7 Tips for Cutting the Cord on your Cable company

    Have you been thinking about cutting the cord?  My wife and I thought about it too and over a period of a few months finally cut the cord at the end of 2018.  So far, we have not looked back.  I think for us, the process took a long time because we were afraid of losing too much.  Losing shows the kids liked, losing shows we liked.  As well as a general feeling of uncertainty.  I’m an early adopter of tech, my wife is not.  So we couldn’t just dive in.  Read on to find 7 tips for cutting the cord on your cable company

Over the past few weeks, I have been seeing a lot of negative press about cutting the cord and how it is not saving people money.  I wanted to write this to just give people a perspective based on what we did and why.

The Story

    One day, my wife and I looked at each other and said… This cable bill is ridiculous!  Our introductory rate to Verizon Fios ended and we were now paying the regular charge for internet, cable and phone.  The monthly bill was about $225.  My wife called Verizon to see if the bill could be reduced, but no go.  We even looked at taking off phone, since we didn’t use it, but it turned out the bill would be larger if we took it away.  So, faced with a larger than expected bill and on a tight budget we decided to run things temporarily in tandem.  Keep what we had with Verizon Fios and also look into streaming services.  

What We Did

Now, I was already familiar with the idea of streaming and had a Chromecast that I loved for a few years.  It did not provide content, it just allowed me to play content on my dumb TV.  So the first thing that worked to our advantage was what I already had.  My Chromecast and my phone service. 

To add value to what I was already paying, Sprint offered Hulu with my unlimited service plan.  So without paying extra I was able to sign up for Hulu.  Being force fed commercials again was a difficult transition. However, if I wanted to watch without the ads, then I would have to pay for it.  I decided that I could deal with the commercials.  The purpose of cutting the cord for us is to reduce costs.  In order to play Hulu on my TV, I used my Chromecast to send it to my TV. I could do this from my phone or computer. The Chromecast is also small so I could take it with me and plug it up to any TV that had a spare HDMI port.

My wife has AT&T.  If she had the unlimited plan we would have been able to watch HBO Now.  I already had Vudu.  For a few years I used it as a place to convert my DVD collection.  Once converted I could share the library with others using a companion service that linked my different accounts called Ultraviolet.  Even if they were not in my household.  Everyone had their own account. Nice feature that no longer exists, but I can still convert old DVD’s into digital and Vudu now offers free movies.

   After that, we bought a Roku and got Netflix.   If I thought Hulu was good with the ability to watch current shows as well as get my Stargate fix taken care of, then Netflix was an explosion of programming. 

Even before the merger with Disney and FOX, Netflix already had a lot of original programming that dwarfed what was on Hulu.  On Hulu, there was just one show that was available only on Hulu that I watched.  Marvel’s Runaways.  On Netflix, there were several.  One of the first that I watched was a remake of an old 60’s show called Lost in Space.  Great show, but there was only one season.  Then there were the Marvel shows and the list goes on.  Netflix, because of how long it has been around probably has one of the largest libraries out there. There is plenty to watch and for the first few weeks I think I ignored my cable completely and just watched Netflix.  

We also discovered that if you are a Amazon Prime member, then you can also get Amazon Prime video as well for no extra cost. 

    My wife had concerns also.  She wanted to make sure we had local stations to watch the morning news.  Her must have was HGTV.  She also wanted to make sure the kids had programming they could watch as well.  Paw Patrol, Dora the Explorer… you know the kiddie essentials.  She created a spreadsheet that showed the different services we were looking at and what they offered as far as programming.  We ended up going with an initial setup of Hulu, Amazon Prime video, Netflix, DirecTV Now and Vudu. 

    Like I mentioned, Hulu was included in the cost of my unlimited plan.  You are hit with commercials, but I got used to it. If you are watching online they sometimes give you the option of watching an interactive ad and having no more commercials for the rest of your show.

    Amazon Prime video is also included in the membership for Amazon Prime.  So if you already have Amazon Prime then you have the video service as well.  You do not have access to the entire library.  For that you have to pay for it, but you have access to a lot of programming including original programming.  We are paying $12.99/month for Netflix. 

We were paying $40.00 for DirecTV Now.  It had the local stations we were looking for, but we ended up canceling.  The User Interface(UI) wasn’t very good, no original programming and there wasn’t enough storage.  The kids daily cartoons would take up space quickly.  We ended up going with YouTube TV.  The UI is a lot better.  You have local stations, original programming and unlimited storage for the current price of $50.00.

    Vudu covers a few gaps.  We just buy a season of the must have shows for the kids.  They will watch the same show over and over so you don’t need much.  Paw Patrol and Dora the Explorer.  I’m also a Star Trek junkie, but I didn’t want to pay for CBS All Access just for one show no matter how much I wanted to see it.  Instead, I waited until the season became available to buy on Vudu and got it then.  We do this because it is a one time charge instead of a monthly for another service just for a couple of shows.

    So all in we are paying about $63.00 a month for service.  Our internet bill is currently $70.00.  We ended up buying 2 Roku Ultra’s for 2 TV’s since they come with a headphone jack in the remote for $80.00(x2).  Very useful for watching TV and not disturbing the kids.  So, one time charges of $160 for the two Roku’s and $133.00 a month make a savings of $92.00 a month.  That’s about $1100 a year reclaimed for my coffers instead of some companies. Since Hulu and Amazon Prime Video are value added additions to other things we would have regardless, like phone service and Amazon Prime membership, I did not add them here.

In conclusion,  I think there are a lot of special interests out there that want you to believe that you will not save by cutting the cord, or that the savings are only temporary.  My example is one example and some may be able to save more or less depending on what they feel they need, but the savings are there.  These 7 Tips for Cutting the Cord are created to help you save money.

What would you do with an extra $92 a month/$1100 a year?  You could put it away in stock, start an investment plan for your kids future to put them on better footing.  Maybe just start to get a better grip on your bills and improve your credit score so that you could build that house you have in your scrapbook or pictured on your vision board.  It’s up to you.  

Basic Tips

1. Put together a spreadsheet to find out what are your must haves and what can you live without.
2. Look to see what is available to you at no extra cost or a small cost by checking with you phone service provider.
3. You only need one service that provides your local channels.  Remember you are cutting the cord to save money.  Duplicating a service is a waste.
4. Remember the hardware.  How many TV’s do you need to stream to?
5. Check to see if you need to upgrade your current internet speed.
6. Ethernet when possible, you may need a gigabit switch as well.
7. Just do it!  Have fun too.  You’ll be glad you did it.

What has your cord cutting experience been like? Please let me know in the comments. Do you have questions? Stuck, or unsure? Contact me below and I’ll help you cut the cord.

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