Cut The Cable

When you’re doing your monthly budget and trying to figure out where to cut costs, think about your cable bill.  Most cable bills will run you anywhere from $50.00 a month up to $176.00+ a month depending upon what services you subscribe to.

Now, don’t panic! I’m not suggesting you never watch your favorite shows again. I’m simply showing you a cheaper way you can watch TV and save hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year.  

What You Need To Cut Cable

Hardware

There are several options for you to watch quality TV without cable. The good news is all the options are both easy and inexpensive, and you may even own the necessary components already.

HD Antenna

The first thing you may want to consider is an HD Antenna.  There are two types, an outdoor Antenna, and an indoor Antenna.  The outdoor antenna, if you are old enough to remember is much like the antenna your parents or grandparents used before Cable, but more streamlined. 

This doesn’t provide a way to watch streaming videos, but if you want to watch local live TV, it’s the cheapest and simplest solution. The best part is once you purchase an antenna there are no subscription fees. However, your channel selection depends a lot on where you live, as well as your line of sight to the broadcast location. So be sure to do your due diligence in researching your area.

A non amplified antenna picks up signals across a range of about 20 miles and is ideal for people in urban areas, who tend to live close to broadcast towers. The Mohu ReLeaf is a good choice for city areas and costs about $40. For rural areas, you might prefer amplified antennas, which pick up signals over a range of about 50 miles, but also cost more. Check out the  Mohu Curve 50.

Streaming Devices

If you want to take advantage of streaming services — Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime are great services. If you have a Smart TV all you need is the internet.

If not, setting up your TV for streaming can still be a simple and inexpensive process. Al you need is a console that can connect your TV to the internet, such as  Roku, Google, or an Amazon fire stick, If you have a game console from Microsoft and Sony you can subscribe to Netflix, Hulu and amazon prime from the console itself.  Simply hook the console to the internet and you’re good to go.

Once you’ve purchased one of the above items, you can choose which service has the shows you want to watch.

If there’s one particular movie or show you want to watch, your best bet is to look it up with JustWatch, which is a website that searches more than 20 streaming, à la carte, and on-demand services to show you where your content is available. If there’s a series you want to watch, simply look it up on JustWatch and subscribe to that service.  And once reruns are running or if you binge-watch shows, unsubscribe until the next season comes out, which can save you a lot of money in the long run.

You should also keep an eye on the trend of TV networks offering their own streaming subscription channels. CBS All Access, for example, is exactly what it sounds like: a combination of live CBS TV, on-demand CBS programming and next-day episodes for new CBS shows.

Sports

An HD antenna will keep you covered for local games. Otherwise, you have two options: a cable-replacement service, such as Directv, Hughes, Dish, or a streaming sports service.  Every major sports organization offers some kind of streaming package, from MLB.TV to NFL Live to NBA League Pass. These services are expensive compared to streaming subscriptions and can cost between $100 and $200 per year.

If you’re a die-hard sports fan, a cable subscription is probably worthwhile for that content alone. But if you follow only one or two teams in one or two sports, you can probably get away with paying $15 to $20 per month, which is much less than cable all year round. To learn more about streaming sports services, visit your sport of choice’s website (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, etc.) and click on its streaming section. It will likely be toward the top of the page on one of the toolbars.

Premium Channels

By getting rid of cable, you’re also losing your access to premium channels. Networks like HBO, Showtime and Starz are the prime destinations for dramas like Game of Thrones, Homeland, and Outlander, respectively.  The good news is that premium channels now exist in stand-alone formats. HBO Now costs $15 per month, Showtime Anytime costs $11 per month and Starz costs $9 per month.

Subscribing to these channels allows you to stream shows, either as soon as they air or on-demand after the fact. You can also stream movies, comedy specials, documentaries and even specialty sports events, just like what you get on the cable channel.

Although you can’t cut cable and continue to watch every single one of your favorite shows in real time. But if you are looking to save money, this is the way to add money back into your pocket.

Until Next Time,

Megabite