Are you tired of plopping down hundreds of dollars every year for cable or satellite TV service? We don’t blame you!
The cost of pay-TV hasn’t budged much over the course of the last couple of years. But it still costs more than $100 every month on average for cable or satellite TV service.
You can get around this by “cutting the cord” to your cable or satellite box like more than 30 million other Americans have already done. A simple cord cutting calculator can show you how easy it’ll be to save money when you take this approach.
You could potentially save well over $1,000 each year by cutting the cord once and for all. Here is how you can save money year in and year out by cutting ties with your cable or satellite TV provider.
Start by Saying “See Ya!” to Your Cable or Satellite TV Provider
First things first: “Cutting the cord” doesn’t actually involve taking a pair of scissors and cutting the cord that connects to your cable or satellite TV box. It’s a little more complicated than that.
You’re going to need to begin by calling your cable or satellite TV provider and telling them that you want to cancel your service. More often than not, they’ll try every trick in the book to get you to reconsider.
They’ll offer you a special discounted rate on your cable or satellite TV service. They’ll throw in a few free premium channels. They’ll give you whatever you want them to if you agree to stick around for another year.
Before calling them, you should commit to saying “NO!” early and often to your cable or satellite TV provider. No matter how hard they try to get you to stay, you shouldn’t give in to them if you want to save money.
The deal that they offer you might sound enticing at first. But before long, you’re going to be right back to paying what you’re paying now for pay TV. It’s not going to be worth it to you.
Replace Your Cable or Satellite TV Box With an HD Antenna
Once you ditch your cable or satellite TV provider, you’ll feel a newfound sense of freedom. You’ll love not having to shell out over $100 or more every month to watch TV.
But it won’t be long before you realize the one big drawback to doing this: Your TV will turn into a big, black, empty box that won’t do much to entertain you all of a sudden.
There are a number of things that you can do to change this. You can start by purchasing an HD antenna for each TV in your home.
Doing this will require an investment on your part. You can expect to pay anywhere from $20 for a cheap antenna to well over $100 for an antenna that goes up on your roof.
But an HD antenna will give you immediate access to most of the local TV channels in your area. You can keep up with things like the local news, weather, and more through the use of an HD antenna.
It’ll be a great start, and it’ll begin to show savings on your cord cutting calculator right away.
Consider Investing in a Smart TV
Is the main TV in your home able to connect to the internet?
If not, you’re going to want to do something about that when you cut the cord if you plan on watching more than the local channels on your TV. You should purchase at least one smart TV for your home.
Much like with buying an HD antenna, buying a smart TV is going to set you back a little bit of money. But the prices for smart TVs have come crashing down to earth in recent years and made it easier for people to afford them.
Pick and Choose Which Streaming Services You Want to Sign Up for
It’s important to have at least one smart TV in your home because it’s going to allow you to sign up for one or more of the streaming services that are out there so that you can stream movies, TV shows, and other forms of entertainment. You should pick and choose which of these streaming services you want to use in your home.
There are a lot of different streaming services you can choose from these days. They include:
- Netflix
- Hulu
- Sling
- YouTube TV
- AT&T TV
A word to the wise: Each of these streaming services will “only” cost you somewhere between $10 and $50 in most cases. But if you sign up for several of them, the costs associated with each can add up in a hurry.
It’s best to start off with one streaming service and add others in the future as necessary. Otherwise, you could end up paying more for streaming services than you were paying for cable or satellite TV service.
See How Easy It Is to Stream Video Through Your Computers
One of the great things about signing up for streaming services is that you can watch them on more than just your TV. You can stream these services right through the computers that you have in your home, too.
Additionally, you can hook your computer up to your smart TV and stream free videos that you find online on your TV screen. It’s one more way to keep yourself and your family entertained for a fraction of what you would pay for cable or satellite TV service.
Learn more about how to go about doing this at https://setapp.com/how-to/set-up-and-optimize-chromecast-for-mac.
This Cord Cutting Calculator Can Save You So Much Money
If you have cable or satellite TV service right now, you’re paying upwards of $100 or more every month for it. As this cord cutting calculator has shown, you could be paying $0 every month to watch TV with an HD antenna and your computer.
Or if you feel like “splurging” a little in the name of entertainment, you could pay less than $50 every month and give your family all the options they could ever want when watching TV. It’s why it makes all the sense in the world to cut the cord immediately.
Discover more about the cord cutting phenomenon by checking out some of the articles on our blog.
