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How one consumer gave up paying for cable TV
Want to cut some of your household costs? Here's how cutting the cable TV cord helped one consumer save over a thousand dollars a year.
Tired of spending so much money on cable or satellite TV? Take
heart. Cutting the cord has never been easier thanks to the many
streaming options now available.
Jeff Hardy, a Richmond, Virginia, resident who is in charge of
technology planning and management at a large real estate company,
decided to take advantage of one of these options after his cable
bill increased to an unsustainable amount.
Paying $150 for TV Service
Hardy had a contract for a DirecTV "Xtra" package which included
205 channels, as well as HBO and Showtime. In total, his cable bill
came out to approximately $150 a month.
"Of course, it didn't start out that way," Hardy explains. He says
that his plan actually started out around $70 a month and grew to
$150 after his promotions ended.
"Just to make it extra complicated, they gave me some things for
free for three months while other things went up in price after 9
months or 18 months. I think they're just hoping you never call
back and cancel anything or try to renegotiate after your term is
up."
Deciding to Cancel Service
Hardy was with DirecTV for almost two years when he realized he was
paying so much every month for just a few channels he actually
liked. He was also well aware of the variety of low-cost streaming
options available via Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc.
"I just got to the point where it infuriated me every time I paid
the bill, particularly in light of the variety and amount of
content available in other ways," he explains.
Hardy decided to stop using cable for a month to see whether or
not he could live without it. After seeing that life without cable
wasn't so bad, Hardy picked up the phone and cancelled his contract
in December 2013.
"They tried to keep me by offering reduced pricing for a renewal,
but again the reduction was only for a temporary time," Hardy
explains. He adds that his contract wasn't up for two more months
and it cost him $40 to get out.
"But that's a bargain considering it would have cost me $300 to pay
for the service itself," he says.
Evaluating Streaming Subscriptions
Once he was out of his contract, Hardy looked into streaming
options.
He opted to subscribe to both Amazon Prime and Netflix, though he
doesn't consider Amazon Prime a true "TV expense" since he pays
for it primarily to get free two-day shipping on Amazon purchases.
"It also just happens to come with a bunch of great TV and movie
options," he adds.
Hardy also pays for a la carte viewing of certain shows via iTunes.
Hardy says that almost all the shows he would watch on cable are
available for purchase as Season Passes. That means you pay a flat
fee for all the episodes of a current season. For example, Hardy
says you can buy the entire season of "Downton Abbey" on iTunes for
$19.99. You simply pay in advance for the season and then watch the
episodes as they come out.
"Even if you're watching four or five shows that way, you're
talking a little over $100 a year for all that, rather than $100
or more a month," Hardy adds.
Hardy also pays for Netflix, which he believes is now offering
content comparable to the quality of cable.
Surviving Without Cable
"With so many other networks developing their own great content -
such as "House of Cards" and "Orange is the new Black" from Netflix
- I'm not missing cable at all," says Hardy. "There are just so
many alternatives now."
And while he liked watching "Boardwalk Empire" and "Game of
Thrones," Hardy adds that "neither are worth what it would
cost me a year to be able to retain them."
So how much is Hardy really saving? According to his calculations,
he now spends less than $20 per month to watch TV - down from $150
just a month ago. That $20 includes the monthly cost of Amazon
Prime and Netflix, plus one season pass for a show from iTunes
(which he still hasn't chosen).
Hardy also pays $50 a month for Internet from Comcast. For that, he
gets a very fast connection of 50MB download speed, but adds that
most people cutting the cord probably don't need such a high speed.
"I wanted very fast Internet for both business and personal use,"
he explains.
Aside from the monthly savings, Hardy says there's another
advantage to cutting the cord: Giving up his contract has
loosened the stronghold TV had on him.
"Without an endless supply of drivel to watch, I actually find
myself only going out of my way to watch the best shows," he
explains. In turn, Hardy says that frees up a lot of time to do
other things which have been neglected in our lives: books, music,
and family.
"It turns out there's actually a whole world of other things to do
out there," he says.
