Why do this? Because it will save you a lot of money. (I can't know exactly what you pay, so you do have to do a bit of homework). Here's an exercise for you:
DO THIS FIRST:
- Take the total amount you spend monthly for cable or satellite TV and multiply it by 12 to get what you pay annually for television.
- Make sure to include the monthly price of each DVR you are renting from the cable or satellite company. DishNetwork is $6 per month and DirectTV is $7 per month per DVR. If you have this from your cable company, include that, too.
- Make sure to include the regular price if you are looking at an "introductory offer." For example, DishNetwork offers an introductory rate of $19.99 for the first 12 months, with free installation if you have a 24 month contract. So, after the first 12 months, the rate goes up to $34.99 a month plus $6 per DVR. DirectTV has an introductory offer of $29.99, but that goes up to $58.99 after the first 12 months. Cable companies do the same thing, so make sure you are thinking of what it will cost you in 2011, 2012, etc.
A while ago, Lori posted this great idea for watching TV online with an Xbox 360. Here's a few more ways to watch TV online. If you use a search engine, you'll find that there are a lot of different websites for watching TV online. I looked at several of them, but I have tried to list the ones that didn't have scantily clad women in advertisements on the sidebar. If that doesn't bother you, then you can search for different websites, but I have kids in my house, and that is something that choose to not invite (if I can help it). Now, I can't promise that these websites I list won't end up using the similar advertising, but at the time I posted this, they were "clean."
Alternatives to Cable and Satellite:
Watch TV on Your Computer via High Speed Internet:
If you have high-speed internet, you can watch most cable/satellite channels online for free. Check out these websites:
www.hulu.com Most of you are probably pretty familiar with hulu. It's a great way to watch TV and get caught up on past episodes for free.
www.fancast.com
www.casttv.com
Also, remember that you can watch TV online at the websites for most channels, such as abc.com, nbc.com, fox.com, history.com, cbs.com, usa.com, cartoonnetwork.com, etc. Just type in the name of the channel. Can't find your show? Type in "____ free episodes online" at google and you'll probably be pleasantly surprised.
If you decide to only watch TV online, your savings will be significant. You can simply cut your money spent for the television portion of your budget entirely. For my example of what I pay of cable, this would net a savings of $972 annually. Sweet!
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Antenna & Converter Box:
Purchase an antenna and converter box (if you need one) & run some coax cable. If you have a newer TV, you may not need a converter box. Going with this method will cost about $100-200 for 2010, and nothing annually after that. It would be cheaper if you don't need a $50 converter box. You can still watch TV online, but you could watch your local channels on your television. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Antenna & Netflix:
The cheapest Netflix package is $4.99 a month. This allows you to have one DVD at a time, but does not allow for instant streaming. So, while you can't watch Netflix instantly, you could watch TV instantly over your computer using the websites listed above and still have regular TV through your antenna (& converter box if you need one). Keep in mind that you can rent DVDs from Netflix that are whole seasons of television shows such as Lost, 24, The Office, etc. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Antenna, unlimited Netflix & a Netflix-Ready Device:
For $8.99/month you can get one DVD at a time from Netflix and you can have unlimited instant streaming to your computer or a Netflix-ready device. (There are other Netflix packages to choose from that allow more DVDs at one time). I believe all of these devices require a high speed internet connection. Some TV shows are not available for instant streaming over Netflix, but you could get the season on DVD or you could watch those epsiodes online using one of the websites listed above. Netflix ready devices include:
- Xbox 360 - ($199 MRSP) You must also have a high speed internet connection and a subscription to Xbox LIVE Gold (about $39.99 a month).
- PlayStation3 (PS3)- You need a PS3, an unlimited Netflix plan and a Netflix PS3 disc, which you get for FREE from Netflix. Retails for about $299.
- Wii (this should be available via Netflix sometime in Spring 2010). You don't need anything else besides your Wii and a free instant streaming disc from Netflix to make this application work.
- Roku Digital Video Player ($79 MSRP)
- Insignia Connected Blu-Ray Players ($179 MSRP), LG Network Blu-Ray Players ($299 MSRP), Samsung Network Blu-Ray players ($299 MSRP) and Sony Network Blu-Ray players ($249 MRSP).
- LG HDTVs with Netcast Broadband, Sony Bravia LCD HDTVs featuring Bravia Internet Video, and VIZIO XVT Series HDTVs with VIZIO Internet Apps (VIA).
- TiVo HD DVR - you also need to pay an annual subscription fee which is about $120 a year. There's a video on how this works if you click the link and scroll down a bit.
- LG Network Blu-Ray Home Theater Systems & Samsung Network Blu-Ray Home Theater Systems.
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An alternative to Netflix is the Playstation Network.
You need to have a PS3 for this. Through the Playstation Netowrk TV and Movie Downloads, you rent or purchase TV and movies through your PS3. So, you need to keep in mind that you still have to pay for the shows you watch. If you rent the video or movie, you have a limited time to watch it, and then it removes itself from your PS3 system memory.
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So, do a bit of homework, add up your totals and see how much you can save. My husband was very resistant to the idea of changing from cable TV until I created a spreadsheet to show all the different options and how much each method would cost/save. At first he was in denial about how much we actually spent for cable TV, lol. But once he saw cold, hard numbers, it was hard to not give it some serious consideration. He was resistant to giving up Dora the Explorer for our daughter, but I convinced him that I can purchase some Dora DVDs for a lot cheaper than we spend paying for cable. :) If you know of other great sites for watching TV online or you have other methods for saving $$ on television, please comment and let us know. I'd also love to know how much you saved if you cut your cable/satellite. Here's to being frugal!
I have done this for years and it works great for us. We watch netflix through a video streaming device and also hulu. Also something to consider is free movies from the library and $1 redbox movies.
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