Cable Cutting, Why We Did it
Recently, I noticed our cable bill was considerably higher. I learned our contract had expired and we were no longer eligible for bundle discounts. We also have Internet and a land line through the cable company. The increase brought our monthly cost of cable to $114 per month. The breakdown was: $65 for the Expanded Basic, $20 for DVR Service, and $30 for four receivers. Needless to say, I was not happy. Cable cutting became a major initiative with that phone call.
We wanted lower costs, but did not want to lose options. This meant that streaming services would be needed. Millennials are known for using streaming services, but we have learned that they are a good strategy for retirees too.
Our Cable Environment
My husband and I are retired and, consequently, have lots of free time. When we are not traveling, we have become accustomed to lots of entertainment options.
I must admit, we were pretty spoiled by our cable service. Our provider gave us reliable service and the ability to record programs we enjoy. So, we were able to fast forward through commercials, a big plus for my husband.
We routinely watched local network channels and a few cable network channels. Most of our viewing was of shows we had recorded on the DVR.
Only recently, we gave up premium channels such as Showtime, HBO, and Cinemax. It seemed their offerings were mostly older content. However, we replaced them with Netflix DVD, which allows us to choose the current movies and shows we liked. It was a win for us.
A couple of years ago, we became regular Netflix subscribers and have enjoyed the added viewing options. The neat thing about Netflix is the lack of commercials at a moderate price.
Lastly, we are Amazon Prime members, mostly for the free shipping, but there is also a streaming service that is not bad.
Roku Devices
An appropriate streaming device was an important first step for us in cutting cable. If you have a smart television with your desired streaming channel, you can omit this step. Only one of our televisions is a smart TV and it is old and does not have the streaming services we desire. So, we needed the device.
From my research, the Roku Ultimate seemed a good option to replace our cable boxes. It has good reviews and is reasonably priced. Costco had them at a special price of $69.99, so we tried it. It was easy to set up. It requires a HDMI cable that plugs into the television’s HDMI input. The remote pairs with the television so it can be used to turn it off and on and control the volume. The Roku device was a hit!
We also have televisions in our bedroom, guest bedroom, and den. So, we bought two additional Roku devices. The Costco special has expired, but Amazon has a competitive price. (Roku Device link.) We have an older model Apple TV device and we also set it up in one of the rooms. It did a fine job as well.
For a one-time cost of $210 for devices, we are saving charges of $50 a month to rent cable boxes with the DVR capabilities. After four months to recover our purchase price, we will be saving $50 a month.
Streaming Services
The Roku device enables access to tons of streaming services. Think of it as a smart television on steroids. We decided to try Hulu Live. It offers tons of shows for downloading, live local programming, and the ability to record live shows. The Live Subscription includes 50 hours of cloud-based recording with an option to add more. Below are the channels Hulu currently offers in our area.
Hulu recently had a monthly price increase from $39.99 to $44.99, which was sizable. But, Hulu is basically replacing our $65 cable package bill. Only one channel that we like, AMC, did not come with Hulu. There are options to get AMC, such as Philo and Sling for additional fees. Another major streaming service, YouTube, has similar channels and options and includes AMC. We will definitely be giving it a try.
Most streaming services offer a free trial and no contract. So, it is very easy to try different offerings. It is a good feeling to know that if you are not happy with a service, there are other options. I anticipate that we will make many changes to our streaming services in the upcoming years, unlike with cable, which was our only provider for the last several decades.
Advanced Sound Option
Our family room is our major viewing area and our cable transmitted through our surround sound system. Cutting cable, but losing our ability to use our sound system would not have been a good outcome for us. I am happy to say that we were able to have the Roku utilize our sound system.
To do so, we attached the HDMI cable to the stereo receiver instead of the television. Our receiver has an input labeled Stream Box and we used it for the input for the Roku. To view Roku, we must also appropriately set the inputs to the receiver and television.
The only negative for this option is that the receiver remote is needed to adjust the volume of the sound. It was a small price to pay for the great sound we are able to obtain for our television viewing. However, we had one more option to simply the remote situation.
Harmony Remote
We have used a Harmony Ultimate for several years to enable one remote to operate our television and sound system. I believed that I could set up the remote in a similar fashion for Roku. However, I ran into one major issue, the Harmoy required a firmware update before I could make programming changes. It was very difficult to get the Harmony to update, but once it did, setting up Roku was very simple. I just added the Roku device and then added an activity to turn on the three devices (RoKu, TV, and Receiver) with the appropriate inputs.
Lessons Learned
Our Cable Cutting Savings
Once a few months pass to capture the upfront cost of the RoKu devices, we will save $50 a month on rental of cable devices. I believe we will land on a subscription to Hulu or YouTube TV, which are $40 to $45 a month. This represents a minimum saving of $20 for content. So, the monthly savings after the fixed costs of Roku is $70 per month. The monthly cable cost was $114; therefore, we lowered our monthly cost by 62%.
Cable Cutting, the Cons
- There is a learning curve for watching television via streaming versus cable. It took some exploration on my part to find everything we have and to utilize the recording feature. But hey, we are supposed to keep learning and challenging our brains—right?
- Every streaming service works differently, so with changing services, adaptation is required.
- Cable cutters need technology skills for set up and utilization of streaming services. If you don’t have them, you might need a grandchild.
- It is not always predictable which recorded shows allow fast forward. A few of our recordings had commercials.
- Sometimes, the program momentarily loses reception while the data is buffering. It usually is brief and does not happen often. We also had occasional viewing issues with cable, but the buffering is a little more frequent.
- Channel changing is a slower process with streaming.
Cable Cutting, the Pros
- The savings for us were significant.
- Additional content is available through the Roku channel and Hulu. There are also numerous free channels available.
- It is very easy to add and delete subscriptions over time as new competitors come into the market.
How Low Can You Go?
If you are really looking to reduce your costs to as low as possible, an air antenna may work. We added one to our main viewing area and are able to get good reception on all the local channels. Our air antenna can be obtained for just under $10. After setting up the antenna, there are no additional costs for the local channels. Also, antenna television does not require a wireless network.
If you want more options and have a smart television with Netflix or other streaming services, you can add it for just the monthly subscription cost. However, you must have WiFi.
Lastly, you can add a Roku device. Then, a wide array of subscriptions are available. A Netflix non-HD subscription is currently $8.99 a month and basic Hulu is $7.99 a month.
More About Us
Cutting cable television is just one strategy we have employed in our goal to maximize our retirement. If you are interested in our other retirement activities (camping is a major player), check out my blog: Retirement and teardrop camping!
