How to Cut the Cable Cord and Save Money
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In her Aging With Geekitude series, self-professed “recovering technophobe” Erica Manfred writes about her adventures with technology and shares what she’s learned as she navigates the not-so-scary waters.
I made two leaps of faith this year. One was to escape the New York cold by renting a condo in Florida for three months. Two was to live without my 200+ channels, along with Showtime, Starz and the DVR that I have at home.
In making this decision, I became part of a hot new TV trend known as cutting the cable cord. In case you have no idea what this means, cord cutting is a way to save on those huge monthly cable bills. You cut your expensive cable service and instead rely on the Internet for your TV content. Netflix, Amazon, iTunes and Hulu are some of the popular services that have convinced millions of cable and satellite subscribers to cut their cords and change to video downloads or streaming.
How to Cut the Cable Cord
Smart cord cutters keep Wi-Fi and use it to get Internet TV. With wireless, you basically have the world. You can connect a streaming service like Roku (see below) to get a multitude of channels and pay as you watch, use Netflix to watch past seasons of TV series ($7.99 a month for unlimited streaming), and iTunes or Amazon to buy shows individually for $1.99. If you subscribe to Hulu Plus ($7 a month), you get most of the popular shows, such as Mad Men, one day after they air on TV.
I mentioned streaming services: To cut the cord, you have to own an intermediary hardware device such as Chromecast, an Amazon Fire stick, or a Roku box or stick. I have a Roku box at home and know how it works, so I decided to pay 50 bucks for a Roku stick in Florida; also, the Roku has a separate remote.
Here’s a helpful guide to cutting the cord.
Cord Cutting Pros & Cons
Cord cutting has advantages and disadvantages. It saves you money for sure; you don’t have to subscribe to channels you have no interest in watching, and advertising is minimal. But you do pay a price: no more live TV. Without cable, I’ve had to go cold turkey on my diet of real-time broadcasts on network channels such as ABC, CBS and NBC. No daily news and talk shows, no CNN, sports matches and awards shows. If there’s a hostage crisis, I won’t be able to watch it as it happens.
I happen to be addicted to live TV. I don’t know about you, but at home in upstate New York I wake up with Hoda and Kathy Lee and go to bed with Jimmy Kimmel. But I pay $180 a month for this privilege, along with premium cable channels such as HBO and Showtime – extremely self-indulgent for a senior on a fixed income.
Luckily, there are some solutions in the works.
New Developments for Cord Cutters
New solutions for cord cutters will arrive in 2015. They include:
Sling TV which will stream live TV for $20 a month. Channels streamed by Sling TV will include ESPN, ESPN2, CNN, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Travel Channel, Food Network, ABC Family, HGTV, Disney Channel and Maker. Read more about it here.
Untethered HBO If you’re a Game of Thrones addict like me, you’ll be able to get your fix without having a cable subscription by buying HBO separately as a streaming channel. Here’s the skinny on that.
My Cord “Trimming” Solution
Neither Sling TV nor HBO Untethered solves the Cathy Lee and Hoda problem, but if I spring for basic cable, I can get the live local channels plus some cable channels. You could do the same if live TV is important to you.
However, in the world of cord cutting it can take some ingenuity and research to get the current season or a new episode of a particular favorite show. Hulu carries most shows but not all. At home I have a DVR (digital video recorder) as part of my cable TV package (costs extra of course) and I record “Downton Abbey” so I never miss an episode. But the only streaming service that carries the current season of Downton is Amazon, and they’re charging $2.99 for it in HD. So I will bite the bullet and pay for it.
The Bottom Line
Even if you opt for all the bells and whistles of the cord-cutting option, including Netflix and Hulu plus, your monthly bill will be under $50. If you add basic cable, you’ll bring it up by $30 or $40, depending on where you live. I suspect that once premium cable channels like HBO and live TV services like Sling are added, the bill may start climbing. But I doubt it will ever reach the heights I’ve been paying.
Think you’re ready to cut the cord?
See more Aging With Geekitude articles.
Erica Manfred is a journalist, essayist and humorist who writes about everything from dentistry to divorce to fantasy fiction. Friend her on Facebook.
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Comments
The trick to finding a great TV plan for seniors is to shop around and ask plenty of questions before deciding on a plan.
Its curious that you omit one of the best streaming services because its completely FREE. Known as Kanopy https://www.kanopy.com/ which works with public library cards from a growing number of public libraries around the country, Kanopy offers access to more than 30,000 feature films — online (which can be streamed on TV’s, computers, tablet computers as well as mobile devices, although data from streaming-king Netflix shows that an overwhelming majority of people watch its own content on big-screen televisions, not smaller devices). Generally, with a public library card, each registered Kanopy user receives access to 10 free movies (or shows) online each month for no charge. Once you start watching a movie on Kanopy, you have three days to watch each movie. Kanopy videos are accessible with captions, transcripts and compatibility with assistive technologies.
To use the Kanopy service, you will need to create a sign-in (only if your public library offers the service), and then enter your library card number and choose a 4-digit PIN. I asked my librarian for access, and I was asked to complete a short form including my library card number, and they then gave me a temporary PIN, which I had to personalize when I logged into the service on my own at home. The libraries tell us that you can also get access by yourself online. You must select your own PIN, at and you must also provide them with a valid email address (the service can email you a password reset in case you forget yours) as well as your library card number.
Note that not every public library system offers access to Kanopy (yet). You should ask your librarian or visit your local library system’s website to learn if yours offers access to Kanopy.
Just get a leaf antenna which can be placed on the wall, it will tune in all of the local channels so you can watch live TV.
you do not need to pay for tv,movies sports etc. i use.. Crackle putlocker…and others..i watch Nascar live on many live streaming networks like..fox1 fox2…nbc….live streaming just google free live streaming tv…
For me, cutting the cable was an easy decision. Why? Because I never watched live TV, not even live sports, due to the overwhelming number of commercials.
If I’m to pay for access to content, I want that content to be of high quality and commercial free. Cable offers none of that, unless you shell out extra dough for premium channels that play the same stuff over and over. Good riddance to that ripoff — streaming is a much better way to go… Unless you’re too set in your ways to change.