How to Save $1000 a Year
- Luke Palmer
- Oct 26, 2016
- 4 min read
Building off my last post about cable and satellite tv subscriptions I'm going to teach you the secret to eliminating that $99 monster of a bill while still keeping up on your favorite tv shows and movies without interruption.
Omit needless channels
I do not consider myself a great writer but one thing that stuck with me from grammar class and the elements of style was Strunk and White's admonition to "omit needless words". I'm sure reading this blog they would be horrified but I am going to apply this principle to television by calling on everyone to omit needless channels and save hundreds of dollars a year. This exercise is much easier to accomplish if you focus on the channels and shows you watch because we all know that we ignore most of the channels available to us. I recommend being very picky with the channels and shows you pick, try to set a threshold like: "Do I watch this show more than twice a month" "Do I tune into this channel at least once a week" or "Do I really need this in my life". Once you have made a list of what you do and don't need you can make a cord cutting plan and take action. Cable providers claim to offer "bare bones packages" but at $30-$50 a month is it really worth it? In the next couple of paragraphs I am going to explain how you can drop your cable service and still have more live programing and streaming than you ever need or want and still spend less.
The Cord Cutter's Champion
Cord Cutters are those who decide to cut their cable TV service in favor free and or cheaper non contractual options. The first thing that anyone considering cutting their cable service should get is an HD antenna. Local affiliate news stations like NBC, ABC, FOX, PBS, CBS, The CW and many more are available for free over the air and in higher quality picture than is available though your cable provider. TV has been free for decades and yet today the average American pays $99 a month to subscribe to cable TV just to get 1 or 2 channels that are not over the air and free. I think it's criminal what Cable providers are doing, they charge inordinate amounts of money to provide an inferior product. With an HD antenna you not only get the channels for free but they are in higher definition. Why spend all that money on an UHD or 4K tv when your cable provider can't even deliver full HD much less Ultra HD. That is Why an HD antenna is the cord cutters champion, for $50 or less you can get beautiful HD programing from the most watched networks out there.
List of HD Antennas on Amazon.com
Supplemental Services
Now that you have your basic over the air channels you can beef up your cord cutting experience by subscribing to monthly streaming services. Many of these services are so popular they have become a central part of our social media pop culture, example: Netflix and chill. Netflix and Hulu are the big players in this game and most people already know this, so in the wise words of Forrest Gump "that's all I have to say about that."
One of my favorite streaming services is Amazon Prime Video, for $99 a year (assuming you pay the annual rate) you get access to an enormous amount of exclusive on demand video content, unlimited commercial free music streaming of millions of songs from Amazon Prime Music, 2 day free shipping on select Amazon.com items, Amazon prime now's 1 hour delivery (in select cities). Amazon prime is a no brainer for anyone who streams movies and or music and shops online, it is hands down the best value out there.
Sling TV is a product from Dish Network that offers live television streaming service and on demand content as well. Sling is advertised as "the best of television" its basic package starts at $20 a month and includes 25+ of the most watched cable channels: ESPN, Disney Channel, History Channel, and HGTV to name a few. check out the different packages they offer at Sling.com.
Last but not least for you movie lovers out there I recommend subscribing to HBOnow. It's $15 a month and you get access to a fantastic selection of hundreds of movies as well as every episode of HBO's hit shows like Game of Thrones and Westworld. The best part is that you can have up to 4 streams accessing your account at the same time. that means that if you subscribe to HBO now you can share your log in with several family members without getting that notification saying that it's not available because someone else is already streaming. The $15 monthly price tag might seem steep but if you love movies their selection is amazing. Test it out with a 1 month free trial.
Additional Equipment
I just want to come out and say that I hate most Smart TV's. I buy a tv for its picture quality and price, in most cases the "smart" component is a non factor because their interface is not user friendly and inferior to nearly any streaming box on the market. That being said, I love Roku partnered smart TV's because Roku is honestly the best Streaming box on the market. Roku offers over 3,500 different streaming apps or what they call channels, more than any other device on the market. Its interface is "so easy even a caveman could [use] it" and it has a wonderful feature where you can search across all of your apps for a TV show or movie and list it by price, starting at free if available then increasing in cost as you move down the list. No more bouncing between Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime trying to remember which one had that movie or show in their lineup. Due to restraints on both yours and my attention spans I am going to sign off by saying - check out the products I listed in your spare time and happy cord cutting!!!
If you'd like to cut your cable cord but would like help doing it call me at Denali Wireless Solutions at: 480-454-7107 and together we can find a solution that fits you and saves you lots of money.
