when we moved to a different state about a year ago my husband had this *crazy* idea that we should give up our cable television. i thought that he had lost his mind! i don't watch a ton of tv, but i do love my "friends" on grey's anatomy, desperate housewives and modern family....with a few reality shows thrown in for good measure (don't judge). i loved the idea of saving $100 or more a month, but really? no cable?! was he losing his mind?!
the reality is that we did it. we broke up with our cable company and now have entered into a committed relationship with hulu plus, netflix and roku. with the addition of these three into our lives we are now only paying around $14 a month and i still get to hang out with my "friends".
here's how we did it:
• roku. the only thing that you have to buy outright is this snazzy roku player. it connects to your tv (sort of like a dvr) and enables you to link to hulu, netflix and amazon (more about this later). It is only $99.99 and there is no monthly fee. however, i believe that if you have certain dvd players they will do the same thing.....but i am not techie enough to know for sure.
•hulu plus. for $7.99 a month you can watch programs from your tv (via roku) or through any computer. because you are a member there are only limited commercials (although i think there shouldn't be any) and you can "subscribe" to your favorite shows just like you do with your dvr......the downside is that they are not available until the day after they are aired....so if you are one of those people that have to watch something live, this is not for you. also, they don't have everything. there are some shows and networks that are not available and some that can only be watched via the web. annoying....but when i am only paying $7.99 vs. $150+ i can't complain too much. anything that i am truly desperate to watch that they don't have i simply watch online. easy-peasy.
this link should give you 2 weeks free.
•netflix is the final piece of our puzzle. i am a little mad at them for changing their pricing plans recently, but for $9.99 a month you can still watch all of the movies that you watch instantly. they are adding new content daily and we have so much fun recently watching all of the old seasons of ally mcbeal and mad men (they also have fantastic content for the kiddos). they offer a one month trial for free.
the bottom line is that getting rid of cable isn't easy and this plan certainly does not have all of the bells and whistles that cable (and your dvr) can offer you.....but if you are like most of us right now and are trying to cut back on your monthly spending this may be something to at least try. paying under $20 a month has made a *huge* difference in our monthly budget that is for sure.
anyone else made the switch?
