Dear Crabby, I’m Tired of Paying Too Much for Cable, Should I Cut the Cord?
Sincerely, Susie Scissors
Dear Susie,
Cutting the cord is far easier than cutting the rug. Learning to dance is difficult, saving money is super easy. It’s one of the few things young people are right about – you don’t need cable television.
Ask anyone from Gen Y or Gen Z and they’ll tell you to stop spending money on cable and get yourself an antenna and/or a streaming service. I covered some of the Best Movie Streaming Services a few years back. Here are a few steps to take before you just cut and run.
First of all, if you still have cable, check with your bill or call the company to see if you’re locked into some contract. If you have Internet and Cable together, you might be okay to drop the cable and keep the web alive in your home — after all, you’ll need it for a streaming service.
Second, determine what your budget will be. After you “save” from eliminating cable, you’ll need to know how much you’re willing to spend on a streaming service (or two) to fill your entertainment gaps. Streaming services start around 17 bucks now and go up to over $100 a month. So dropping cable and adding something else you like might actually be more money!
If you’re like me (or strive to be like me), then you’ll want to save, save, save. Free is a good word. I like that word a lot. With a simple antenna on most modern TVs you can receive free broadcast television. The Crabby household tunes in around 60 channels … all for free. Since all the local stations went digital, networks such as ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and FOX have several channels. So, for example, channel 2 in our area has 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, and 2.5 — five channels in one! News, sports, movies, old TV shows, and classic game shows — it’s great! And FREE (did I mention this?).
Back in the day, before MTV and cable, all we had was rabbit ears on top of a Black and White television. Then we upgraded to a rooftop antenna and a color TV. Sure, once is a while I had to send one of my kids out to the roof to move the antenna a bit for better reception during rain storms, but it beat having to hold the rabbit ears in one and and reach for the sky with the other hand — yes, the kids looked silly but it sure did the trick — after all, Bowling for Dollars and Gunsmoke aren’t going to adjust the reception and watch themselves!
Another option is to get something like Roku or TiVo for a one-time investment of about $40 (some premium setups are more). Then you can watch on-demand, just like cable, and find all sorts of free (and paid) services.
Some folks cut the cable to same money, but then spend even more for all the extras with multiple various services. However, you can spend very little (or nothing at all) to get free broadcast TV. Add a box or a stick for your smart TV for forty bucks and get even more.
Got to go, reruns of the Match Game are on,
Dear Crabby.
Stuck in a rut? Need some biased advice from a crabby old baby-boomer? Then email me your question at editor@rochestermedia.com. You can also head on over to my Facebook page and tell me how wonderful I am.
About Dear Crabby