So – tired of being a slave to the cable company – or satellite? Believe it or not there is life without cable. Many preparedness-minded folks are frugal and want their hard earned money to go towards more critical items than television. Saving $80-$200 per month can certainly help with adding to food storage or reaching an emergency fund goal.
I made the decision to end cable due to the high cost and so many channels I paid for and never, EVER watched. I have been off of cable for over a year now and rarely have any regrets. Depending on your interests and technological prowess cutting the cable can be easy – or very frustrating. When it comes to getting rid of cable there is always the option of canceling and just staring at the wall, reading a book, or going for a walk. I enjoy watching a good movie or TV show so staring at the wall was not really an option.
Here are my 3 steps for a life without cable:
1. HD Antenna.
The simplest way to get news, TV shows, and movies after canceling cable service is via the air. Yes – TV stations still broadcast a signal over the airways. An HD antenna will snatch it out of the air and deliver a high-quality picture to most any modern television.
HD antenna’s are simple to install and range from very inexpensive(less than $10) to pretty inexpensive(around $50).
My personal choice is the Amplified Outdoor Motorized HD Antenna. I have been using this antenna since canceling cable and it works great. It is designed to mount on top of a pole. I used a broomstick pounded in the ground to mount it outside my house. A remote control allows the it to be rotated from inside the house in case the signal is weak. This model runs around $38.
HD antenna’s costing as little as $10 can work well. I have upstairs in my bedroom the RCA Indoor HD Antenna. This thing is small with rabbit ears. Performance? Works pretty good for less than $10. I am looking at getting another Amplified Outdoor Motorized HD Antenna and mounting it in my attic. With the increased elevation, I should have expanded channel selection.
2. DVD, Blu-Ray, and RedBox.
After adding an HD antenna a DVD or Blu-Ray player will certainly provide a huge library of movies to choose from. Amazon has a massive selection of DVD’s and Blu-Ray’s for well under $10 each. An entertainment library can be built easily.
Movies can be rented for around $1.00 at many rental kiosks located in grocery stores and outside Wal-Marts and pharmacies.
Grab a movie, pop some popcorn, and have a movie night.
3. Streaming Devices & Services: Roku, Fire TV, Netflix, and Hulu.
Most of my entertainment comes from the use of media streaming devices. Basically these devices use the Internet to stream movies and TV shows to a TV. What is pretty important is your Internet speed. If it is too slow the media will not stream well and it will “buffer” often causing a delay.
I own most every type of media streaming device made and would only recommend the Roku and the Amazon Fire TV Stick. The Roku is the best option for most people. They start at around $40 and go up in price from there. I always buy the cheapest ones.
The Amazon Fire TV Stick is great if you are an Amazon Prime member due to the thousands of movies that are available to stream. I have been a Prime member for years and love it. There are lots of benefits in addition to the movies and TV shows available for streaming.
Once you have a Roku box and hook it up to your Internet “channels” can be installed. This is a very easy process and there are many channels which allow streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows totally for free. Premium channels such as Netflix, Hulu, and VUDU offer paid streaming services.
Netflix offers access to thousands of movies and TV shows for around $10 per month. It is an incredible bargain.
Hulu offers a paid subscription service at under $8 per month. They provide many current TV shows for watching as well as a decent selection of movies and older TV series. It is well worth the money.
VUDU is a service which you can rent or purchase movies and TV shows online. You do not physically get a disk, rather the media is stored on the Internet. New TV shows are usually available within hours of showing on regular TV. This is the method I use to watch The Walking Dead. I buy the entire season and watch it the day after it airs on cable. TV shows average around $2.99 per episode and movies vary from $4.99 on up.
Summary.
There is life without cable. An antenna, DVD’s and Blu-Ray’s, and media streaming devices are a great start. Throw in a good book, walk in the park, and more trips to the range and life will be great.
Well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration.
Now, where’s that popcorn?
JR
****This post was originally published HERE
We’ve been without cable for about 6 years now, and we really don’t miss it. We were never big TV watchers in the first place, so it was a major waste of money. We do still have a TV set and have built a nice collection of DVD’s. Something to consider is buying used, particularly if you’re a fan of TV series. I’ve bought quite a few from ThriftBooks.com. They’re a nationwide book seller that also sells movies. Their search engine is set for books, but you can find movies under “other formats”. I’ve picked up the majority of mine for around $3.79 with free shipping (on all purchases over $10), and they’ll send you e-mails when something on your wish list becomes available. Out of more than 50 DVD’s that I’ve gotten from them, only 2 were bad, and they refunded my money instantly while not requiring a return of the product. They also give $5 coupons for every $50 you spend.
We’re going on over a year without “Cable” (Dish Network) and relying on Netflix and Hulu for the most part, along with our movie collection. There’s a couple of show I miss, but I’ll catch up on them at some point.
JR,
I just installed that very same HDTV antenna. Works great and as the broadcast medium for TV nationwide is now high definition digital signal, it results in excellent image, reception quality. Would add that to get the most out of it, check out any site that provides the azimuth of tv broadcasts in your specific area ( direction, signal strength, distance, call sign etc ), with this info you can adjust the direction of the antenna accordingly. The most amazing part of the antenna is the built in motor for rotation/change of direction. A few years ago that feature would have cost hundreds of dollars, this antenna cost me $26, maybe $25 for mounting pole, coaxial cable and such, and some roof time. Most movie watching is BlueRay player or internet streaming via VUDU as you just pay for what you want, no monthly fee i.e. Netflix. Also, using your public library for DVD’s and CD’s is a great source for free. Will have to investigate ROKU and Fire Stick angle. Now I don’t have to frequent the local watering hole to watch some sports.
Your locsl public library also offers newly released movies and they are free.
Unfortunately, we live in a paradise that is surrounded by mountains, Lake Tahoe! NO TV signals at all to retrieve! So your antenna is useless. As far as internet, Charter is the only game in town in our area. The other option is Hughes Satellite Internet which is very expensive.
Our dilemma is the internet. It comes bundled with the cable and cost just as much alone…how do you get your internet? I hope it’s not via landline because that’s slow and for us no one here installs landlines anymore. Including AT&T. We were surprised that AT&T of all companies didn’t offer landlines anymore. We ‘re in CT.
I think the cable companies have a good scam going. We have a choice between two, and one will let you have just one electronic device while the other makes you bundle them. Every couple of years, they swap their policies, grandfathering in existing customers. However, it also depends on whether we’re close enough to an urban area. A mile away from us, they only have one cable company, so they’re stuck with whatever the policy is at the moment. My mother has been trying to rid herself of the cable and landline, but she’s far enough out of town that she’ll have to pay the same price for just internet.
Purchased the antenna with rotor. !t. Worked for two months ! Doesn’t receive signal anymore! Iwould not buy it again!