Come in if you've cut cable

[Deleted]

We pay nearly $250/mth for cable. I'm over it. We watch like 5 channels. Our main TV is a smart tv and all of the other tvs in the house have Firesticks. We already do Netflix and Amazon Prime and the Boomerang app. As for cable tv, I think the kids watch Nickelodeon. I like watching shows on ABC mostly, but do watch This is Us which is on NBC. Can I still watch those things? Also, my H like to watch Formula One Racing and SuperCross, is there a way to watch those things if we don't have cable? I literally know nothing about apps. I mean, I've heard of Hulu but don't really know what it is. I'm essentially technology dumb and really just need other people to tell me what to do. If I got rid of cable, how would I get my local news? Could I get my local news?

[isabel]

We got rid of cable and used Sling on a Roku. It was fine, but I hated the interface. We signed back up for cable and pay a total of $104 a month (including internet plus tax, fees, and all that), but that's obviously an intro price. Once we get to the point where they won't keep it low anymore, I think we will drop it again.

The next time we get rid of cable, I will get the "premium" Hulu package that includes cloud DVR. That's what I was really missing from Sling. And with Hulu, you have access to all the regular channels and can record shows from them.

I really struggled with Sling, the interface, how to watch what I wanted to watch (sometimes we needed a cable login even though we didn't have cable), etc. So that's my two cents. The higher priced Hulu package seems like the best of all worlds with the DVR, live tv options, and access to Hulu shows.

[mactastic]

We got rid of it 2+ years ago, and don't miss it even a little. My sister pays for Amazon and Hulu, and we pay for Netflix and HBOGo, and we share passwords with each other, so it ends up being maybe $25/mo for each of us with four different streaming options. Through that, we can watch most of what we want (The thing that sets Hulu apart from other streaming apps is it has shows currently on the air, so as long as you don't mind being a day behind, you can access This Is Us via that.)

As for the racing, I can't speak to that specifically, but my husband bought the MLB package this year, and was able to stream all the Brewers games through either our Xbox or his phone. I imagine most major sports have similar options at a rate much more affordable than $250 a month. We also got a set of rabbit ears for the rare occasions we want to watch local TV, but to be honest, now that we've given up football, we don't even watch that more than once or twice a month. I would recommend it wholeheartedly!

[thedutchgirl]

I recently got DirecTV Now, which is streaming (not a dish). One of the main selling points for me was that it includes local channels in my area. I have the version that's $40 a month, and so far it's great.

Many things are available separately with individual subscriptions, and then to get the local channels you'd need a digital antenna. By the time I priced that out versus streaming cable (essentially what DirecTV Now is), DirecTV Now was more cost effective.

You'll probably need something for your main TV if you go with a streaming service like DirecTV Now or Sling or similar, as most usually only work with one particular kind of smart TV.

[jane6672]

A digital antenna will get you most basic channels.
YouTube TV is $30 a month, and gets you shows from basic channels, sports etc. and you can "DVR" shows.

[mortomo]

We cut cable over a year ago and haven't really missed it at all. We have an antenna and also PlayStation Vue. Vue has a DVR feature and different packages. Much cheaper than cable. It's not as smooth as cable (we'll be watching a show and it will freeze), but it's worth it to not pay the cost of cable.

I think you can use it on up to 5 (?) devices in your household, so if you have Amazon Firesticks you should be able to get the app. We use it on a Fire TV box.

[pooh8402]

We use Playstation Vue and an antenna. We love it. We can watch many sports on it (we get all the ESPN channels, Fox Sports, CBS sports, SEC network, Big Ten network, Longhorn channel, Pac 12 network). For whatever sports we can't view through Vue, we use the ESPN app.

We also have Netflix and Amazon Prime and Nick Jr (for Paw Patrol), and share passwords with family for Hulu, HBO Go, and we in turn share our passwords with them. And I sign up for Starz when Outlander season starts (this Sunday yay!), and cut it when the show is over.

[Que?]

I haven't had cable for over 10 years. We just pay like $40 for wifi and then whatever Netflix, Amazon Prime cost and my H gets sports channels during playoffs or whatever.

I don't watch a lot of TV, but what I donwath is usually behind (like This is Us) because Canadian Netflix sucks, but it's not a big deal. My kid just watches what's available but mostly she watches nickelodeon shows from the 90's on YouTube lol.

[VillainV]

We also use DirecTV Now (streaming). Their packages include just about everything we could want to watch. Having a login gets us access to other streaming options like ESPN and lots of the networks' streaming apps. We get local channels, but if we didn't we could stream live local programming on the networks' apps.

ETA:  We found this to be a pretty easy way to cut cable and still be able to watch the shows we want.  It looks and feels just like a more basic version of DirecTV.  But it's A LOT less expensive.

[sarahbear]

DH put an antenna on the roof. We are on a hill so we get all the basic channels. We also have Prime and Netflix. We don't miss cable at all. The kids watch KPBS for cartoons.

[dexteroni]

We got rid of cable and replaced it with Youtube TV, and we're really happy with it. Sling, Hulu, and Youtube have local channels, but not in all markets, so you have to see what's available in your area. We compared those three apps, and Youtube was the only one that had all the channels we wanted. We already had Netflix and Amazon Prime, and we added a standalone HBO Now app.

No clue about car racing. But each app’s website will have a channel list, and if car racing isn’t available, there might be a standalone app. Even if it requires a subscription, it sounds like you'll be paying a lot less per month than you are now. $250 for cable is insane! Ours was $140 and I thought that was ridic.

[lintscreen]

We just did it. We signed up for Hulu live which has live tv for most channels we watch including sports and local networks and you can record shows as well. $40/month. We love it so far.

[kitkat1502]

We have DirecTVnow, I think it's $41/month. I signed up when they had a promo to pay 3 months and get the free AppleTV. We love it, once in a while we get a lost connection, but I think that's because it's connecting to our wi-fi extender in our bedroom and we've been too lazy to fix. We get all the channels I want, local channels too. I also have Netflix. So for us the breakdown is:

Phone/Internet- $90/month
DirecTVnow- $41/month
Netflix- $12/month (I think?)
Total- $143

I wish I could be even more selective with TV... I'd really only want local channels, 90 Day Fiance, Food Network, HGTV, and Married at First Sight and I'd be golden.

[eclaires]

YoutubeTV - has cloud DVR and local stations. It's like $35 per month? I don't know. We already had a ton of streaming stuff before we switched so we saved a bunch cutting cable. We had cable - it was like $150, plus netflix, hulu, and amazon prime. So getting our "cable" bill down to $35 was pretty reasonable and we switched our internet - so we basically cut our previous cost in half. I think the hulu option is comparable, we just liked the YouTubeTV interface better. We had PSVue at first but they raised prices, I didn't like their interface and they didn't have many local station options - just CBS.

[Aloe Vera]

We use an antenna. You can get one at Target for like $30 or less.
www.target.com/c/antennas-tv-home-theater-accessories-tvs-electronics/-/N-5xtdu

ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC are all free channels that anybody can get through an antenna. Our antenna picks up about 30 channels.

We have Netflix for movies and TV shows and we have sling (an app you can install on the Roku). You can pick your packages. We usually only use it around this time of the year. We get the basic package and we get HGTV and other cable channels. Then we cancel in January.

So our breakdown is:
Internet: $40/month
Netflix: $12/month
Sling: $50 for 2 months ($25 in November, $25 in December).

[tealblue]

Nov 1, 2018 11:42:35 GMT -5 VillainV said:

We also use DirecTV Now (streaming). Their packages include just about everything we could want to watch. Having a login gets us access to other streaming options like ESPN and lots of the networks' streaming apps. We get local channels, but if we didn't we could stream live local programming on the networks' apps.

ETA:  We found this to be a pretty easy way to cut cable and still be able to watch the shows we want.  It looks and feels just like a more basic version of DirecTV.  But it's A LOT less expensive.

This exactly, except the local channels aren’t available in my market. So I either watch This is Us or Greys (shut up, I’m committed until the end!) live or I watch them the next day on the NBC or ABC app. I can use the direct tv now password for those apps so I have access to the shows quicker.

We got an antenna from Amazon and put it on the pole where the Direct tv satellite dish was and it works fine. Also, we had to get a fire stick for our Smart TV because the direct tv now app is only on one brand of smart TV (not ours).

We spent $80 or so on 4 fire sticks and $20 on an antenna, so basically 1-2 months of savings. We do the biggest direct tv now plan which is $65, and I want to say we were paying $135-140 a month for satellite.

[wildrice]

We had cut cable, but we have it again. We mostly stream stuff, but we watch sports and it got incredibly inconvenient not to have access to them at home. I don't think it saves us any money if we have to go out to watch a game.

When we moved here, I priced out using Hulu plus (or whatever the $40ish package is called) vs Comcast bundled internet/cable, and Comcast saved us a bit over 2 years. So we went with that. We're paying an intro rate of just under $100 a month. This does not include DVR or some of the premium channels (like HBO), which we do pay for separately through Amazon Prime. That Hulu package does include sports (though IDK if it includes ALL sports? I think it had the ones we needed) so we'll likely switch to that once our introductory rate expires after 2 years. Unless Comcast can give us a better deal again at that point.

I think you'd be fine cutting cable and going to Hulu. Beware that depending on your market, you may not be able to use an antennae. We tried that in our old town and could only get 1 fuzzy channel. The towers for broadcasting were too far away. And we lived in a "city" of close to 100k people so it's not just an issue for those in the middle of nowhere. If you live close to a major city I wouldn't expect that to be an issue though.

Have you tried calling your cable company and asking them for a better rate? $250 is insane. There has to be something better!

[cleo29]

Nov 1, 2018 11:31:52 GMT -5 thedutchgirl said:

I recently got DirecTV Now, which is streaming (not a dish). One of the main selling points for me was that it includes local channels in my area. I have the version that's $40 a month, and so far it's great.

Many things are available separately with individual subscriptions, and then to get the local channels you'd need a digital antenna. By the time I priced that out versus streaming cable (essentially what DirecTV Now is), DirecTV Now was more cost effective.

You'll probably need something for your main TV if you go with a streaming service like DirecTV Now or Sling or similar, as most usually only work with one particular kind of smart TV.

We have a Tivo. Can you use the DirectTV Now with it? We have a locked in cheap price with the Tivo and don't want to lose it. lol

[cherryvalance]

We've been cable-free for about 2-3 years now and haven't missed it at all. After only paying $110/month for cable, phone, internet and DVR on two TVs, we moved and were paying $165 for just cable and internet, with no DVR. It was ridiculous.

We now pay $65 for internet and have Sling ($25) and Netflix. Although we don't usually watch anything on it, we also have Amazon Prime. We have two Rokus and two Firesticks (but prefer the Firesticks).

Considerations:
-We are not big TV watchers and prefer to binge things we're into, so these options work well for us.
-My H had/has some issues with sports, but it seems he can always find a work-around, either by adding a $5 Sling package for a month or two, or streaming it elsewhere.
-We never really watched regular network TV and can't get an antenna where we live for local channels
-Our cable company knows that people are cutting and streaming, so the internet has gone up from $45 to $65.

[Deleted]

If you guys think my $250 cable bill is bad, I'm not even going to tell you what our cell phone bill is. Ugh.

I'm going to look into the DirecTV Now idea, I'm intrigued by that one, but will look more in to the other things as well. It looks like for the middle of the road internet we'd be looking at $60/mth plus another maybe $40 for streaming tv, which would still be significantly less than what we are paying now. Thanks!

[illgetthere]

We do YouTube tv as well; it's actually $40/month. It covers all of the locals and has much more sports channels than some of the others. It doesn't have Nick though; they focus on the Disney channels. Real time with a great DVR. Lots of movies and shows on demand. It also works as a cable log in for other apps (espn, locals for older shows, etc).
Philo is cheap and covers more "lifestyle" channels but no sports

[revolution]

We just did when we moved I'm in heaven!

We do have:
Youtube TV, it's like $35-40 a month and has unlimited DVR
Netflix
Internet

Grand total of about $110.

[carmenere]

We have a Fire Stick with Sling, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. I think we pay around $50/month plus our Prime subscription. We also have a digital antenna that picks up the local news channels and an assortment of broadcast stations.

Hulu is just another streaming service, but it has more current content. Episodes of This is Us are available on Hulu the day after they air on TV. I'm sure Sling includes NBC, too.

[chimera]

We did with the move, old house we couldn’t get local channels without cable/satellite.

New house we have Fios so Comcast finally got the boot. We get a fair number of channels ota. Either Xbox or Firestick ( the fire stick has better buffering than our older smartTV)
We have basic Hulu included with our cell phone plan - I don’t mind the day after for things as I’m used to watching network shows on demand vs live. CBS shows are a bit lacking - I think they want you to pay for their app. Then we have prime and Netflix. I have my mum’s cable login for the channels that have apps that you need your tv login to stream. Fx, Showtime, etc - we’ll add HBOnow when GoT comes back.

[morecoffeeplease]

We had a $250 cable/internet bill. We stopped the cable and switched to Direct TV NOW ($50) on a fire stick and pay for comcast internet. It brought everything down to about $130

[puppylove64]

We do directv now. The only issue is if you watch a lot of sports, you might not have enough channels. We have the basic $40/month and got the free Apple TV. You can download apps for most local channels and watch them for free even without a login-cbs, nbc, abc, cw. We mostly watch Netflix or prime. We haven’t missed satellite at all except for one sporting event.

[nextbigthing]

I've been using HuluLive and Prime on a firestick.

I swore I'd never give up cable but this really is enough. I also had to call like 15 times to cancel at&t once I sold my house so that soured me on cable contracts

With internet its costing me $105 per month. I dont love the interface on Hulu and might try DirectvNOW once I move into my new house in a few weeks but for now it works.

[cajunmom]

We just got rid of our dish and have a roku and use YouTube TV. We can still watch all of our network shows that we watched before. It's $40 a month.

[steamboat185]

We haven’t had cable for years. We have a Roku and I watch This is Us through the NBC app. We have Prime Video and Netflix is covered by my cell phone provider. I occasionally add in Hulu or Starz to watch the Handmaidens Tale or Outlander but they are very easy to cancel once the show is done. We can find Full Frontal on YouTube and the Daily Show streams from the Comedy Central app. It’s definitely worth the 50-100 dollars a month we save especially since we don’t watch a ton of TV and I can always find something to watch when I want to relax.

When we first cut Cable we had Sling and DishTV. Sling was much easier for us to use, but if we were to try another steaming service it would be YouTubeTV.

[felicity]

What is your breakdown for the bill, and have you tried negotiating? We pay $100 for Fios cable and internet. I'm not gonna lie, it was an annoying amount of negotiation to get there. But, they will negotiate. The cancellation department seems to have more leeway on getting the price lower than the regular customer service. We negotiated with Cox too, but they couldn't get as low as Verizon, so we went with Fios. I'm not sure of the exact cable package, but we get channels like HGTV and Nickelodeon but not some of the more obscure ones. So, just a thought if you still want to watch some sports or things you can't stream.