Anyone Cancel their Cable?

[cathynmichigan]

We are seriously debating on canceling our cable. Has anyone done this recently? The only show we watch, on a regular basis, is Detroit Tigers baseball, is there anyway to watch the games live through the computer hooked up to the tv? Anyone input is appreciated

 

[JakeJenna]

We are seriously debating on canceling our cable. Has anyone done this recently? The only show we watch, on a regular basis, is Detroit Tigers baseball, is there anyway to watch the games live through the computer hooked up to the tv? Anyone input is appreciated

You can get MLB.tv pretty sure if your in Michigan you will get blacked out from live tigers games though. You would be able to watch them on demand after they are over, not sure how long after the games they are added though.

 

[worm761]

We recently cut out cable. Sort of. DH called to cancel cable and up our internet to the faster speeds. They eventually offered us basic cable and the faster internet for less than the cost of the faster internet by itself so we still have basic cable. DD (3 years old) is the only one that watches it. She watches Nick Jr in the morning sometimes. We bought a Roku and have a membership to Netflix and HuluPlus.

Honestly, I thought we couldn't do it. I am very surprised that we have adjusted so well. I love it! We are finding more interesting shows to watch on Hulu (The Supersizers Go was hilarious! If you like food shows). And another plus is my DD is not being subjected to commercials.

 

[CharmingElla]

We cut cable about two months ago. We now have Hulu Plus (to watch shows that are on now) and Netflix (for movies and other shows).

We pay $37 for internet. So we went from paying $120 a month to paying around $53.

I didn't think we could do it, but we've been doing well. DD watchs Disney and kid movies in her room and we watch shows or movies (DVD) in the bedroom. The only think I miss is Baseball (Braves fans) and news (I was a news junkie). MLB wants you to pay extra for live baseball, if you have a Roku. We don't want to pay the extra money, so we just keep track online.

HTH

 

[Howgreat]

We cut cable 3 years ago when I quit teaching to stay at home with our oldest son. We honestly didn't miss it at all. We watched our favorite shows the day after online. We had Netflix and rented movies from Redbox when we really wanted to watch something. We just picked basic cable up again 6 months ago, because they offered it to us at $8 more than we were paying just for internet, but we're getting ready to cancel it this month since the promo will run out. Great way to save money!

 

[donaldandpirates]

We recently cut out cable. Sort of. DH called to cancel cable and up our internet to the faster speeds. They eventually offered us basic cable and the faster internet for less than the cost of the faster internet by itself so we still have basic cable. DD (3 years old) is the only one that watches it. She watches Nick Jr in the morning sometimes. We bought a Roku and have a membership to Netflix and HuluPlus.

Honestly, I thought we couldn't do it. I am very surprised that we have adjusted so well. I love it! We are finding more interesting shows to watch on Hulu (The Supersizers Go was hilarious! If you like food shows). And another plus is my DD is not being subjected to commercials.

This! Our only regret is that we didn't cut the cable sooner.

 

[cookingqueen123]

It's funny you should mention this. I am getting ready to cut the cord. I have an hd antenna going in on Friday and ordered another Roku for the bedroom. I also bought my own modem and router and will be returning the cable companies, so no more rental fee. I plan on having Internet only. Anyone have suggestions for the cheapest Internet provider?

I can't wait to tell Brighthouse to kiss my a**.

This most recent rate-hike is what prompted this. I couldn't justify $120 a month anymore.

 

[hayesb2]

I cut the cord 5 years ago and haven't looked back since.
We subscribe to Netflix and have an antenna to get our major local networks in HD. Total cost is $8 bucks per month. No way would I ever go back to spending $100 a month for 3000 channels of which I only watch a handful of them. Life is too short to channel surf endlessly...instead we spend more time as a family going outside, doing things together, playing board games, etc. and then each evening we'll play a show on Netflix through our xbox for the kids before bedtime...another benefit is the kids do not see commercials, so they aren't always asking for the latest and greatest toy/gadget. I noticed as soon as they go to a friends house and start seeing commercials almost instantly they are transformed into kids with wants...

 

[brymolmom]

We did it.

We have antenna for locals - and get quite a few.

We have Netflix.

At first the only thing I missed was DVR....So we bought a computer and wireless mouse/keyboard and hooked up to the TV. Using Windows Media we can DVR shows...We have 2 'cards' so can record up to 2 shows at one time.

Total outlay was around $600...But we made that back in 8 - 10 months of no cable bill.

 

[christineangel]

Yep. Over three years ago now, no regrets. I just used Hulu (not plus) for awhile then added amazon prime. We cancelled that after a year and switched the Netflix and purchase the occasional show from amazon (breaking bad for my husband, doctor who for me) the kids watch Netflix via the ps3 on our one tv in the playroom and occasionally on my iPad. The ipad also has a pbs app and the disney jr app. Netflix has been adding a lot of Disney programming which makes me happy. I try not to buy DVDs anymore bc they are messy. No antenna, no basic, no regrets. I think these options will only become more and more popular and more people will cancel cable and satellite.

 

[worm761]

I think these options will only become more and more popular and more people will cancel cable and satellite.

I agree with this. The cost of living keeps going up but a lot of people aren't getting raises. And some of us are losing money in our pay checks. People are going to start cutting discretionary spending and cable was an easy one to give up.

Cable kept creeping higher and higher. We were up to almost $200 for cable/internet. That is crazy! We had a DVR and recorded everything that we watched and then watched when we felt like it. Now we just hook the laptop up to the TV and watch it on the website when we feel like it.

 

[lucyem]

We stopped cable years ago. I think technically we still have it but it is not hooked up. To have internet alone is more expensive then internet plus cable tv here. We found all tv did was become a big time waster. We had netflix for a while but realized it was another waste of money as the streaming selections got worse and worse. Now we rely on the library or what we can find on the internet.

 

[Colleen27]

If you're in Michigan, there is absolutely no way to watch the Tigers on any sort of regular basis without cable. The MLB packages all have a blackout for your local market team (and they define "local" VERY broadly... some areas are blacked out for 2 or 3 different teams).

That right there is the entire reason we still pay for cable/satellite. We lived without it before the Tigers moved to FSD but we're both big fans and aren't willing to settle for the handful of games that are available on broadcast TV. Heck, last year even the first couple playoff series were only televised on cable!

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We cut cable several months ago and don't miss it at all. We have a regular antenna for local channels and Netflix and Redbox (once in a great while) for movies.

 

[hsmamato2]

we did,and we love it! but we aren't big into watching sports....you have to get what you are interested in we have an antenna in the attic,which does pretty well, plus an older tivo box(lifetime sub.) which we stream netflx thru.... got the tivo box on ebay- LOVE this setup! I love recording,so the tivo was what I needed most.... and I never have enough time to watch the few channels we do have.

 

[ArielSparrow]

I've never paid for cable as an adult and my husband never had it growing up. We aren't sports fans and don't have kids. We have Netflix and were even hesitant to get that. We used to just use Hulu but it's nice not having commercials or having to worry about an episode expiring. I'd recommend it or look into Hulu+, Amazon Prime (i would get it in a second if I had a Kindle device), or Redbox Instant. We don't have a TV so don't get any local channels. Instead we have our PC and Xbox hooked up to a projector (Disney movies on 106" screen? yes please!)

 

[NYCDiane]

For those who cut cable and are using Hulu and Netflis, I have a question:


How do you watch these shows?? Do you watch them on your computer? What about current programming like the news?? On Hulu and Netflix, how long after a show airs do they have it?

 

[ArielSparrow]

For those who cut cable and are using Hulu and Netflis, I have a question:


How do you watch these shows?? Do you watch them on your computer? What about current programming like the news?? On Hulu and Netflix, how long after a show airs do they have it?

I watch through my PC, Xbox, and phone. Most game consoles have apps for it, and I believe devices like Apple or Google TV and Roku as well.

I find the news to have a lot of irrelevant filler and way too many commercials, from what I remember at my mom's house. I've never watched the news as an adult. I have a ticker widget on my phone and there are similar things for your computer (just set a home page for a news site or RSS feed). That way you only get what's important and relevant to you and don't have to waste time on anchor chatter. My phone also has push notifications for emergency alerts so I know i'm not missing anything by not having broadcast TV.

Hulu's delay is a day and Netflix doesn't have it until the season is finished, except in their original/exclusive content such as Arrested Development season 4. This isn't a problem for us as there are TONS of older shows that we haven't seen or are behind on. For example, right now we are watching Parks & Recreation season 3 (current is 5) and Doctor Who season 5 (current is 7). Sure, we'll have to wait on those shows when we catch up, but our queue is long (The Office, Arrested Development, Once Upon a Time, Lie to Me, and more).

 

[wannagoback]

For those who cut cable and are using Hulu and Netflis, I have a question:

How do you watch these shows?? Do you watch them on your computer? What about current programming like the news?? On Hulu and Netflix, how long after a show airs do they have it?

Phone, laptop, iPod, iPad, Apple TV, Xbox, blu ray player are what we use. Many many options! We have Hulu+ and Amazon Prime. Also had Netflix for a little while. We also use the ABC, NBC and Watch Disney apps.

The shows are usually available the day after airing on TV.

 

[cathynmichigan]

Colleen, do you know if we subscribe to Mlbtv premium do they still blackout the Tigers? That is about the ONLY thing we care to watch. So giving up cable may not be an option, we are Big baseball fans in this house