery. Blah, blah, blah. I was a moron. A moron paying over $100 per month.
My husband and I make decent money and have jobs that we both really like. We are not looking to leave our jobs until retirement. So even though we do make decent money, we are always examining income versus expenses. And since we aren't looking to change jobs or spend more time away from home working a second job, it is safe to say our income won't be increasing. In order to free money up for other wants/needs, we would have to decrease expenses. Which is oddly something that most people hate to do, even though it is quite simple. If you are tight on money you only have those two options- increase income (higher wages, second job, selling assets, etc) or decrease expenses (cut out luxuries, decrease utility costs, less spending, couponing, etc). I am about to explain in detail how to disable that cable bill.
First thing that is important- find out if you are in a contract. This is important as any savings you might be gaining might be flushed away with a penalty for breaking contract. Any decent service isn't going to enforce anything more than a month to month contract. Month to month means they are going to have decent customer service and work to keep prices low as you are able to cancel at any time. Most contracts have a clause saying that the provider can increase cost at any time, be sure to always read the fine print. So anytime you are searching for a service or a utility ALWAYS go with no contract or short term (no more than 6 months) if possible. If you are in contract, find out the exact end date and prepare to make the switch then.
Second thing- local channels are free. Remember back in the day when we had CBS, ABC, NBC all at the turn of a dial? Well, they are still free. You just need an antenna. And you can go with an indoor antenna instead of one of those roof top antennas. Click here to learn about the different types of antennas available. Click here to learn which channels you can get FOR FREE with an antenna in your area. FREE...you don't need the internet, it will be your local channels, you can have any kind of TV and you can get these channels. Personally, I have the Mohu Leaf for my indoor antenna. Received them as Christmas presents (idea for when you draw a blank when people ask you what you would like as a gift).
Want more than just a few channels to choose from? Let's talk about streaming television. While there are many, many options out there to choose from when we talk about streaming TV I am going to focus on the Roku because it is what I have and know.
The Roku device itself does not have a monthly fee. You pay up front for it (I paid $45 for ours and there are frequent sales on them) and that is that. You own it and no more fees. Some of the channels may have monthly subscription fees but I will get to that in a moment. The Roku hooks right into your TV. You must have wireless internet in order for it to work. TV. Roku. HDMI cable. WiFi. Couch. Go!
So you have a Roku. What now? Start streaming! Go to the Channel store and find what channels you like. My husband LOVES the hunting and outdoor channels and so he had a field day finding all those. I find myself frequently putting on the Pandora channel when I clean. Other than Pandora I find myself frequenting three other channels- Netflix, Hulu Plus and Vudu. Netflix and Hulu Plus both cost me $ 7.99 each per month. Vudu has no monthly set fee but the movies/ television shows have different fees to access.
Netflix is a common household term these days. You don't need Roku to get Netflix. You can use a Wii, Blu-Ray player, Smart TV, Xbox, etc to stream it (same with Hulu Plus). Netflix has a way better selection of movies and TV series than Hulu Plus to choose from. The catch is Hulu Plus has the most current seasons/episodes. I love Scandal, Law & Order SVU, The Blacklist, The Following. I can stream them on Hulu Plus the day after they air on regular TV. Now because I do have the locals for free, I could watch them the night they air but I like the on-demand option as I don't always stay up late enough to watch these shows. If I get interrupted I can stop and go back as many times as I want. Or I can miss a few weeks worth of a show and get caught up all at once. Hulu Plus has commercials, Netflix doesn't. If I had to choose one over the other Netflix wins hands down every time.
Vudu is my newest love. We literally have to drive 15 minutes to the closest Redbox to rent the latest movies. Which always results in an extra day or two of fees until we drive again back to the next town to return the DVDs. Enter Vudu. Newest releases- you choose whether you own the digital copy or just rent the film for 24 hours. On top of that just for signing up for an account I got to choose five digital copies of movies for free. Free. Just for signing up for a free account. Did I mention it was free? Plus I just went up and purchased the Frozen Blu-Ray/DVD combo. It came with the code for the digital copy so I logged on to Vudu and uploaded the code. Boom, it is on my collection of digital movies that I can access without having to pop in the DVD. Never to scratch or skip. I am in love. Friday nights is notorious for lazy nights in my home. No housework, if we don't order out then dinner is simple and we just lounge all night lazy as can be. We rented Catching Fire from the comforts of our couch without having to leave the house. It was $ 3.99. I am now watching it for the second time as it stays in your library for 30 days but once you play it, you get 24 full hours of the movie. Watch it as many times as you want in that 24 hours. Love. Love. Love. No DVDs to return or lose or scratch. Technology BLOWS MY MIND.
Some other bonus options I have explored and want to let you know about:
- If you are already an Amazon Prime member, upload the Amazon Prime channel and stream your heart's desire away.
- Redbox Instant is a fabulous channel for those of you who frequent the Redbox kiosks. Why? For being a member (I believe $8/month) each month you get 4 FREE kiosk credits. Plus you get unlimited access to their streaming library.
- YouTube channel. YouTube on your TV. Nuff said.
Not to mention, that $100 per month, $ 1200 per year back in my pocket feels pretty good. We just bought kayaks and are looking forward to kayaking as a family all summer. So what is holding you back?
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