We cut the haven't had cable in 3 years. We've always paid a premium for internet because of it. In the sense that we've paid mostly for internet (fios previously and comcast now) sometimes without any extras usually running before $69 and then $79/month. Now it turned into $59.99 but it's internet and local channels.
So I've been thinking a lot about how over the last few years have we saved money? I mean people talk about all the time cutting cable and saving money. But when you pay for all the extras are you really saving money?
I know we are because we aren't paying for extras. But I was just running some numbers on paper and it appears that it really is quite expensive to be a cord cutter. How so?
Well we pay for Amazon prime because both kids have kindles that we use mostly for travel. You can download tv shows or movies and it's free with prime. Plus the free 2 day shipping is a huge bonus. So for $99/year we do it = $8.25/month.
Netflix is another $8.99/month. It's also going to be raised another $1 to $9.99/month. Then Hulu costs $7.99/month commercials to $11.99/month. Then for sling tv it's another $20/month. Also Sling offers kid channels for an extra $5/month. I mean if you are going ala carte and adding all these things or even Netflix and Sling TV you are looking at $34/month! Do Netflix and Amazon Prime and you are looking at $17/month minimally.
I'm not sure do most cord cutters only do Amazon Prime? Or only netflix? We do Amazon Prime but I find myself so annoyed that I have to watch so many TV shows on a computer screen or hook up my laptop to watch stuff like suits or law and order or big bang theory. I have a really old TV so no I don't have a smart tv or ability to put apps on the tv.
But if I were to pay for more streaming like sling, netflix, or hulu then at that point it'd be a no brainer personally to just pay for cable. I'm getting into cable prices. Right now I think it outrageous that we pay so much for internet, but the cable companies have cord cutters between a rock and a hard place. Plus I have to add our internet drops a lot and isn't always reliable. We had to argue with Comcast to install cables before we moved in. Prior tenants used satellite for a and paid a ludicrious $100/month for internet. Uggh.
Anyway I chatted with DH and we agreed as long as we're renting and locked in with comcast (hate them) we'll pay a premium for internet. If we happen to move maybe we'll have more options and different choices.
Do you have cable? Why or why? What do you pay?
Cutting the Cable
February 6th, 2016 at 05:07 pm
February 6th, 2016 at 05:35 pm 1454780131
Since having access to fiber optic internet, we have been willing to pay a premium for internet. So I feel like that is a expense we would have regardless. But I do admit faster speeds and internet quality does become more important when you stream all your videos and it is probably easier for us to justify more expensive internet.
We pretty much just pay for netflix and hulu. So it is about $20 per month? No commercials for either. We will by the occasional Amazon show. At $1.99 per episode, it is far cheaper just to pay for the few shows we want to watch and can't get elsewhere. I suppose in comparison that with cable we felt we just paid for a lot of stuff we didn't want or care about. Hulu and Amazon were the only new expenses we added when dropping cable. We already had Netflix and super high speed internet, alongside any cable subscription. Back then Netflix was more for our movie rentals. That has definitely shifted a lot but we can generally get movies for free now and we enjoy a lot of netflix shows. So will keep the netflix. But we did drop the disc rental side of the netflix service.
February 6th, 2016 at 06:24 pm 1454783073
Until THIS year we have never had cable. We only get basic channels and we do have our internet with the cable company. The only other option, which we may try is a phone company. We have always used antenna in the past for the basic channels, but our town is so far from the actual stations and there are so many trees here the reception, according to FCC, in our area are terrible. So it isn't worth even trying.
We have Prime and Netflix only. And we do rent some movies from Prime for an additional fee. We do get the most use out of Netflix. In fact, I really need to crunch some numbers on Prime before our membership renews in August.
February 6th, 2016 at 07:24 pm 1454786642
February 6th, 2016 at 07:25 pm 1454786716
February 7th, 2016 at 02:56 am 1454813814
How much do you guys pay for internet?
February 7th, 2016 at 02:59 pm 1454857163
February 7th, 2016 at 03:04 pm 1454857446
February 7th, 2016 at 05:28 pm 1454866102
Our local internet company offers like $100 referrals. We would do so well with that except they don't offer service to anyone we know. !! I just heard the other day that not everyone in our housing development has the fiber optic. These are all new houses so no idea why they ran fiber to only some of the houses. I do not understand the logistics. It just gives me a new appreciation of how lucky we are.
February 7th, 2016 at 08:47 pm 1454878042
we have 50 mb speed.