Well, as of today... we did it. CUT THE CABLE!

[SDSorority]

Well my fellow Budget Board-ers, as of the end of the day today, we will have NO MORE CABLE.

All that we have is Netflix. I'm going to investigate getting one of those antennas to let us watch the local stations... I have NO idea what we need to do that............. we'll see.

To prep me for my withdrawal lmao, I started watching my HGTV programs on Hulu.com. So far, so good.

Anyone know how to get the local stations on an HDtv? Don't you need some sort of receiver or something??

I can't believe we actually did it. Saving $40-ish bucks a month!

 

[sam_gordon]

You need three things to watch local stations... an antenna, a receiver, and a monitor (TVs have a built in receiver). You need an ATSC receiver. If you have an HDTV (as opposed to 'HD Ready TV', you'll have the receiver built in.

As far as an antenna, go to https://www.tvfool.com. You put in your address and it will tell you how close you are to the broadcast towers and in which direction they are.

If you don't have an HDTV, set top boxes are around $50. Antennas can be anywhere from $20 to $150+ (generally the more you spend, the 'further' distance you can be from the broadcast towers).

Let me know if you have other questions.

 

[labdogs42]

We are thinking about doing this, too. Thanks for the antenna info. I'll look into that. Our BASIC cable costs $69.99 a month, so this would be a major savings. Just trying to work out the logistics before I cut the cord!

 

[usnuzuloose]

Its been at least a year now and the hundred dollars I save buys my groceries. Thanks to netflix and hulu plus what I save now pays my groceries.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

We cut the cord several months ago. First we switched to Vonage for our home phone service. I may just end up cutting this altogether but it's been a nice transition. Second, I dropped off the CAble company DVR and remotes and went to basic cable @ $17 month. I kept the high speed internet @ $30 a month and I bought a Roku box ($64) that streams Netflix, Pandora, Hulu plus, etc. I LOVE watching shows in 43 minutes as opposed to the whole hour. Also, even though our Roku will operate wirelessly, I found that hardwiring it to the router worked MUCH better. All my phone, cable and internet used to cost $155. Now it runs $85 for vonage, basic HD cable, highspeed internet, Netflix, and Hulu plus.

What really costs me is the shopping show that still shows up on basic cable. Did I really need that Vitamix??? We'll see!

 

[SDSorority]

We cut the cord several months ago. First we switched to Vonage for our home phone service. I may just end up cutting this altogether but it's been a nice transition. Second, I dropped off the CAble company DVR and remotes and went to basic cable @ $17 month. I kept the high speed internet @ $30 a month and I bought a Roku box ($64) that streams Netflix, Pandora, Hulu plus, etc. I LOVE watching shows in 43 minutes as opposed to the whole hour. Also, even though our Roku will operate wirelessly, I found that hardwiring it to the router worked MUCH better. All my phone, cable and internet used to cost $155. Now it runs $85 for vonage, basic HD cable, highspeed internet, Netflix, and Hulu plus.

What really costs me is the shopping show that still shows up on basic cable. Did I really need that Vitamix??? We'll see!

Yes, yes you do need that Vitamix. Just as badly as I do.

It's been on my Christmas list for years....



I'm a little nervous about the no-cable thing, but I think as long as I remember that I can watch my cooking and home improvement shows on Hulu, I'll be fine.

 

[LuLuO]

Congrats OP. I hope it turns out to be a great thing for you. DH will be calling this week to cut our cable. I've convinced him to give it a try for 6 months. Almost everything we watch can be gotten OTA or on Hulu/HuluPlus. Other things can be gotten through amazon on demand if we cannot wait for it to show on netflix. I've subscribed to all of our favorite shows via Hulu and have loaded our instant que in Netflix with all kinds of movies and series we haven't seen. So we should be good to go. So excited.

 

[JB2K]

You need three things to watch local stations... an antenna, a receiver, and a monitor (TVs have a built in receiver). You need an ATSC receiver. If you have an HDTV (as opposed to 'HD Ready TV', you'll have the receiver built in.

Need to clarify a couple of things...

That poster meant to say Digital TV (DTV) - which became the new over-the-air broadcast standard as of this time, last year. "HDTV" (or High Definition) is a term which describes an extremely refined (life-like) picture.

If you own a TV manufactured after 2005, chances are good you will not need one of those $40 converter boxes (check your TV owner's manual, which is available online) for details.

If you live within (or on the suburban fringe of) an area with local TV stations, something as simple as $10 rabbit ears will suffice. If you live far from a TV station, you will need to set-up an outdoor antenna.

 

[tlbwriter]

We have an antenna so we can get local stations when the satellite goes out during bad weather. It was easy (well, easy for me, because I didn't climb on the roof ). Some people even put their antenna in the attic.

 

[Robinrs]

Since I work in TV I cannot live without the cable end of it but wish I could. I balance it out with NOT having a cell phone contract and living 5 minutes from my job.

 

[TheRatPack]

We cut ours about a year ago....our satellite went all wonky and only had certain channels showing up. When we called to get it replaced it was going to be a ridiculous fee...and we'd been with Dish for 8-10 years!!! It was running us around 60-70 a month though...so we got rid of it instead of repairing it.

We've had Netflix now for 4 months or so...it's been great. We've watched so many series like Lie To Me, 24, Lost...etc. The kids can still get episodes of Wizards of Waverly Place, Veggie Tales and quite a few cartoons. I'm going to look in to getting a Roku so we can stream other things...but for us, the only thing we really miss are the local shows...etc and we can get those if we really need to with my sons TV since it has an internal antenna thingy. We watched New Years Eve on it....and then we'll watch the weather on it if a storm is coming...etc.

 

[Juliet25]

We just cut ours this month. Our TV is old, so we had to buy a digital converter box and an antenna. We both both from amazon for around $45 (total). It's working great! We get like four PBS stations, so that's giving me my documentary fix. We also have Netflix set up through DH's Xbox 360 (we found some kind of special for the year around Black Friday that gives us the ability to stream shows to the TV in our basement for like $40/year). So far, so good.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

It's funny... I spent most of the weekend at home recovering from some kind of bug. I actually spent the early part of Saturday working then came home and zonked out on the sofa. Woke up at 11 p.m., bought a Vitamix, then went back to sleep. Thankfully nothing appealed to me on Sunday!

Yes, yes you do need that Vitamix. Just as badly as I do.

It's been on my Christmas list for years....



I'm a little nervous about the no-cable thing, but I think as long as I remember that I can watch my cooking and home improvement shows on Hulu, I'll be fine.

 

[sam_gordon]

Need to clarify a couple of things...

That poster meant to say Digital TV (DTV) - which became the new over-the-air broadcast standard as of this time, last year. "HDTV" (or High Definition) is a term which describes an extremely refined (life-like) picture.

Agreed.

If you own a TV manufactured after 2005, chances are good you will not need one of those $40 converter boxes (check your TV owner's manual, which is available online) for details.

Agreed.

If you live within (or on the suburban fringe of) an area with local TV stations, something as simple as $10 rabbit ears will suffice. If you live far from a TV station, you will need to set-up an outdoor antenna.

Disagree. I haven't had good luck with rabbit ears outside of ~5-10 miles from the broadcast towers. If you are close, it might be worth it to try, but I wouldn't count on it.

 

[shelwoj]

Its been at least a year now and the hundred dollars I save buys my groceries. Thanks to netflix and hulu plus what I save now pays my groceries.

We just canceled hulu plus today. Most of the shows we like aren't on there.

We canceled cable a year ago and VERY seldom do we miss it. Not a single regret in our house.

 

[shortbun]

Wow! You guys are brave. Most of what I watch is on cable. HGTV, Food Network, HBO, Showtime, USA, TNT, TBS and all the On Demand channels. I DVR all my favs, never watch anything with commercials and well, I love my cable.