Welcome to my 52 Ways to Save $100 a Month series. We’re serious about saving money in 2016. Sometimes it’s the little things and sometimes it’s the big things. I’m here to walk you through some little things that can add up to BIG savings. 52 little things to be exact. Every week, join me back here for another small money saving tip or idea that might not seem like significant savings until you see the overall yearly savings. It might just blow your mind. So pop in each Tuesday and read a new tip that will help you on your way to save $100 a month!
All of you ESPN-loving, HBO-watching, Real Housewife-following satellite TV addicts, look away. What I’m going to say may hurt. It may be too much for you to handle. But sometimes hard conversations are necessary. Deep breath.
You need to cancel your cable TV.
Like yesterday.
This is not a drill. This is not a joke. It needs to happen. And here’s why:
There is LAC {Life After Cable}. And it is a life where you have about $100 more in your pocket each month. Satellite TV is expensive, and with so many alternatives, it’s no longer necessary. There are literally hundreds of thousands of shows, movies, news programs that you can stream online. Hundreds of thousands people.
I know, I know. You’ve had cable for so long, it’s hard to break up. Force of habit. You like what’s familiar. You love all of your preset recordings and stored shows. I get it. But even for the most TV obsessed person, it’s just not worth it. Here are some alternatives that will help you cut all ties with cable and never look back. Promise.
FREE Network Online Streaming
This one is great because it won’t cost you a penny. If you already have internet access, this one is a sweet freebie. If you are mourning the inability to watch one of your favorite network shows, simply pull up that network online and see what shows they allow you to watch full episodes of. You’d be surprised to see it’s almost every single show they air. You can stream it on a TV, computer or any handheld device, really. This is also a great way to stream the news, as most major news networks allow you to stream their channels live.
Live TV
With a small upfront fee for an antenna, you’ll have access to, on average, 35 free TV channels. You would get all of your major networks, ie. NBC, ABC, FOX, etc. While you can’t record any of your favorite shows and you’ll have to suffer through commercials {ha}, this is another great free option.
An online streaming service that allows you to watch thousands of TV shows and movies for free. You can also watch from your SmartTv or device, but that costs about $7.99 per month. This is a much cheaper {or free} alternative that still allows you to watch most of your favorite TV shows without the hefty cable price tag.
Another online streaming service. Similar to Hulu but the emphasis seems to be heavier on movies and original content. Some of the most critically acclaimed shows out right now are Netflix originals. Netflix also allows you to watch ad and commercial free, unlike Hulu Plus. The downside to Netflix and Hulu is that you can’t download content, so you have to be connected to a wifi signal to stream.
Apple TV allows you to plug in and enjoy access to a whole world of movies, TV shows, sports, music, and more. They little plug in starts at $69 and with it, you can show anything that’s on your iOS device or Mac on your HDTV with AirPlay.
Amazon Prime Instant Video
We already have Amazon Prime because of how much I shop on Amazon. With that membership, we can stream thousands of movies and TV shows for free. You can also purchase single series or single episodes and download them to most devices. If you don’t have Amazon Prime, check out How to Get a Free 30-day Amazon Prime Instant Video Trial.
If you don’t have a SmartTv, you might want to look into a Roku player. They connect directly to your TV, and to your home network to stream entertainment. You choose from over 250,000 movies and TV episodes. Plus, there are hundreds of free channels, easy ways to buy or watch films from top providers, and no additional charges to watch streaming services like Netflix or Hulu Plus if you already subscribe.
If you are all about recording live TV or staving shows, you’ll need a DVR. A TiVo provides an on-screen guide of scheduled broadcast programming television programs, whose features include “Season Pass” schedules which record every new episode of a series, and “WishList” searches which allow the user to find and record shows that match their interests by title, actor, director, category, or keyword. TiVo also provides a range of features when the TiVo DVR is connected to a home network, including film and television show downloads, advanced search, personal photo viewing, music offerings, and online scheduling. There is an upfront cost and a small monthly fee, but it’s very small compared to the average cable bill.
iTunes or Google Play
Another great option if you are looking for a single episode of a show. It makes much more sense to pay for just that episode or even just that series. It will cost you a little bit, but still save you so much more than you were coughing up for that cable bill!
The Library
Seriously. Your local library is a great free resource. You can check out thousands of movies and TV shows without paying a dime. All you need is a handy dandy library card.
How Much Can You Save: $75-$100+/month {$1,200/year!}
What services do you use to watch TV and movies? Do you still have cable?
~Mavis
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Clean Out Your Closet {Week 1 of 52}
Melissa says
I have no problem breaking up with cable. We hardly watch TV anyway. My problem is that they bundle cable with internet, and internet would be the same price by itself. I HATE paying $74.95 a month!! Any suggestions for cheaper internet? We don’t have smart phones, so that’s not an option.
Ellie says
We pay $41 a month for AT&T internet only. It has been going up in price by a dollar or two every 6 months. When we first signed up for it, the price was $19.99 per month for a 2 year contract. When it works, it’s wonderful, but if you need service WATCH out as their techs. are in a foreign country and there solution to problems is to purchase a new modem. ( In our case, the outside line was cut and it took 3 weeks for them to get a tech. out to discover this.)
Kari says
We broke up with cable about two years ago. We have an antennae from Costco, and an Apple TV. I can AirPlay movies that I’ve loaded through Amazon prime. My HH misses his NFL Sunday ticket, but friends have pulled through and made it possible for him to watch most of his team’s games. I do miss HGTV, but not $100/month kind of miss. I don’t regret ditching it at all.
Gwenn says
We have Roku and stream Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu Plus. I recently added SlingTv to the mix so I get my diy, hgtv and food tv fixes. And I can watch them ask from my tablet when I’m on the go. I couldn’t justify going back to cable.
Dianna Haskins says
Gwenn,
We also gave cable the boot 2 yrs. ago and the only thing I miss is HGTV and the Food Network, but not enough to renew the cable. Can you view those networks on Sling TV? Can you share any info about the service?
Cassy says
HGTV and Food Network are both on SlingTV. They also have things like ESPN, A&E, History Channel etc. It’s $20 a month and they have promotions where you can get free and cheap devices (like prepay for 3 months and get a free Roku 2). I highly recommend them. I’ve had them for a while now (we signed up the day they went live to the public).
Laura Z says
They have started posting some seasons of their shows on Netflix in the last few months!
Gwenn says
Yes, on SlingTV you can get a couple of ESPN channels, History, H2, AMC, A&E, TNT, TBS, IFC,, Disney, Cartoon Network, CNN. I paid for a boost to get the HGTV, DIY, Cooking, FoodNetwork and a few others so my SlingTV total is $35/month. Still cheaper than cable by about $100 for us even counting in Hulu Plus and Netflix. I’m happy with what we have now. HuluPlus is great, it allows me to watch my shows when it’s convenient for me rather than having to pay extra for a DVR. Oh, if you want HBO or Showtime those are like $15ish per month with SlingTV.
Shari says
Seriously considering this once my promotional rate is up. We pay $152 a month for the bundle (phone, internet and tv).
Teresa says
Does anyone offer phone (land line) by itself anymore? I have tv, internet and phone bundled and pay about 84.00 a month I’d love to break them apart but don’t know how or if that’s possible.
Sarah B says
We have a landline through Century Link. No long distance. Mainly there for our 7 year old if he needs to call 911. Everyone calls our cell, but we felt it was worth it for a few more years for security.
We have DSL through Century Link as well, but they’re not bundled.
Rachel says
Have you thought about getting a trac phone or a similar prepaid cell phone to keep at home for emergency times? That’s what we’re considering as our kids are getting old enough to stay home alone for short periods of time but are not ready for their own phone. You’d have to buy the phone and minutes up front, but that might be cheaper than paying a monthly fee for a landline.
Sarah says
Yes but with prepaid cells etc they require electricity and if the power goes out, no phone…we have a regular corded phone that doesn’t require electricity.
Thanks for your ideas!
Nicole L says
We ditched cable a couple of years ago and only missed it during the last Olympics. Thanks to Netflix and the library we still spend way too much time on the couch though… Looking forward to following this series. Love finding new ways to trim the budget!
Mavis says
There are some great money saving ideas coming this year. I’m so excited! Stay tuned!
Becca Gordon says
We broke up with satellite TV over 4.5 years ago and have never looked back. We bought a Roku device, and use Hulu Plus, Netflix, and Amazon instead. It amazed us how we really didn’t miss the satellite and all of the choices. My husband misses the sports the most, but he just goes to his sister’s house and watches games there if he is getting desperate. This move ended up being the best move for our family, and we will never go back!
Simone says
I’m curious what service you use and how much a month you pay for internet? Our cable is bundled with our internet and dropping one does not make a significant difference in the bill. In fact ADDING a phone line would make it cheaper per month. We’ve looked into competitor’s prices for just internet and they are the same as we’re paying now. It’s frustrating to want to cut costs and feel like the company’s have you over a barrel.
Melinda D says
We broke up with cable a long time ago, too. We use Hulu Plus (which I get for free using Bing Rewards), Netflix (just streaming), Amazon Prime, and Crunchyroll (I get for free by getting using Swagbucks to get iTunes cards and we pay for our membership through there).
Sharon says
Mavis: In addition to the services referenced, you can also opt for Sling TV to get many of the programs typically associated with cable – ESPN, HGTV type shows, History channel, etc. The basic cost is around $20 per month, and then you can add specialty packages like Sports, News, Kids channels, etc, all for about $5 per month extra. The best thing about this is that there is NO CONTRACT, and you can add or subtract to suit your interests. I use this, Hulu, Netflix and Amazon prime, combined with a decent over the air antenna, and don’t miss cable AT ALL.
Mavis says
Thanks for the suggestion!
Tracy Parrish says
We also use Slingtv 🙂 Husband loves ESPN CNN Bloomberg and I love TNT HGTV Foodnetwork!
We saved a ton cutting the cord!
Lauralli says
The one (very big) problem we have is sports. I live in a house full of guys. They don’t watch every single sport known to man, but their favorite teams–specifically college sports. Please anyone tell me how to watch those without cable! I’d love to ditch it. But, unless we can find another way, I’ve got to put up with the cable bill! It just kills me!
Michelle says
I feel your pain. I have the same problem.
Mavis says
Based on the comments, it looks like you might want to check into Sling TV for ESPN and sports packages.
Joanna says
Have you looked at each league’s streaming offerings? We stream the NHL through our Roku.
Kayla says
I bought a $35 digital antenna from Amazon. You just plug it in the back of your TV and stick the receiver in your window. We get all the local channels so we are watching football every weekend.
Ashley says
We’ve got a roku and have amazon prime and share a Netflix password with my parents. We also have an antennae that gets us about 12 channels. Personally, I rarely watch TV, and my husband watches for about an hour before bed. The kids could survive with pbs and their DVDs. I guess we just have the extras because we like to have options when we do get a chance to zone out.
Amanda says
I am working on doing this as we speak! We live out in the middle of Kansas and just signed up for high speed wifi internet! We feel like we are living it up big now! So I ordered an Amazon Fire TV thing and will install it hopefully today. Next I will be to calling Dish Network and giving them the old heave-ho! So excited to be spending around $10 a month instead of $100!
Mavis says
The savings is CRAZY!
coleen says
We do rent movies from the library, but they are not free……there is a fee attached and a limited time to rent them. I sure wish they were free, we would rent them more often….
Mavis says
That’s odd. What area of the country do you live in. Around here and most places I’ve heard of it’s free, so I’m curious where it’s not.
Trudy says
Strangely enough, I find myself less and less interested in watching anything. Never finished watching Downton Abby or Poldark or Turn – and I really don’t care!
I love reading instead when I have time to edutain myself. There are so many fiction and non-fiction titles I want to read! Plus I always have writing to do.
Mavis says
It’s rare for me as well these days. So many other things to do. But occasionally I’ll settle in for a movie, although I’d choose book over movie anytime!
Robin says
So glad you posted this today as I had suspended Direct TV for six months and I was contracted to end on 01/15/16 and I would have renewed, so I just called to cancel. Yeah! Have been loving saving over $100 a month just by doing this.
Jennifer says
When you live in an area where there are people who can’t even get DSL you know you’re in the country. We cannot pull in local channels with an antenna without investing in a very tall, expensive tower, then you aren’t assured it won’t be taken down or damaged by winds. We deal with the lowest satellite subscription and switch every 2 years to keep the discounts.
Earlene says
the same for us! Though I can get Verizon internet hookup but still watch data use and is expensive.
Daddio7 says
That’s me and I live in Florida. I use satellite for TV and Internet. One hour of streaming a day will put me over my cap. My sister in law found out just threatening to switch providers would make the provider give her another year at the discount rate.
Debbie says
I find the two local providers charge roughly $150 for phones internet qr services. I have T-Mobile for $40 plus tax. Have a roku and a leaf. What I need is reasonably priced hispeed internet as my landlord will not share their bandwidth and the big two require a rental agreement and utilities. I have neither utilities are included EXCEPT phone and internet. Suggestions welcome!
Laura Z says
PBS.org streams lots of things, too! Love this feature. Thanks Mavis!
Lisa says
Sports is the issue in our house as well (not for me, but my husband). We live in Michigan, so it’s the Big Ten Network that’s only available through cable/satellite. We have DirecTV. I’ll take them any day over Comcast service-wise, but it is expensive. Comcast will never get another dime of my money. We have LightSpeed for internet. It’s a new local company and going from neighborhood to neighborhood here. It’s fiber optic and way faster than DSL or cable. My husband is willing to consider giving it up though. We’d probably end up getting a Tivo though.
Kayla says
When my husband and I bought our house back in July, I seriously thought I would die without cable. He and I are avid football fans, so how was I supposed to watch my team without it? Well, we bought a digital antenna off of Amazon for $35. That thing is great! My husband has an Xbox One, so we hooked it up to that and voila! Instant local channels! We also pay for Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. But it is still sooooo much cheaper than cable. And I don’t even miss it. With Hulu I can still watch everything I love, it just may not be on the night it premieres (and I am more than okay with that).
The local cable company wanted us to spend $120 for basic! I thought they were out of their minds! Now we pay $100 a year (that’s about $8 a month) for Amazon Prime, $7 for Netflix, and $7.99 for Hulu. I can’t complain at all! I seriously don’t understand why people still pay for cable.
Alison says
We have an antenna with a dvr that records off the antenna signal (fast forward all the commercials) plus Hulu, Netflix, Amazon. Still big savings.
Katy says
There is also something called Amazon Season Pass that I have used before for shows that I can’t find anywhere else online – FX, for example, doesn’t stream their shows on their website or on Hulu. Basically you sign up at the start of the season of something you want to watch. Each week you are billed for the episode and it appears in your amazon library the morning after it airs (so if your show is on television Tuesday night, it’ll be on amazon Wednesday morning). The cost is between $1 and $2 per episode (I think it was $1.39 the last time I used it) and the episodes stay in your amazon library forever! It’s not free but I used it to watch a season of something that only had 13 episodes so my cost was around $20 for the entire season, and now I own that season of the show, so I think it’s a good deal.
Andrea says
Where I live (Southeast Ohio) you can’t have high speed Internet at home without cable. It’s about the same price to have basic cable + Internet as it is just Internet. And there’s only one cable company. I still pay less than most do and my service has only been out once (without the electric also being out) in eight years. It’s still better than half the county that only have access to satellite cable which is really expensive.
Sarah B says
Sling is AWESOME. HGTV, DIY, Sports you name it. You can customize what you want. And at $20+, a steal. I just wish they had Discovery. But I’ve managed to survive without Discovery.
Daedre says
I have never had cable since I moved out of my parents house 10 years ago. We do the HDTV antenna thing, but it really doesn’t work very well. We only get PBS, FOX, sometimes ABC comes in. There are a handful of other channels that occasionally come in, but nothing I would ever want to watch (e.g. religious evangelical channels). Your suggestion of 35 free channels is a BIG stretch in our area, but it probably works better in other areas.
Chris says
I am so not computer/tech savvy! Dumb series of questions: How does this really work? Do you download to a laptop then connect that to the tv in order to use SlingTV, Hulu, Netflix, etc? One of our TVs is new enough to have WIFI, the other is not. The main reason I have not ditched cable is thatI just don’t understand technology. Arrgh!
Sarah B says
SLING does require an internet connection. I can run wirelessly, but we use it hard wired. For SLING you have to use some type of box. I think they use Roku and Amazon Fire. We chose Amazon fire, and the box, not the stick. the stick interfered with the HD antenna we have.
The laptop is not required, but some device is. Roku, Firebox, apple tv, chrome cast, etc. Your TV may already have an app for Netflix. If you want Amazon stuff, Fire is the way to go. It also runs Sling, netflix and more.
Chris says
Thanks for the info, Sarah!
Jenn says
I’m really glad you posted this. My hubby and I pay $175 a month for our satellite and I’m so tired or it. The things I could do with that money! So we have been looking into getting either Fire TV from Amazon or a Roku. We still haven’t made up our minds which way we are going to go, but we are going to be ditching our satellite very soon. Looks like I’m going to be looking into Sling as well!
Sara says
Also look into Chromecast. We have been very happy with ours! 🙂
Debbie says
This is not entirely unrelated but just wanted to state that I’m happy with regular TV service and it offers a lot more than the analog only days. I also have a Roku unit but that requires internet service and my landlord feels since his cell phone provides him with facebook, I need nothing better. His wife pays bills via corded desktop and feels they overpay, and why should I split the bill with them? All it would do is lessen their service when we were both online.
I am frugal by necessity and desire. Public wifi is ok but I don’t feel “at home” when I have to pack a bag with laptop and lug it in lieu of a purse. Too tempting and too hot in the car and too heavy for everyday use.
We do not have comcast or fibreoptic here. We do have Cox, Centurylink, and the other nationwide choices. Thanks for any suggestions.
Andrea says
This is the first thing we did when financial trouble happened. After we cut the cable, we borrowed DVDs for the kids (since I don’t watch tv at all) and eventually got Netflix after we got back on our feet.
Debbie N says
Believe it or not I have been without cable,direct tv or any other paid service for over 20 years. I was really happy when over the air Tv went digital because we received a lot more channels. I use an indoor antenna but one that plugs in.(They work much better.)
I watch mostly over the air Tv. I occasionally watch something I missed over the internet.(Some networks are better than others,some make you wait a week.) My city has a great library system so I borrow movies and Tv shows.
When my kids were little we bought VCR tapes at garage sales or thrift stores and they also watched a lot of PBS. We used to rent an occasional movie but we haven’t since now our library has so much.
The only thing I miss is being able to record shows. I have done some research on this and I did find one DVR that can record from off the air. It was expensive so I decided against it but it is good to know the option is there.
Vicki says
We cancelled satellite several years ago. We use an antenna for local stations. I also have Netflix and Amazon Prime. We have a Roku box you can get sling on it. Like everyone says it has hgtv, espn and several other stations for 20.00. What we like about streaming Tv is being able to watch more of what you want, when you want.
Athena says
You left off a couple of devices that make this even easier, the google Chromecast where you can watch videos from a phone, pc or tablet directly on your TV by wirelessly sending them to the chromecast device. Also the Amazon fire TV stick, plugs right into the TV and you can access Amazon’s offerings, including games.
Jean says
Do any of these options include Fox News? My husband is glued to that and Discovery Channel.
Sara says
Netflix has Discovery Channel shows. Not sure if it has all of them, but at least some good ones! 😀
Carla says
I have to have high speed internet and I pay $60/month for it. My employer reimburses me $50.00. I cut all other services. I used netflix for awhile. The only time I miss TV is when I’m doing a craft project where I could also watch TV. Otherwise I haven’t missed it at all. I read a lot and internet surf. We currently only have one provider for internet. Hoping to get Google fiber optic soon.
Emily says
Has anyone found a good way to watch live sports without cable? My husbands’ sports habit is the biggest thing holding us back from cutting out cable. We’ve skipped it when we’ve had to in the past, but it means a lot to him.
Carrie says
These are all great options however we have satellite Internet (it’s limited on data) and if we didn’t have satellite TV our Internet would be at our data max in just a few days!
erin says
For those who want to try living without cable the satellite companies will let you pause your plan for free or a very small fee ($5/month)for up to 6 months but a minimum of 30 days. This is what we did to see if this was something we wanted to do. I guess they have this option for those who winter in the south so they don’t have to cancel their service at their main home. My mil pauses her service once it gets nice out and then starts it up again in the fall. We canceled years ago…now I have an extra $1000 towards my vacations. Mavis, are you going to cancel your service?
Mavis Butterfield says
Good question. I am still working on the HH. We just have basic cable, but still I think we could get rid of it.
pamela says
I have cable and don’t see getting rid of it any time soon! I also have a landline. Life isn’t a one size fits all!
Cooper says
We have had antennae only since 2003. We just got our first house at the time and it was a victorian (1883) and we thought that money would be better used in rennovations. Later when I had to stop working when our daughter was born at 23weeks 6days we were glad we had less bills to manange because medical bills were on the way. This year we added the 365 ( well 366 cdue to leap year) penny challenge in random order. After completion of that we will hv almost $668 saved. Past few years we did the 52 week challange (we are doing it every other week backwards). Backwards works better for us then we arent having to try and put back the largest chunks of money at the holiday season. That should have us with about $689 saved.
Libby says
Mavis & Readers,
Check out something called “digistream” we have one and I wish we would have found it so much sooner. Bye cable hello everything I want to watch! Everything!
Dale says
My biggest complaint about Cable and Dish beside the cost is the commercials. I absolutely hate the commercials. Seems they try to outdo each other to be the most aggressively annoying. At this point I keep a mental list of all the worst offenders and refuse to buy their products. (sonic, nissan, dodge, jack in the box) Getting rid of cable and dish would be great if only for that one reason. Thanks for all the ideas and options. will be looking into them.
Mavis says
I could not agree with you more. Funny you make a list!
Susanne g says
Geico.
Jen Y says
We’ve never had cable & in fact we’d never even bought a tv until this past fall. We’ve been gifted or inherited about 4 tvs over 27 yrs so we did watch tv…the old fashioned way with an on-the-roof antenna. A few yrs ago our kids gave us ROKU for Christmas so we switch back & forth between it & our antenna. All free – with more than we could ever watch.
We do have a Netflix account but we don’t pay for it either, a gift from our son.
For the first time ever – we bought Amazon Prime & are paying for extra tv. We decided to give Prime a try for one yr to see if we’d really use it. The extra tv is just a bonus to us.
Maria J. M says
Great saving list! I am following these saving series and I does help me a lot.
Vy says
I did it, I broke up with cable! And I haven’t missed it one bit. I’m a normally frugal person, but I still resisted. My friend loaned me her HBO Now login so I can still hold my “book club” Game of Thrones parties, and I have a Fire Stick to catch Netflix and Amazon Prime. I might get a digital antenna for the local channels, but I might not. I have a million possible hours of tv, who needs cable? That $150 a month is going straight into savings.
Thanks for the push, Mavis!
Andrea says
I’m just starting out on this part of learning how to save – I got a 7-day trial with Sling – 30-day trial with Amazon Prime Video – and trying different apps for getting the TV I like…
Eden says
I got rid of cable tv after losing my job, and I never looked back. A friend told me about Playstation Vue. It has all my shows, even HGTV, DIY, and Discovery and Nat Geo. Check it out online to see all the channels you get, and only one fee. I got rid of Sling and Hulu because I get it all on Playstation Vue. When Time Warner jacks the price of internet up at the end of my year, I will switch to AT&T for internet. I also have an indoor antennae for the local channels, but only use it in the bedroom.