Well, we did it. Just cancelled almost all of Comcast/Xfinity services! Have any of you done the same?

[WDWDCLDLFAN]

Our bill that we paid yesterday was $389.

For that, we had 1200gig speed internet; home phone; Home Security 24/7 Monitoring; plus almost all of the channels you could possibly have such as Foodnetwork, Hallmark Channel, HGTV, etc all of those minor cable channels, plus we had HBO and the streaming service “MAX” (HBO).

Started talking to H about how ridiculous that bill is, and he agreed. We’ve had car loan payments that were less than that. (Both vehicles have been paid off for a few years now).

After getting off the phone with Xfinity just a little while ago, the LOWEST we could get was $189 which lowers the internet speed to 800meg, and includes basic cable which is literally like 13 channels including the usual local and network tv channels. And that’s about it!

I can’t believe that the bill will still be $189 a month, but it is what it is, I guess.

Having said all of that, we’re still getting Peacock and Netflix through Xfinity, third party, included in the $189/month.

We also separately pay for Hallmark+, Disney+, Hulu, and Paramount+. I don’t think I’ll be missing much with this big change, especially since some of our streaming services play some cable tv shows “the next day”.

So no more home phone number (who cares, haven’t used it in years) and no more home security. I used our alarm system every single night. I’ll miss it, but we have good locks on our doors.


So have any of you chopped a lot off of your cable/phone/internet bills?

 

[bluezy]

We ditched Xfinity for cable and telephone service a few years ago because of the cost. Switched to Youtube TV plus a few streaming services (Netflix, Disney+). We switched the phone to Google Voice because I don't want to give up that "home phone/land line" (I know it's not really a land line anymore) because I don't want to get all of the spam calls on my cell phone so I still use that number when filling out any form that requires a phone number. My cell phone number is only given out to family, close friends, and doctor's offices (and the school when our kids were younger). We still use Xfinity for internet as, unfortunately, it the best option in our area. If Fios ever comes down our street (it's literally a 1/2 mile away....has been for years), we'll drop Xfinity internet like a hot potato.

 

[RangerPooh]

We switched to YouTube Tv a few years back, A lot cheaper and don’t feel like we’re missing much.

 

[tvguy]

Television options are a mess. We have Dish, the cheapest Disney+Hulu bundle, and the free version of Peacock. We haven't logged into Disney+/Hulu in months, and Peacock in over a year.
We had Neflix and YouTube TV and found them all unsatisfactory.
I am stuck with Dish because it has the best selection of channels that we watch in a manner that is easiest to use.
Not sure what the future of Dish is. And I have to laugh at the direction that DirecTV has gone, moving from delivery via satellite to delivery over the Internet......one of the biggest competitors to Cable TV is now, basically becoming, Cable TV.

 

[DVCjj]

Comcast/Xfinity is insane. Highway robbery.

My adult daughters were on my back about cancelling and going to Hulu (I already stream Prime) and keep Comcast only for wifi (and cut down the high speed which I didn't need). If I felt more knowledgeable, I would cancel their wifi also. Maybe soon I will. Nothing is cheap monthly but at least this way it's cheaper than money-grubbing Comcast.
Do I sound annoyed? (I am)

 

[MillauFr]

$389? And I thought Disney was run by pirates. They are amateurs. I cut Comcast 20 years ago when they refused to cut my bill to $50 per month. I haven't' missed it at all. I just get Netflix for $25 a month and YouTube for $15 a month. I don't watch any live TV.

 

[loves to dive]

Like another poster we switched to YTubeTV years ago and have had no issues. I think we have another streaming service that is like $20 per month so I can watch a few channels that are not on UTube TV but I don't remember the name. We don't watch much TV. Hubby has to see SEC football during season and there are a few shows we record like The Voice, Masked Singer, Finding Your Roots and Oak Island. Otherwise, if the TV is on, we are listening to music. I do a few workouts from UTube that I cast to the basement TV every now and again but that is it. We don't get cable where we live. We had satelite but found it just wasn't worth it. With UTube we get the local channels and some of the other channels. Oh, we also have Amazon Prime so we watched Grand Tour when it was still on and I will occasionally put a movie on from that. We have AT&T for internet and it is pretty good. Hubby's work actually would pay for it if we wanted since he is the network security officer for a company of about 500 people and works from home, but we just do it ourselves since I use it.

 

[sam_gordon]

$389 sounds is crazy, but that included your internet, phone, cable (including HBO), and home monitoring.

Home internet is around $75-100.
Cable (whether streaming, satellite, or cable) is going to be $75-200 depending on what channels you get and how many screens.
I have no idea how much home monitoring is, although I'm sure it depends on how much is monitored.

I'm thinking realistically you're looking at at least $200-250. You can probably get introductory prices for six months or a year if you switch companies.

Comcast has generally been known to have some of the higher prices.

We survive very easily on 400mb plan from Spectrum, and that was with two adults and two teens, AND during Covid (when everyone was working/going to school remotely). We still have a home phone number, so internet and phone is $100.

We have Hulu+Live, which includes Disney+, ESPN+ and added on the "Entertainment Package". $90

Netflix Premium $25

Amazon Prime (hard to quantify this since it includes free shipping, which we do use quite a bit), but that's $160.

 

[dizneegirl]

We can't get cable, but had Dish for TV. It was over $150/month. Just for TV... no HBO, no Showtime...

We finally were able to get Starlink for internet, and moved to streaming. Got SlingTV. It cost a third of what Dish did for the same channels, with an add-on for Hallmark and a few others.

With the lower price, we can have Max and Paramount+ and still pay less a month. We get Disney+ and Hulu through our cell phone plan.

 

[georgina]

Comcast/Xfinity was the only wired cable internet and TV available in our area when we moved here. They were expensive and not that great overall. Verizon laid cables last year and we switched to Fios internet. We have Verizon cell service so our internet bill is $55/month with autopay. You Tube TV is working well for us, we have a few add-on streaming services. No home monitoring here.

 

[barkley]

We finally were able to get Starlink for internet, and moved to streaming.

starlink has been life altering for us with regards to internet access. for YEARS we only had one option with a local carrier that had a lock so that no other providers were available. new neighbors would move in and say 'oh, i'll use my cell phone provider' and a month or two into it figure out (a) it cost them hundreds in overage fees and/or (b) cell service is spotty here so it might work in the driveway but not the house, one bedroom but not the other (and if the weather is wonky-nowhere). we watch ALLOT of TV though so we still have dish (so superior to DirecTV but I still want them to bring back svengoolie b/c we don't have any access to cable/antennas don't work).

 

[Giraffe_Zen]

We dumped them years ago and never looked back.

 

[HopperFan]

Been a few years. Cancelled cable fully, cancelled land line fully and only have AT&T Fiber Optic Internet for $65.00 per month. There are four of us who use the internet at once (and it carries any streaming) and one does heavy computer streaming. No issues.

We pay for the Disney Package with Hulu and ESPN, Netflix and I have Amazon Prime so that includes streaming. Our cell phone service includes HBO/MAX. We are grandfathered in DD's YouTubeTV which has everything we could want but honestly if they cancel and that went away I'm fine with HULU for regular channels. So our total with all streaming is about $110 per mo.

 

[pens4821]

Last year around this time we were paying about 220 for tv and internet. They put our local regional sports network in the next plan up, so it was going to be an extra 50/month. I cancelled the tv service, but kept internet. It was a special for 68 for two years, but just went up to 75 this year.

I really want to get rid of their internet too, but we have very limited options where I live. I think Tmobile internet is about our only other decent option, and I’ve read very mixed reviews on it (especially when streaming on a couple tvs and multiple devices at the same time). Really wish Gonetspeed was available but it’s not.

We have Hulu, paramount, and peacock (only plus is it’s free with the internet). Then we were using other things; an antenna (dint get abc but get maybe a dozen channels), plutotv, and a couple other free ones.

A friend of mine lets me use her YouTubeTV now. It’s not really necessary but it’s more reliable than the antenna, and we can watch more things live.

 

[MICKIMINI]

We have internet only and have for about five years. I recently renegotiated the monthly cost down to $89. This summer, we will have access to internet through our coop electric company in NH. It will be about $50 a month. We bought roku tv's for our new home as we had the builder put plugs up on the walls in four rooms. The tv's were not expensive and fairly easy to hang with the right equipment. We stream several channels and pay less than $35 a month for the channels we want.

We were nervous when we cut the cord five years ago but it is not a big deal at all! I think you can buy a "stick" which will give you similar access. We've saved about $200 a month for 60 months or 12K. TV's were about $200 each. Certainly worth the time to get setup and then cut the cord. Good luck!!