We lived without cable for years and just last year decided to try out Dish Network. Now, before I say anything else, I do have to say that I really think Dish Network is the best option out there for cable/satellite TV. We did our homework, tried Dish Network and Direct TV at friends houses, and I really do believe that Dish Network was the best choice out of what’s available.
That being said, Ryan and I both regret the decision now. Yes, part of that regret is that he was laid off in April and we are now stuck in a 2 year contract. But the main regret is that we just don’t use it enough to justify the cost.
So let’s weigh the pros and cons of not having cable/satellite. I don’t want to convince you guys of anything… you know what’s right for your family. But I think that if Ryan and I would’ve really looked through these when we were making the decision to get satellite service our decision would likely have been a different one.
Getting rid of cable/satellite – Pros:
1. You save $40-$50 per month which equals $480-$600 in savings PER YEAR! That turns into a good chunk of change that you can put towards something else.
2. With high-speed internet, you can now watch just about all of your favorite shows online. Hulu.com is one of the main places to watch, as well as the actual TV channel’s website. ABC.com, NBC.com, CBS.com, FOX.com, TLC.com, Lifetime.com…. all of them have full-length episodes of their most popular shows.
3. You can use the money you save to get an $8.99/month subscription to Netflix (plus you get a 1 month free trial!!) For that $8.99 per month, you can get access to just about any movie or TV show out there, and you can watch many of them directly on your computer, or through your Wii, Xbox360 or PS3. We use our Wii to watch the instant Netflix movies/TV shows and the quality is excellent!
4. You can still get all of your local channels with a Digital Antenna. My kids were just as happy when they only had PBS Kids as they are now with Disney/Nick Jr. Plus, they can watch their favorite Nick Jr or Playhouse Disney shows on the web.
5. You can easily hook up your laptop or computer right to your TV to watch hulu.com, abc.com, fox.com, etc… All you need is a special cord (depending on which type of laptop and which type of TV you have) to hook it up.
Getting rid of cable/satellite – Cons:
1. You will miss some shows. There are shows that might be “must-see” shows for you that Netflix, Hulu or the station’s website just don’t have.
2. You will not have the wide variety of sports channels on game weekends. Although, for many of you ladies, this might be a pro instead of a con. 🙂
3. It’s not as easy to record shows since you don’t have DVR. I have to admit, when we do get rid of Dish Network I will really miss our DVR!
4. If you live far away from a big city, then it will be tougher (or next to impossible) to get the local channels. If local channels are something you count on, then this could be a huge con.
So what do you guys think? Is it worth it to cut the cable/satellite bill for your family? If you’ve chosen to keep it, what were your reasons? Are there places that I missed where you can watch your favorite TV episodes?
We pay a lot for cable because my husband loves Movies and this saves on the cost of going out. There are other reasons too, but I do negotiate with the cable company if I find it going too high.
I do have a couple suggestions on how you can save money or go without cable here:
http://www.thecouponhigh.net/2010/07/how-phone-call-saved-me-30-on-my-cable/
@The Coupon “High”, I love your suggestions on negotiating!!
And your new header on your site looks great too!
If you call Dish and tell them you ONLY want the local channels, and don’t back down to their sales pitch, you can get ONLY the local channels for about $10/mo. (after your contract is up). We have not done this yet b/c my husband likes the History channel but we have a friend who is currently doing the “local channel only” thing.
Thanks for the info, I was not offered that, but a $14.99 for locals +20. I am going to call them today, before I send back my receiver!
It would not be worth it to us. We have Netflix and it streams directly through the TV, but it really just replaces movies. Most of what we watch are nature or science shows, often they are just one-off shows that aren’t put on DVD or streaming. The rest of it is stuff that is new and that I don’t want to have to huddle around a laptop for us to watch. Not going to the movies saves us a lot already, and even though the satellite bill isn’t cheap, we don’t have any pay movie channels, so I think we’re still being pretty frugal.
@L S, Yeah, sitting around a laptop to watch shows definitely stinks. Have you looked into hooking your laptop up to your TV? Our TV has a place where you can put the cord from a computer monitor, so all we have to do it plug it into our laptop and then directly to the TV.
What kind of cord is needed for that?
@Sabrina, It depends on what type of TV you have. Some of the newer TVs have a direct input where you can put the cord from just about any computer monitor. Some you’ll have to have an adapter for the audio/video cables. I’m thinking the people at Best Buy or Fry’s (or a store like that) would know exactly which cord you need if you tell them what computer/laptop you have and what TV model you have.
I am glad to see you state the facts about doing without cable/dish/satellite. This month I was truly fed up with paying $70 for cable. In the past four months I barely watched two hours of television. Whenever I was in the mood to watch TV, it is for a channel that is not included in the basic package. I finally called my cable company and told them to cancel my service. They inquired why. I simply replied that I do not want to pay $70 for something that I do not use. It felt really good boxing up their equipment and mailing it back. I have Netflix, but I rarely watch that as well. I rather pay $8.99 than $70 anytime. I have decided to purchase a laptop to stream my shows. I will use all of my rebates to purchase a laptop. The money saved can increase my savings contribution and help those in need…….Great job with your focus on this one.
@Gentle, Yeah, we are in just about the same boat. We record one show each week that we really like, and then a bunch of kid shows. We could buy 5 kid DVDs a month for what we are paying for Dish!
We really just thought we would use it more than we actually do. But now that Lost and 24 are over we’re not really interested in much of anything that’s on cable right now.
I would get rid of our satellite bill in a heartbeat if I could figure out a way for my husband to still watch sports. I watch a few things, and there are a couple of things that I let my kids watch, but mostly we keep it for sports and occasional movies.
I’m recently moved. At my old house (about a mile or two away) the bunny ears digital over the airwaves cable was great. At my new place I get PBS and if I’m really lucky Fox or ABC, though I have to sit in a certain spot. If watching news or anything over the air is important to you try the bunny ears at your house first before you cancel the cable. My new roommates don’t want cable and did not tell me there was no reception here… so now I’m stuck without either. Just a thought- check before you cancel because the digital switch didn’t make cable available everywhere (and I’m in a pretty big city!)!
@Sarahanne, When we cut Dish, we are going to be looking at the outdoor/put on your roof digital antennas for our local channels. I’ve heard really good things about the signals they pick up, and one month without Dish should cover the cost.
I don’t know how far out they will go from the city, but it should do much better than the rabbit ears next to the TV.
Your pros and cons are RIGHT ON. We were actually going to cancel our Fios Cable, but when we called to cancel they offered us a deal that was about $35 cheaper than we were paying for almost all of the same channels. So we went for it. Sometimes they really don’t want to lose your business and will make deals.
@Tori, Yay!! $35 adds up so quickly!
I think it also might be worth it to do cable at times if you can get it with a bigger package. Sometimes internet and phone alone are so expensive, that it’s practically free to get the cable option added on with the discounts that it provides on everything else.
We’ve been without cable for 2 years and don’t regret it a bit. We have netflix, and watch shows from Hulu or network sites. We have an antenna so we get all of the local channels (major networks). Lots of $$ saved!
We cancelled our Dish service about a month ago and we have Netflix, which can stream instantly to your TV with a Wii, xbox, or some blue-ray players. Some days I think I can’t make it another day without it, especially with Survivor just starting (LOL). But, we catch it the next day on the internet. Our bill was more like 84.99 a month with Dish. They did offer me a 14.99 package for my locals, plus 20 other channels. I have to say that we go to bed earlier, because that 9 o’clock show doesn’t have a hold on us anymore.
@Sabrina, Yeah, we always watched Lost the next day on ABC.com and it was so hard waiting to see what happened until the next day!! 🙂
I think it’s great that some of you are starting to find alternatives to the high cost of cable television.
I personally have a lot better things to do than watch TV, but not everyone in the family agrees with Dad so I give a little.
We used to have HD Cable service with all the bells and whistles, then we decided to drop the premium channels and started renting movies from the video stores.
Then when the mail order option came along I signed up for both Blockbuster and Netflix trials and finally decided on Netflix because of the option to stream movies to my PC and TV as well as getting some in the mail.
Next I decided that since most of the TV the family was watching was on the local channels there was little point in paying the cable company for the privilege so I bought a HD antennae for $50 and a DVR for $350 plus tax.
At first it took a little getting used to not being able to watch a couple of serials that were only available on cable channels, but it didn’t take long, and in a couple of days everyone started getting used to the idea and started changing their viewing habits and switching over that what was available, which turned out to be a lot.
It was a great decision and I save about $80 per month so the cost of the HD antennae and DVR will be recouped in 5-6 months.
I too was offered incentives to stay with the cable company when I called to cancel, but I was resolute that it was time to cut the umbilical cord. It feels great to be free of them.
keep basic cable with our internet access. We are saving $100 a month and kick ourselves for not doing it sooner. I thought I would miss sports but I get ESPN on my xbox 360. That includes NBA games, College Sports and other sports like Tennis, Rugby and Soccer. The kids still watch their favorite shows on PBS and Netflix. Why don’t more people do this?
I would love to get rid of our satellite service, but high speed internet is not offered in our area unless we go with satellite internet which is more expensive than paying for satellite TV.
This sounds awesome, what about live sports like NFL and NASCAR? I have seen online sites that say download this live streaming software and be able to watch the NFL live? I wonder if it’s really true, are they legit? Just wondering if anyone has any info on this?
Or a recommendation of a specific site for live sports?
We have satellite internet through Hughesnet because we live in a very rural area. We pay $70/month – not their cheapest plan – and I can tell you that you wouldn’t be able to watch TV shows etc on it anyway. We have a daily “allowance” of 375 MB and if you go over that you get shut off for 24 hours. If the kids get on youtube for about an hour, we get shut down. So it definitely wouldn’t work for tv viewing. I hate paying that much but I need it for work and our only other option out here is dial-up. No way! lol
I got sick of paying over $200 a month on my cable bill. As a owner of a small video production company, I decided to create some solutions that help me save money on Tv, Internet, home phone and Dvr services using the latest technology on the market. I show what products/technologies/tricks that actually work. Check my video at http://www.savemoneyoncable.com. Thanks, Rod