It’s Your Money: It’s time to cut the cable cord and save some money

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Time to cut the cable cord?

NEWS: You can’t go online without seeing something about streaming services and how consumers are driving the market.

WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU: So why are you still spending all that money for cable TV?


itsyourmoney


Last year, DOXOInsights released a report that found New Hampshire residents pay an average $147 a month for cable – the second highest in the country after Alaska. That’s a big item for the monthly budget. And you’re probably not watching most of the channels you’re paying the cable company for. On top of it, many of you are probably also paying for at least for one or two streaming services in addition to cable.

If you’re still one of those desperate souls linked to watching TV by an umbilical cord made of copper, it’s probably because you feel stymied when it comes to cutting that cord.

Let’s answer some of your questions and see if we can’t find a way to help.

My cable is bundled with my internet, and, oh yeah, I still need a landline, so how do I separate it?

  • Well, unbundle. In most cases, you can get a cheaper monthly deal from your “cable company” for just internet and the landline. You may not even need the landline. If you do, don’t be embarrassed. But if you don’t, it’s time to cut that cord, too.

You may have to pay a fee for changing your service before your contract ends, but it will pay off in the long run. Or even the short run.

Look into other internet providers if you can’t get internet alone through the company you’re getting it through now – including satellite. It’s not available everywhere, but it may be where you live.

Some folks also advocate using your cellphone’s hotspot for wifi at home. This isn’t always a great solution – service will likely be slow, depending on what you need the internet for. But it’s worth a try to see if it works for you.

 I know there are a lot of streaming options, but they won’t have the local channel, right? I still like watching the news.

  • A variety of streaming services offer local channels. Hulu Live, Sling TV, Fubo TV, Direct TV and more have a wide variety of channel options, most starting at $69.99 a month. Sling’s plans start at $35 a month.

Unlike most cable deals, there’s no contract. You can get rid of it and go with a different option any time you want.

Check the different streaming services out and see which one offers a plan with the channels you want to watch. All you need is internet. You can watch on your computer, your iPad—

Right! But I want to watch on my 75-inch flat screen TV! That’s why I bought it!

  • OK, that’s not a question, but the answer is, you can. Devices like Chromecast. Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Meta Portal and more hook up to your TV via one of the ports in the back. Then you connect to your device and – bingo! – you’re watching TV without cable. It’s just a matter of using the streaming app on your iPad, phone or whatever, and selecting the icon for the stream-to-TV device.

Just make sure what you want to stream is compatible. While it’s getting more universal, not all streaming services recognize all stream-to-TV devices.

These devices don’t have monthly fees – you pay for them when you buy them and that’s it. I’ve had my $35 Google Chromecast for years, and it still works like a dream.

 But c’mon, with all that streaming, you’re not really going to save any money.

  • Again, that’s not a question. But I’ll answer. The beauty of cutting cable and becoming a streamer is that you’re in control. You can spend as much or as little money as you want. Don’t tell me you haven’t looked at your cable bill and said, “All we watch is Channel 9, MSNBC and the Red Sox! Why are we paying for 527 channels we don’t watch?”

With streaming, you choose what you pay for, and since streaming services don’t have contracts, you can subscribe or unsubscribe at will. 

Many savvy viewers research what’s on the different streaming services, then get one for a month, watch all the stuff they want to see, get rid of it, then go to another one for a month.

Other people stick with one or two of the biggies, where they know they’ll always find something they want to watch.

Here’s what I do:

I have Hulu Live as a base, since it carries the local channel I like to watch the news on, as well as the cable news channel I like, and has a nice menu of other channels and options that have the kind of programming I like.

For additional watching, I have Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, which is part of my Amazon Prime overall subscription (free shipping and other Amazon perks).

I then toggle between HBO MAX, Discovery+, Apple+ and the two British-content channels Brit Box and Acorn, as well as any other channels that strike my fancy. Usually just one or two a month. Some are very cheap — $4.99 or $6.99 a month. If I find that I haven’t watched something on a streaming service for several weeks, I unsubscribe. I check back in a few months to see if they’ve added anything I want to watch, and then decide whether it’s time to get it for another month, or wait.

If I read about a show that sounds like something I want to watch, and it’s not on a streaming service I get, I wait until all the episodes are available and subscribe for a month to watch it, and check to see if there’s anything else there that strikes my fancy while I’m paying for it.

Isn’t that a lot of work?

  • Not as much as you’d think. Once you get used to the different services, it’s not hard to check out what they have and decide whether it’s worth it for a month.

 I’m really embarrassed to admit this, but I don’t even know how to stream or what a streaming service is. I just nod and pretend I do when people talk about it so I don’t look stupid.

  • That’s OK! It can be pretty overwhelming. Things have changed a lot from the days when we used to lie on the living room floor and watch whatever was on because it was a pain to change the broken channel knob with a screwdriver, and we only got three channels anyway. Though, on the bright side, TV back then was free. It was just out there in the air and came in when we turned on the set. I’m not being a wise guy here, that’s what TV was like when I was a kid.

Remember how when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, we knew everything was going to change? We were excited, right? Well, this is part of it. Don’t be afraid, be excited.

Streaming can be accessed through apps on your smartphone (if you have one), your tablet or your laptop. You go to the app store and buy the app, or to the website for the streaming service (for instance, Hulu.com), and pick a plan and pay for it. Then, when you want to watch, you click on your app, or go online to the website, and find the show you want to watch and click on “play.” If you want to stream it to your TV through your stream-to-TV device, you click on the icon for the device, which usually appears very small, up on the corner on the screen of your device (not your TV) as the show you want to watch begins.

OK, but I can’t even begin to figure out what streaming service I want and what I want to watch.

  • Take a deep breath, then start picking services and see what they offer by going online and checking them out. You can do this with most of them without subscribing.

It doesn’t hurt, too, to find someone online who seems like a reliable source. I like TV critic Matthew Gilbert, of the Boston Globe, who has a good eye for good and bad TV, and who also offers a lot of advice about streaming.

It doesn’t have to be difficult – start slow and see what’s out there. Crunch some numbers and see if you can make it work.

Don’t be afraid to tell your cable company you’re getting rid of your cable TV – they may try to make you feel bad, but it’s just a trick to keep you paying that $147 a month (or whatever).

You may or may not save money, but the point is that you get to choose what you’re spending your money on.


 

About this Author

Maureen Milliken

Maureen Milliken is a contract reporter and content producer for consumer financial agencies. She has worked for northern New England publications, including the New Hampshire Union Leader, for 25 years, and most recently at Mainebiz in Portland, Maine. She can be found on LinkedIn and Twitter.