Are you fed up with spending thousands of dollars on cable TV every year?
If you landed on this post, chances are you agree.
Like many families, we’ve spent over $200 a month on cable and Internet. A MONTH. That adds up to over $2,500 a year, and that’s even before you calculate taxes, possible late fees, and movies rentals through your cable TV provider.
And if you pick up the occasional RedBox movie, that’s even more cash you’re spending on entertainment…on top of that hefty $200 bill every month.
Cock-a-doodle doo crazy!
I sat my husband down and told him we need to cut corners. We hardly watch TV as it is!
We were paying monthly fees for HBO ($10), Showtime ($10), HD technology ($10), HD DVR service ($8), and an additional outlet and cable box in the bedroom ($18) that was only used 2 hours out of every day, if that. And that’s not even including the high-speed internet and modem fee
Not any more.
I knew that there had to be a way to cut our cable bill every month, but we were afraid of not being able to enjoy the shows we loved to watch (even if they were only 5 or less). Many people do without cable, but I just didn’t know if we could do it.
Now we’re paying less than $40 a MONTH for basic cable and high-speed internet. As in, blazing fast internet.
Here’s how we did it (you may be less of a pushover than I am so you probably would skip straight to step 3).
1. Call your cable TV provider for promotional rates.
When my husband finally said he would be willing to cut out cable, I called our cable TV provider.
Me: Hi. I was wondering if you had any promotional rates available? Our bill is kinda high.
Them: Sure, one moment ma’am. (A few seconds later..) Oh, I’m so sorry ma’am. It appears we don’t have any promotional rates available for you. You are currently taking advantage of all the promotional rates available.
M: (feeling defeated) Oh, thanks. Well what if I just cancel our TV service?
T: Then you will pay $60/month for high-speed internet.
M: Thanks. I’ll have to think about it. I will call back.
2. Call them. AGAIN.
After that conversation, I was convinced I was going to just cancel TV service altogether and keep internet-only. (More on that later).
Me: Hi, I’m calling again because I need to cancel our TV services. We’re paying too much.
Them: Ma’am, I’m so sorry to hear that. Just be aware that if you cancel your cable TV services your high-speed internet will become an a la carte item for $80/month.
M: (Wait, what? That’s different than what the last rep told me. Weird.) Okay, that’s better than paying $200+ a month.
T: Actually, ma’am, I can lower your rate to our XYZ plan keeping your high-speed internet and most of your channels for only $129.99.
M: Hang on. (Asked the hubs.) Okay, we’ll do that. (We’re saving money, right?)
T: Excellent ma’am. Just a moment while I configure your new settings.
Okay. See what happened there? The cable company tricked me into still paying MORE money than I wanted to pay. And like the pushover that I am, I didn’t dig in and ask why the other rep told me internet-only would be $60+taxes.
3. Call them YET AGAIN and say you’re cancelling services.
Yep. I called a third time, and this time to cancel TV for good (hey, you heard that once before, right?).
But then this happened.
T: Yes ma’am. You can cancel, but let me see what promotional rates we have available for you.
M: (internal sigh).
T: We actually have a $39.99 package with only local channels and high-speed internet.
M: That sounds perfect!
T: And it also includes free HBO and Showtime for six months.
M: (thinking this is too good to be true) So, is it the same internet speed?
T: Yes, it’s the same __GB/s speed you have now.
M: (holy expletives) OKAY! I’LL TAKE IT.
So what did I learn?
- There are always promotional rates available. Don’t let them convince you otherwise.
- There will always be a cheaper plan available. It all depends on who you talk to.
- Stick to your guns.
Now, how am I replacing those lost premium TV channels? Read on:
Ever heard of streaming devices? You probably do and don’t even know it. Apple TV is one. Visit your local electronic store and you’ll see a shelf that looks like this in the TV area:
Those are (from left to right) Roku, Roku 2, Roku 3, and Apple TV. I’m sure there are more, but I’m going to concentrate on the ones we purchased.
We purchased a Roku. It’s the latest model, and let me tell you…it is worth every dime! It has an Ethernet port that can hook right up with your high-speed internet, or you can stream over Wi-fi like we do. It even has an HDMI port, so even though we’re not paying for HD technology with our cable provider, we can still enjoy HDTV. Best of all, it comes with a remote and earphones so you don’t disturb others late at night. It can be controlled by your Android or iOS device. And just what can you do with a Roku?
Our Roku offers up to 1080p high-definition streaming. With over 600 channels, the possibilities are endless. You have access to Netflix, Amazon Prime, Redbox, Hulu Plus, Vudu, Blockbuster On Demand, and many more. We actually get MORE with this than we did with cable. Netflix and Amazon Prime are monthly subscriptions and can vary. Those are the two we are trying for a few weeks to see if we like them.
Another option is ChromeCast. It’s a simpler streaming device. If you’re paying for high-speed internet, chances are that your services includes access to old episodes of TV shows online — for free. And by old, I mean last NIGHT’S episode. It’s a no-brainer.
With ChromeCast, you can watch those shows on your TV. It really is as simple as plugging it in to your TV’s HDMI port, switching the input, and setting it up with your Wi-fi. We decided to put this in the living room and the Roku 3 in our bedroom. We still have access to “non-local” channels’ TV shows despite having the most basic cable TV package.
Mandy says
This makes me really happy to read because we are buying a new house and I’m pretty sure that cable is going to be out of the question for a couple months.
Lisette says
Oh absolutely! We really don’t miss cable. I really thought we would but we don’t!
Rachel says
Thank you so much for the information!! I am thinking of ditching the cable, so I will definitely be calling our provider multiple times to see what kind of deals we can get!!
Lisette says
I heard of others doing this but was too afraid to do it for several months. I could have saved over thousand dollars by now!
Brianna says
Oh my goodness! I’m going to have to seriously look into this and check it out! My husband and I are tv fanatics, but if we could seriously save some money (it is quite ridiculous), then I’m all in!
Kenzie ♥ says
I remember when our internet bill went up and I called our provider to tell them to cancel it because we found better pricing else where they cut our bill in half! It’s funny what companies will do to keep your services and how astronomical their rates get!
Leah says
OMG…I was so inspired by this post that I immediately called my cable company to use your tactics. I just dropped by bill from $180 to under $100.
Meg O. says
I swear I do this like every 6 months! But I’m convinced DirecTV is the best and they always like to hook you up. I really have loved having service with them.
Alita says
We dropped our cable , got a HD antenna and a Roku. We are not missing a thing. Thank you for your blog!
Holly H says
We got rid of cable completely back in September. We just use our Roku and Netflix. Don’t miss it at all!
Ange says
Allllll I want to know is if you still get Bravo? If yes…. I’m calling good old’ Comcast tomorrow and yelling about our crazy bill!! (Also, is there a monthly fee with Chrome cast? Or you just buy it, plug it in and stuff works?)
Lisette says
You know what? I don’t have Bravo but I haven’t been watching much if it lately. I don’t miss it!
ChromeCast is just $35 and there are no fees. I forgot to add that it just displays what’s on your laptop or smartphone. You can watch Netflix through your laptop or phone.
Chantal says
Good tips for those who have high tv bills! It’s not nearly as expensive here (although we all complain about the additional add-ons like HBO are so expensive)
I’ve been using Netflix for a few months now and I love it!! Streaming is pretty new here, so there’s not much competition yet but hopefully that will pick up soon (lower prices yay)
Nidia Cruz says
This exact thing is happening to us right now! Loved reading this. We actually called to complain about our service and got an offer to lower our rate and add a phone line for cheaper rate (which we didn’t have not wanted). Now we are missing channels, having to re-setup our internet and just found out the rep misquoted us. Most companies pay the sales reps per new service they are able to open up for each customer. So we went from 2 services to 3 new ones with the sales rep that changed our plan. He got paid for those 3 new lines. And now we are fighting to just get rid of the phone line we never wanted and just get what we had. So thank you for this, I was about to tell them to just keep our internet and cancel everything else. Now it’s on! :)
Lisette says
I forgot to mention that the “lower rate” also included a phone line…which we didn’t need. Call them again and raise hell. You’ll be surprised at what they can do for you!
jackie says
ahhhh I really want to do this! we threatened several times to cancel and those pricks at Comcast were like “ok, have fun.” buuuut I never thought of just going super basic and then using other devices. we have an apple tv in our living room and I have a wii in the bedroom which I basically use for Netflix/amazon prime (which I’ve had for awhile). I wonder if chromecast is better than apple tv if it has super recent episodes. will have to look into this! the boy didn’t want to completely cancel everything since he needs to watch a bunch of dumb sports ha.
Lisette says
Then you are closer than you think.
No ChromeCast is simply a device that streams what’s playing in your Chrome browser onto your TV. So, if you are watching last night’s episode on Xfinity on your laptop you can steam it to your TV. It’s just something to supplement what you have, not replace cable. I hope that clears it up!
Janna says
This is awesome! I could totally live off local channels! I think we will probably get a good new customer rate when we move, but I will TOTALLY use this in the future!
Maggie says
The only thing I don’t think I can sell my husband on is getting rid of the sports channels. He needs his Sport Center! Haha.
Other than that, we love Amazon Prime. I forgot to cancel a student trial subscription and ended up paying $39 for a year of Prime membership, which is not bad at all. I feel like they have newer material than Netflix, and we get free shipping from Amazon :) Pretty tits if you ask me ;)
Lisette says
My husband was worried about sports too, but we could always go to a bar and watch it!
Elisa says
We do the same thing! We actually don’t have cable at all. We only have high-speed internet from comcast. We bought an HD Antenna to stream all the local channels for free, and we got a Nintendo Wii to stream netflix, amazon prime and hulu. It saves so much $$ every year, it’s insane!
Gay says
So, it’s 18 months later. How do you like the ChromeCast now? Any big difference between it and Roku as far as accessing older TV shows?
Patty Pan says
Roku is one of the best options by replacing cable TV. Most of the people are switching to Roku.