Have you "cut the cord"? (For TV watching?)

[Cherylndesigns]

We're probably late to the party, but we cut the cord for a television carrier, as of January 1st. We've talked about it for years, but just never quite had the nerve to do it. We had no choice - our carrier stopped providing TV service as of the first of this year. It's been a slight learning curve, but we're getting used to it.

We stream everything now. Thankfully, they're still providing high speed internet.

 

[faerywings]

We keep thinking about it but we have YouTubeTV and it isn't as expensive as Optimum was. We still watch so many things on networks that we DVR and I don't know if it would make sense to cancel YouTubeTV and then have to add on more streaming services.
I'd love to hear how you and anyone else deals with that

 

[LSlycord]

We have YouTube TV, Netflix, Hulu, Paramount Plus, Disney Plus...not sure that it is actually cheaper than having cable as we have constantly added to the list. But Syd now uses it at college too so we will probably keep going for awhile. I love YouTube TV.

 

[BrightEyes]

I cut the TV cable cord back last spring. I use an antenna and get as many channels with it as I did with cable. And I bought a new TV with free Samsung streaming service that carries a lot. I am not big on watching TV series so have not signed up for any of the other streaming services. I am saving over $170 per month without the cable TV... but I did keep the internet and phone service with my provider as I needed the internet service for the streaming service. Before I cut the TV cable cord, I tried out using an over the air antenna for over a week to see how it was for our area. The antenna cost was around $40 so was worth it to see if cutting the cable cord would work. Another draw back is that you need an antenna for every TV.

 

[Betty Jo]

I haven't owned a TV since 2008, so I cut the cord a long time ago. I do have internet, and prefer to watch stuff on my PC. I'm more of a reader than a watcher. ♥

 

[zanthia]

we did it a couple of years ago but internet cost more than doubled. Living in an apt i have no choice with providers. I do use an antenna to get local channels but you cannot record.

as it is just me and hubby we constantly rotate streaming services . the only ones full time are ones we had before we cut - hulu and amazon.

last fall i got peacock for 20 for a full year - great deal. And on prime day and black friday amazon offers lots o f chanenls for 1.99 per month for 2 months. also I got hbo with ads for 3 months for a total of 6 bucks, was surprised to see that half the shows didnt even have ads.

netflix at 15 for one month is so expensive but will do it for perhaps 2 month a year - never seen any deals for it.

 

[Cherylndesigns]

We keep thinking about it but we have YouTubeTV and it isn't as expensive as Optimum was. We still watch so many things on networks that we DVR and I don't know if it would make sense to cancel YouTubeTV and then have to add on more streaming services.
I'd love to hear how you and anyone else deals with that

Chris, we did a LOT of research and what we came up with was the Fubo streaming service. We have access to lthe networks, as well as the lots of streaming services that we watch. Chuck also chose it because it has the sports package on it, too. It's a big decision, but you can always change your mind. Fubo seemed to have everything we wanted as far as what we watch. If you have anymore questions, let me know and I'll try to answer them.

 

[Cherylndesigns]

We have YouTube TV, Netflix, Hulu, Paramount Plus, Disney Plus...not sure that it is actually cheaper than having cable as we have constantly added to the list. But Syd now uses it at college too so we will probably keep going for awhile. I love YouTube TV.

Do you have Xfinity, Linda? I LOVED that - I probably would never give that up. We don't have anything like that out here, unfortunately. You probably have access to all of the streaming apps right off Xfinity, don't you? You'd really have to do the math to see what would be cheaper. Having that service (Xfinity) is so awesome, though.

 

[Cherylndesigns]

I cut the TV cable cord back last spring. I use an antenna and get as many channels with it as I did with cable. And I bought a new TV with free Samsung streaming service that carries a lot. I am not big on watching TV series so have not signed up for any of the other streaming services. I am saving over $170 per month without the cable TV... but I did keep the internet and phone service with my provider as I needed the internet service for the streaming service. Before I cut the TV cable cord, I tried out using an over the air antenna for over a week to see how it was for our area. The antenna cost was around $40 so was worth it to see if cutting the cable cord would work. Another draw back is that you need an antenna for every TV.

Sounds like you have exactly what you need, Kay! We're saving quite a bit of money too by dropping our TV provider - but again, we didn't have a choice. I've heard good things about the setup you use. We watch mostly streaming shows, so this works out well for us.

 

[Cherylndesigns]

I haven't owned a TV since 2008, so I cut the cord a long time ago. I do have internet, and prefer to watch stuff on my PC. I'm more of a reader than a watcher. ♥

That's awesome, Betty Jo! I don't think I know anyone who doesn't have a TV. Good for you!

 

[Betty Jo]

That's awesome, Betty Jo! I don't think I know anyone who doesn't have a TV. Good for you!

Cheryl, after my hubby passed, I simply couldn't sit there alone and watch the shows we had watched together. It made me miss him too much. So, I got rid of the thing! Afterward, if I wanted to watch something, I did so on my PC. It didn't seem as lonely doing it that way. My son has a huge screen TV, and now that I live close to them, if I start craving TV, I just pop over and watch something with them and I'm over it! As long as it isn't Shark Week, my daughter-in-love's favorite!!

 

[EvelynD2]

We have been streaming our programs for a few years now. We were getting streaming service from our internet provider but we just switched to a cheaper phone/internet provider. We use Sling TV as my husband loves his sports and I have Friendly TV for my Hallmark channels. We also have Prime Video since we have a Prime membership. We stream with a RoKu box so there are also channels we can access through that. We bought a small antenna so we can get local channels. It feels great to feel that you’re in control of what services you have and pay for. Cable has so many repeats of the same channels or channels that we wouldn’t even watch.

 

[Cherylndesigns]

we did it a couple of years ago but internet cost more than doubled. Living in an apt i have no choice with providers. I do use an antenna to get local channels but you cannot record.

as it is just me and hubby we constantly rotate streaming services . the only ones full time are ones we had before we cut - hulu and amazon.

last fall i got peacock for 20 for a full year - great deal. And on prime day and black friday amazon offers lots o f chanenls for 1.99 per month for 2 months. also I got hbo with ads for 3 months for a total of 6 bucks, was surprised to see that half the shows didnt even have ads.

netflix at 15 for one month is so expensive but will do it for perhaps 2 month a year - never seen any deals for it.

These are pretty much the same streaming services we use too. I agree about Netflix, but there are so many shows that we watch on there.

 

[Cherylndesigns]

Cheryl, after my hubby passed, I simply couldn't sit there alone and watch the shows we had watched together. It made me miss him too much. So, I got rid of the thing! Afterward, if I wanted to watch something, I did so on my PC. It didn't seem as lonely doing it that way. My son has a huge screen TV, and now that I live close to them, if I start craving TV, I just pop over and watch something with them and I'm over it! As long as it isn't Shark Week, my daughter-in-love's favorite!!

I totally get it, Betty Jo. I'd be the same way - we watch something for 2 hours every evening. That's our time together and the dog sits between us on the sofa. I doubt I'd watch much, either. It's nice now that we can watch whatever we want to on our computers and like you said, you can always go to your son's if you want to watch something. Hugs

 

[Cherylndesigns]

We have been streaming our programs for a few years now. We were getting streaming service from our internet provider but we just switched to a cheaper phone/internet provider. We use Sling TV as my husband loves his sports and I have Friendly TV for my Hallmark channels. We also have Prime Video since we have a Prime membership. We stream with a RoKu box so there are also channels we can access through that. We bought a small antenna so we can get local channels. It feels great to feel that you’re in control of what services you have and pay for. Cable has so many repeats of the same channels or channels that we wouldn’t even watch.

I totally agree about the cable services! We love Prime Video, too.

 

[DesignsByCRK]

I only use streaming services - Foxtel Now, Paramount Plus, Disney Plus, Stan, Hayu, Kayo, Netflix and the F1TV app - looking at it, we have a lot :-|

 

[vivaartistry]

We cut 15 years ago when we lived overseas and just ended up streaming everything. Karl wanted to see Danish TV, I wanted American TV and we were in Japan and Netherlands and Denmark. Then we were in the Caribbean for 5 years. We had Netflix when it first came out way back when and still use it and Hulu as our main, sometimes Disney, and sometimes Starz, and because our internet is AT&T, we get HBO for free (but rarely see it, maybe two or three shows). When we moved back we just continued streaming. So we pick up whatever we need for the month or so. And it's much cheaper for us since we both work at home and have fiber for our internet (which is paid for by either his company or my business).

 

[LSlycord]

I cut the TV cable cord back last spring. I use an antenna and get as many channels with it as I did with cable. And I bought a new TV with free Samsung streaming service that carries a lot. I am not big on watching TV series so have not signed up for any of the other streaming services. I am saving over $170 per month without the cable TV... but I did keep the internet and phone service with my provider as I needed the internet service for the streaming service. Before I cut the TV cable cord, I tried out using an over the air antenna for over a week to see how it was for our area. The antenna cost was around $40 so was worth it to see if cutting the cable cord would work. Another draw back is that you need an antenna for every TV.

That's a huge savings Kay!

 

[Madi]

I am shocked at those savings!
we have tv and internet combined and do not even pay half of your savings!

 

[Susan - s3js]

We cut our bill by about $150 when we dropped the cable and just kept the Internet and phone service. We were already streaming a lot so when the cable company said they were going to raise the rates more than double, we dropped it. I don't mind a bit. We mostly watched CBS, Food Netwrok, HGTV, and a couple of others that we get with Paramount Plus and Discovery, so we're happy.

 

[Cherylndesigns]

I only use streaming services - Foxtel Now, Paramount Plus, Disney Plus, Stan, Hayu, Kayo, Netflix and the F1TV app - looking at it, we have a lot :-|

All great apps, Carolyn!!

 

[Cherylndesigns]

We cut 15 years ago when we lived overseas and just ended up streaming everything. Karl wanted to see Danish TV, I wanted American TV and we were in Japan and Netherlands and Denmark. Then we were in the Caribbean for 5 years. We had Netflix when it first came out way back when and still use it and Hulu as our main, sometimes Disney, and sometimes Starz, and because our internet is AT&T, we get HBO for free (but rarely see it, maybe two or three shows). When we moved back we just continued streaming. So we pick up whatever we need for the month or so. And it's much cheaper for us since we both work at home and have fiber for our internet (which is paid for by either his company or my business).

Wow, Vivienne! You've lived all of the world!! How awesome is that??? We've traveled a lot and I remember how different television services were everwhere we went. The first time we went to Jamaica, all they had was Spanish speaking TV and they had old re-runs of The Lone Ranger. It was SO funny. That was in the early 80's.

 

[Cherylndesigns]

I am shocked at those savings!
we have tv and internet combined and do not even pay half of your savings!

It IS crazy, isn't it???

 

[Cherylndesigns]

We cut our bill by about $150 when we dropped the cable and just kept the Internet and phone service. We were already streaming a lot so when the cable company said they were going to raise the rates more than double, we dropped it. I don't mind a bit. We mostly watched CBS, Food Netwrok, HGTV, and a couple of others that we get with Paramount Plus and Discovery, so we're happy.

That's probably about what we've saved too, Susan. It's quite a savings.

 

[Nonni F]

Great thread. I would LOVE to cut the cord. I cringe when I look at the Xfinity bill every month. Problem is my non internet, no cell phone, TV addict husband. lol As for me and television... I don't even know what channel anything is on. Hardly ever pay attention. (yes, opposites really do attract. lol )

 

[bcgal00]

If I lived in the States I would have no problem cutting our cable carrier but here in Canada we have less options and less content than the States and some services we can't get at all. I would love to have Hulu and wish our Netflix and Amazon had the same content.

 

[Cherylndesigns]

Great thread. I would LOVE to cut the cord. I cringe when I look at the Xfinity bill every month. Problem is my non internet, no cell phone, TV addict husband. lol As for me and television... I don't even know what channel anything is on. Hardly ever pay attention. (yes, opposites really do attract. lol )

I'm glad you like this thread! I've sure learned a thing or two and we did it - finally! We had Xfinity (formerly Comcast) for years and it's SO easy - albeit expensive. It's a HUGE move!!

 

[Cherylndesigns]

If I lived in the States I would have no problem cutting our cable carrier but here in Canada we have less options and less content than the States and some services we can't get at all. I would love to have Hulu and wish our Netflix and Amazon had the same content.

That's true, Rae and I'm sure it's frustrating. I wish we'd done it a long time ago, but we just weren't ready. It's a huge step. Maybe things will improve for you.