Getting rid of cable?

[firstwdw]

Any tips on saving money by getting rid of cable? We can't do satellite such as direct tv due to trees and not being able to pick up the signal. Would like to be able to see a few favorite shows like Modern Family etc per week plus Disney Jr shows. We don't watch much tv do am thinking there must be some way to cut the cable costs down and add to the Disney fund. Ideas?

 

[irishsharon]

We got rid of cable and our phone,saves us $115 a month!!!!!We kept our internet service and have netflix and have magicjack.We go to the library and they have many full seasons of different tv shows.One great benefit I was not expecting is that my boys are not asking for this and that because there are no commercials Good luck

 

[Nayan]

Make a list of the shows you watch, then Google them and see if they are available online. Netflix does not have a good selection of Disney shows for streaming. FTR I could never give up my cable .

 

[DawnM]

No cable
No satellite

Don't miss it at all. We have roku boxes to stream to our TVs and an antenna.

 

[danceintherain]

Check online. Netflix and Hulu often have quite a few shows, at a delay in many cases, but adequate if you're not really "following" anything.
I believe Hulu has a paid subscription program now that allows you to access more content. I'm not sure what is readily available anymore, because I've been living out of the country for over a year now, and none of the online streaming from the US works over here.

When we get back to the States, I'm hoping to install an antenna for access to network TV. I'm not sure that this would work in your case, since you mentioned not being able to get satellite, but it might be an option.

 

[brymolmom]

Best decision we ever made. Been cable or satellite free for a year and a half and LOVE it! I recommend it to all my friends - honestly, as long as you're not a big sports watcher - I don't think you miss much/anything at all.

We invested in a computer to hook up to our TV and it has Windows Media Center. I think we spent around $500 on it (so basically 5-ish months of cable). it has a card and we can record - just like a DVR. We just recorded hours and hours of the Olympics. For the Olympic soccer games - I was able to stream online and go right through the Internet Explorer attached to our TV - so still watched it on the big screen.

We can only record one show at a time AND cannot watch a different channel while recording (well, we can because we also have an antenna so we can just watch off our antenna straight to the TV while the computer - media center records a different one).

We, too, have Netflix - the kids watch a lot of series on it since we don't have Disney Channel anymore. We also get videos from the library.

LOVE IT!

 

[4HppyCamprs]

We got rid of cable a while ago but needed internet so we signed up through comcast for a internet only deal that had limited basic cable and blast plus internet and set up a wireless router. We used the limited basic and ROKU (1 time purchase) and netflix. I do also have amazon prime because I have a student rate and get it for like 39.00 a year and it has free shipping but I would not buy amazon prime at full price to get access to their streaming shows because it just seems there are not that many that are "free".

So internet is 39.99 a month for two years
netflix is 7.99
Roku was one time charge (i forget what I paid but i got it on sale)
Amazon prime student is 39.99 for a year

We have more than enough shows to watch for our family.