About 6 months ago, Scott and I decided to make a conscious effort to lighten our monthly bills, and decided to cut out cable tv. We haven’t looked back since! I really don’t know if we’ll ever get cable again.
The biggest benefit is we spend less time watching television and more time reading, working out, hanging with friends, etc. Since we are both working on our businesses, that extra hustle time is crucial. We have connected more and better when our nights aren’t revolved around the DVR.
That’s not to say we don’t watch though. We still see all of our favorite shows? How? Here’s what we use:
–Apple TV
. We use this to rent and purchase movies from the apple store, watch youtube videos and to watch shows from the different network apps. I love it! I have heard the Roku
is good too, but I personally haven’t used that.
–HBO Now. This is one of my favorite apps. It’s $15 a month and you can watch any HBO show and a ton of movies. The newest shows usually appear the day after they go live on HBO, so you only have to avoid spoilers for one day. 😀
–Netflix. We have the streaming version only. They have a ton of rotating shows and movies, so there’s always something new to watch.
–Hulu Plus. This runs about $7 a month and allows you to watch current (and some old) network tv shows. I mainly use this to watch Master Chef, because I’m obsessed. 🙂
–Amazon Prime
. I love, love, love prime! For so many reasons. I love the free 2-day shipping, but did you know that prime members also get access to free streaming music, free e-books and free movies and shows? Like, a ton of shows! Really good ones. The link above will get you a free 30 day trial to check it out.
Between all of these, I don’t feel like we are missing anything. Plus, if we are ever in the mood, we can binge watch with no commercials! 🙂
What about you guys? Do you have cable? Would you try cutting the cord? Do it!
I really want to get rid of cable. I mostly use it now to DVR my shows, but I know I could get hulu and use the internet to probably keep up with all my shows anyways. My main concern is football season. I have to be able to watch my Auburn tigers on TV. I’ve heard Sling TV is only $20 a month and has basic channels and ESPN so maybe I could try that.
Yes! I was going to suggest Sling. i think we will give it a try this year, i’ve heard good things!
My husband desperately wants us to get rid of cable. We have Amazon Prime and he has a fire stick to stream. I’m the hold out and I think I am just afraid I will miss good shows and not know what’s coming out.
Chrissy, do it! 😀 At least give it a try. Maybe check out the shows you really like on itunes or amazon and see if they are posting recent ones. All the new shows I like usually come out the next day on itunes, so if you can wait a day, it’s not bad at all!
I think overall we could get rid of cable with minor sadness…except during football season. Kevin is pretty committed to being able to watch those games. And I’m pretty committed to napping through them so…. Maybe after the Super Bowl. 😉
Haha! Well those naps are pretty important! I have heard Sling is great for that, it’s $20 a month and has HGTV, ESPN, etc. 🙂
We love Netflix and are doing the free 30 day trial of Prime right now. We’re trying to see if there’s not too much overlap to keep both 🙂
I love Prime just for the shipping itself! I hope it works out for you! 🙂
I am such a TV addict (Sad but true) I’d be lost without it I think. The Walking Dead? I couldn’t wait to watch it. Is it on something else to see?
The cool thing about Amazon is that you can buy seasons of shows so you can watch them soon after they air (I think like 1-2 days). I did that with The Walking Dead and Downton Abbey.
We have Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Hulu. We haven’t had cable for nearly two years and we are doing fine!
Agree with Keiko except we bought everything on itunes! We watched the Walking Dead and it was only a day delay for us, which wasn’t bad at all! You can do it Rebecca!!
Yes! Great list! We cut cable years ago and haven’t missed it all! Between streaming shows via the internet and having amazon prime, we don’t even need any of the other services. But, we don’t really watch TV, so for someone who does, these are ALL great ideas! I didn’t even know there was an HBO app! Great list!
That’s great Caroline! I grew up without cable, but got hooked a bit after college! It’s really been wonderful for us to step away in many ways! 🙂
We ditched Direct TV and got Sling TV from Dish for $20 and a $5 football package added on with no contract. We also have Netflix and Prime and I love them!!!
That’s awesome Nadine! I think we will try sling this year…my hubby does miss sports a bit. 🙂
we have never had cable! we have netflix and sling, and we love both! netflix is good for show watching and sling is good for mindlessly watching HGTV and for my husband to get all the sports lol.
Okay, I need to try sling! You know i’m all about HGTV <3
I love that y’all are being more purposeful with your time! I’ve been thinking about doing the same and cutting cable. Curious to know what you spend now vs what you spent on cable. Looks like about $30/month plus whatever you rent/buy on iTunes…about how much total do you end up spending?
Does anyone have kids? How do you do it with kids. Before we judge I do monitor TV time. My kids love to play outside and are in major sports. So sometimes on weekends they want to just relax, rest and watch some TV. I’m a stay at home mom so my 3 yr old gets a little TV time as well.
I try and limit the amount of TV I watch and typically whenever I do watch a show I use Netflix. It’s great because I can pause it and come back to whatever I was watching when I have time 🙂
Blessings,
Edye | http://gracefulcoffee.wordpress.com
We never even considered cable when we moved to our current place. I didn’t grow up watching TV so it’s not something I’ve ever missed. Honestly, I don’t know how people find time to watch TV! We’re so busy as it is that we barely even use our Amazon Prime membership to watch anything (maybe once or twice a month, total). Visiting from Create it Thursday!