**To update this post, I just ordered an antenna that came highly recommended by many of you guys! I haven’t received it yet, but once I do, I will let you know how it works. It is the Mohu Leaf 50 Indoor HDTV Antenna. It looks like it should be easy to install and use and from their website, per my address, it looks like it should give me around 52 channels. Wish me luck!
Paying down debt has become a huge priority for us this past year. And while I wish I could magically earn lots of money and just use that money to pay down the debt, I’m finding that each month, the money is going towards specific bills and necessities and there just isn’t much leftover to save or use to pay down debt. So I’ve been trying to figure out where we can cut costs. And that is why I’m canceling cable.
One of the expenses that we have been going back and forth on is whether or not to keep cable. With our cable provider, we have a bundled package that includes internet, phone and cable (including a DVR). Our phone and internet are necessities for both my business and hubby’s job. But the cable… honestly, it is more of a luxury. We spend $156.37 a month (including taxes and fees) on our total bill.
Along with that, we have an Amazon Prime membership (mainly for the FREE two day shipping but we’ve loved the huge selection of free TV shows & movies) and a Netflix membership. With my son (he’s two and a half) I’ve been finding that more and more, the shows that we watch with our son are on either Prime or Netflix. (I was SO excited to find that old Mister Rogers and Reading Rainbow episodes are included on Amazon Prime!) I never watch live TV with him mainly because streaming shows is easier and because I don’t want him to accidentally watch any adult-themed or scary commercials.
Our main TV is a Smart TV so I can stream Netflix, Prime, Hulu, etc onto it. And our secondary TV has a Fire TV Stick making giving us streaming capabilities of all of these programs as well. (Fyi – I love love love our Fire TV Stick . It is just $39.00 and is worth every penny!)
Hubby never watches TV unless there is a football game or golf tournament on. He can’t stand much (if any) of the TV shows I watch. And if he had his way, I would probably never have the TV on at all 😉 I do watch TV. I only watch live TV occasionally and if I’m watching live TV, I’m watching a cooking show on The Food Network or a home improvement show on HGTV. The rest of the shows I watch I DVR and watch at a later date. After doing some research, I’m finding that most of the shows that I DVR at night are on Hulu Plus. So if I drop cable, I won’t miss many of the shows if I pay for Hulu Plus.
If I’m being honest, hubby is worried about football season. And I’m worried about missing The Good Wife (as of now, I don’t think the current season of that show is on Hulu?). So we may invest in a pair of rabbit ears and see if that allows us to watch live TV. But for now, we are going to go without and see how we do.
Here is my breakdown on how I’m going to begin saving $510.24 per year:
Current Cable/Internet/Phone Bill: $156.37/month
New Cable & Internet Bill (once I drop cable): $105.86
Total Savings per month dropping cable: $50.51
Less Cost to add on Hulu Plus per month: $7.99
Total Savings per month: $42.52 (or $510.24 per year)
Note – I did not add in the cost of an Amazon Prime membership or Netflix because I’ve been paying for those memberships for years now. Those are existing expenses that we are already paying and we would continue these expenses whether or not we cancelled cable.
What do you think? Do you think that saving $510.24 per year is worth dropping cable? For us, it is. UPDATE – some of you have asked why I’m only saving $510.24. My cable company is frustrating. Prior to cancelling cable, we had a bundled phone/internet/cable package. Since it was a bundled package, we got what is a guess a good deal. Just dropping the cable portion of the package still leaves us with a hefty internet and phone bill. And yes, I’m currently researching more affordable fast wifi and phone options 😉
All three of the programs I’ve mentioned (Netflix, Hulu Plus & Amazon Prime) give you free trials. It might be worth it to sign up for a trial while continuing your cable. See if using these programs are worth it to you. If they are, you might want to do what I’m doing!
Go HERE to sign up for a free one month trial of Netflix (membership is $7.99/month)
Go HERE to sign up for a free two-week trial of Hulu Plus (membership is $7.99/month)
Go HERE to sign up for a free one month trial of Amazon Prime (membership is $99.00/year breaking down to $8.25/month)
I would love to hear your thoughts if you have cancelled your cable! Do you miss it? What do you do if you want to watch live TV? Do you have an antenna? Share your thoughts. I would love to hear them!
Thanks for coming to Addicted to Saving! Here’s a little bit about me so you can know who’s behind all these posts!
My name is Liza and I began my money-saving journey in the Spring of 2009 as a way to stretch a limited household income. I had lost my job and my hubby was self-employed. I launched Addicted to Saving in November of 2009 and it has grown by leaps and bounds. Since then, my hubby and I have struggled with the ups and downs of two failed adoptions and are now LOVING being parents to our little man Asher who we brought home from Ethiopia in August of 2013. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to help you save money. My goal is that you will have FUN and become empowered to save more and more money each week..
Hi! My sons are in their 30’s and married now, but we did that when they were in middle school and jr. high. I did not approve of the offerings on cable so we used an antenna. It was great to save some money as well as not have them watching inappropriate TV shows. Lucky for us they weren’t that into video games either and spent a lot of time with sports or playing outside. I would like to do it again, but I have to wait until the last upgrade contract (2 years) expires or pay penalties for canceling. Interestingly enough, when I called them last week, the satellite company did not have that date available! I had called about something else, but I will find the date and cancel as I already have Prime and nothing is ever on cable, like you said. Hubby watches baseball(ugh) which can be almost every night. Looking forward to not having that! I think more and more people are going to do it your way!
I recently had a membership to Hulu and was finding everything I clicked on to watch wanted me to pay for it as well. I don’t know what the issue was. I didn’t see the point in paying a monthly fee if I was still going to have to pay for shows.
I have never paid for TV service and do not subscribe to any paid movie or TV watching service. I have a collection of DVDs, and that works great for me and my family. I have a digital antenna installed in the attic and get many channels that way.
Oh goodness we ditched cable 5 years ago. Best thing we’ve ever done. I however did go out and get a tv antenna (tons of reasonable choices on Amazon) and I’m very glad I did. I get all the local channels (abc, cbs, nbc, fox, cw, pbs) and the great little digital channels that keep popping up (Antenna tv, This tv, Bounce, Cozi Tv, Escape, Laff, Me Tv) I also have Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and a Apple Tv for the times I just want to buy something newish to watch (I have the new HBO now that just came out and for 14.99 great shows and movies)
Hi how do you get HBO now without cable?? Thanks for all the good info…
I’m in the process of cancelling my Direct TV. I just need 2 more months for my contract to end. I have netflix and will be getting hulu plus and amazon
My DirecTV account is only $20/month to end the contract early. Cheaper to pay the 2 month penalty than 2 months of subscription!
Just pay 22 for entire season of good wife on itunes or amazon. Still saving money. Like to also point out how much TIME you are saving…with which you can generate even more debt reducing income.
I would definitely turn off cable and save the money for other things. We have Netflix and regular TV. Our kids are very happy with the shows we are able to watch. They have said they wish they did have cable but we are saving for other priorities. It is a smart decision!
It has been a year since we dropped cable and we don’t miss it much except for some sports. We also have Amazon Prime and Hulu Plus. We stream through Roku and blu-ray players. We also watch some shows on YouTube. We bought a Mohu Leaf Antenna (indoor) and we are able to receive ABC, CBS, three PBS stations, the Movie Network and a few others. I feel that our T.V. viewing has become more mindful rather than just having it on all the time. It is a little more work to pick and stream than to change channels but you’re watching what you really want to watch and you’re spared most of the commercials. And if you don’t mind popping in a DVD or blu-ray, there are many for free at the library or codes from Redbox. Good luck to you and your family.
I’ve thought about it but I don’t know a thing about Netflix, hulu, or any others. My husband and I watch a lot of reality shows on national geographic, animal planet, discovery channel, and bravo ( me mainly). Do those other outlets show those channels or shows?
I think you’ll do just fine. 🙂 We have never had cable, but there are only a few times a year that we wish we did. We have Hulu Plus and an antenna (Hubby made it!! I laughed at him when he said he was making one, but then it worked. I don’t laugh at him when he tries new things any more!). We also have a DVR that we bought. We use that to record shows off of live TV, although, since we now have Hulu Plus, I don’t use the DVR very much any more. Football may be more of a problem, since they probably don’t always air the Bears in FL. Maybe switch to the Bucaneers? (Just kidding!)
Megan – we’ll never be able to switch to the Bucs! You know my hubby! 🙂 Question – what kind of DVR did you buy? I’m thinking that might be a good option for me someday – especially since Hulu Plus doesn’t have many of the new CBS shows on it. I used a gift card on the antenna I bought from Walmart. But I’m thinking that I’m going to tell Jeff he needs to make me an antenna for our bedroom TV. I’ll keep you posted on if he makes it and if so, how it works! 😉
Our DVR is a Magnavox (called HDD and DVR Recorder with Digital Tuner). It has a DVD player in it too. We’ve had it for about 4 years. The antenna he made is in the attic and it goes through the cable ports in the house, so we have one antenna and all the TVs are hooked up to the one antenna by hooking them up to the cable cords, even though we don’t have cable. I don’t really know how it works. (I’m not the technology expert in the relationship!!)
You purchased a Great antenna, I purchased 4 or 5 of these when they were on sale for $30. during one of amazon.com’s Gold Box deals. You won’t be sorry, work beautifully! Quite amazing how well the work actually, made a believer out of this skeptic. :”) It’s sad that in America we can literally be so ripped off by a cable company. I know it’ s only entertainment for the most part but it’s a crime what we allow them to get away with. In any case. The cable company’s biggest business these days is in fact internet not cable. There are many FREE sites you can go to and watch television and they are 100% LEGAL. An investment in a small desktop is a great choice, hook it up to your television and then you can go to sites like http://www.couchtuner.eu/tv-lists/ and stream lots of shows for FREE. I have been doing this for years. Chrome is the best browser to use for this or really for any surfing and you will want to install https://adblockplus.org/ to stop pop-ups. I have a lot more information should it be requested but this will help you get started. Not sure where you live but you might check out your phone company, they can give you DSL, about 24 meg for $50. including tax. After a few months your lousy cable company will want you back, it gives you bargaining power. DSL is not as good as cable but it’s good enough for streaming. Good Luck!
Thank you so much for your input on the antenna we bought! I used a gift card so didn’t feel too bad about the hefty price because I do remember when they were on sale for around $30! If the price drops again I will buy one for our second TV. 🙂 I will have to check out the website you mentioned. Thank you for the tip! And good tip regarding hooking up our computer to the TV. We have an old laptop. I will have to see how it works when connected to my TV. Thanks again for all of your tips!
Most welcome for the tips. I have a smart TV, Roku, amazon stick and a chromecast, while I Love my Roku, the thing I use the most besides Netflix is couchtuner and similar sites and navigation is so much easier on an actual computer of course to each their own and one’s comfort level. As a resource for your readers they can go here, type in their zip code and it will help them with their antenna choice, I was surprised how accurate it was in relation to the antenna I purchase and the channels I received. Nice when information on the internet is accurate. :”) Happy Streaming!
steve…sorry if I’m just missing something but when you say “go here and put in your zip code to look for the best antenna choice”, where do you mean? I’ve really wanted to get rid of Direct TV for awhile since I have Roku. Netflix, Hulu and Amazon but have been uncertain what to do about an antenna.
Thanks for your help!
Hi Julie, My mistake, I said go here and forgot to put in the link. So Go Here: http://www.gomohu.com/ It’s the mohu antenna website. If the link won’t post for some reason, just google mohu leaf antenna and then once you go to the site on the home page it says “enter in your zip here” That will show you which antenna will get you the most channels. It’s very accurate, I was so surprised. I purchased the Mohu Leaf 50, and it works brilliantly and receives all the channels it says it would. The sky 60 is probably great but I didn’t go to the expense to purchase that one especially being skeptical before I purchased my first antenna since in the past I hadn’t had any luck. But now that I know how trust worthy the company is, I may go to the expense of upgrading. On another note, the only thing I miss about cable is “sports” but I might get Sling TV this sports season, I am a big University of Kentucky basketball fan but even so, I just can’t pay out all that money to watch a sporting event. Hope this helps Judy and again, sorry about that. :”)
I see you bought an “hd” tv antenna. I love how companies rip people off with marketing slogans. Truth be told… there is no difference between an “hd” antenna and an antenna. Both antenna pick up waves on the EM spectrum the same way and they don’t differentiate between an HD signal or regular signal. I guarantee my log-periodic antenna I made out of cardboard and aluminum foil picks up the same, if not more, channels and I paid a whopping $3 for it (basically, just the cost of the bulun).
Don’t fall for the “hd” marketing scam… its just a way for them to boosts up the price on you a little for no reason.
Eric – thanks for the comment! Can you tell me what antenna you have? I would love to look into it further! Thanks.
http://apeweek.hubpages.com/hub/a-free-antenna-to-watch-free-hdtv
http://apeweek.hubpages.com/hub/a-free-antenna-to-watch-free-hdtv
He has a more difficult antenna than this that is supposedly more powerful that can be found on this page as well, bit I tried the easy one first and it picks up 50+ hd channels from my SE Hillsborough home… so I never attempted the more complex one.
http://apeweek.hubpages.com/hub/make-this-powerful-hdtv-antenna-out-of-cardboard
This is the link to the more powerful antenna. I picked up so many with the basic antenna I never attempted this one.
Wow. Amazing. Thanks for the links! I’m thinking I will have to try this!
I did virtually the same as you in regards to streaming options. I have a computer tower hooked in to each TV along with the antenna. I found that with both things hooked up to my TV, my viewing experience vastly surpassed that of cable or the dish. Sites like solarmovie.so, allow you to watch virtually anything you want for free.
Also, your husband should not be worried about missing any sports. Virtually all professional sports have streaming packages. There are some issues that pop up that are frustrating… like mlb.com won’t let me stream the Rays because they are local and some sites like espn.go and abcsports.com require your cable provider to let you access the games. However, there are ways around this. I use my in-laws cable info on those sites to watch… and there are also links that stream, although the quality may not be as good.
Also, during football season, I typically have four games on my compter running at the same time… one in a great hd picture from my antenna and the other three streaming from the net in a lower quality. It certainly is a much better way to watch sports when you learn the ins and outs.
Hope you find this useful… Good luck!
Sport links like vipsports.com stream sports live… but the quality is not hd most 9f the time.
Err… vipbox.com
Gosh… I did bad trying to remember that Web address… its vipbox.eu
Thanks Eric! I will pass the info over to hubby. He loves his Chicago Bears. And honestly, even with cable, living in Tampa Bay, he didn’t get to watch many games on TV last year. I’ll have to research streaming options! Thanks again for all of your info!
I agree, the word HD on an antenna is misleading, I wish the cheap antenna’s had worked for me, Clearly I love a bargain. :”) For me, the cheap one’s didn’t work, I guess due to where I live and where the tv station antenna’s are. Honestly, I was so skeptical of this antenna, the mohu leaf 50, I figured it would have to be returned too, since NOTHING else worked. I was just amazed by how well it worked for me considering nothing else had. So if you are like me and the cheap antenna’s don’t work, give this one a try, it works beautifully!
Lots of great information on these comments. I’m thinking of cancelling and was most concerned about live college football and live news. Still unsure about cancelling.
We ditch cable two years ago when we moved to anew apartment. We do pay for Netflix and Amazon Prime. I share a Hulu account with me sister which works for both of us.
We bought an indoor antenna and use an Apple TV on the TV that is not smart technology.
We don’t need a home phone, because we mainly use our cell phones and we have an internet account with ATT, that’s around $50 for a very decent velocity.
All that puts us in around $75 monthly, which I love compared to the $150 we used to pay before. And U don’t miss cable at all!!
I have ooma phone service. Absolutely no complaints and my bill is $3.48 per month.
I’ve managed to do pretty well without cable for close to a year now. I do have NetFlix but I use a few other websites to fill me need. Between http://couchtuner.ma/tv-lists and http://onlineseries.ch/watch-tv/ I can pretty much find any old show that I’m looking for. I’ve also been using nextairings premiering soon page http://nextairing.com/season-premiers to keep track of when shows are airing. I don’t see the point in cable when all I watch are popular shows. Thanks for the great article. Always find these very interesting. Nice to know that I’m not the only one surviving like this.
Cheers,
Julian