ALMOST Ready to ditch cable

[Deleted]

We kept cable because DH liked to watch sports (yeah, I know you can get the games streamed for a price).  I also couldn't get past the mental block of figuring out Roku, Hulu, Netflix, etc. and DH was getting less capable of figuring out new technology.  Then when DH got sick, I got Netflix up and running so he'd have more stuff to watch, and found lots of things I liked- so much, in fact, that I'm ready to get rid of our cable plan.

Yesterday I got MagicJack working on our phone (had to change the number, which is unfortunate).  Took only one chat with Tech Support.  I also bought a Roku box for the downstairs TV and realized after some research that it wasn't a good match with the old technology (not a flat-screen TV- the big, bulky version with no HDMI ports).  Today I went back to Costco and found a "Roku TV"- it had Roku built in (meaning I can now return the $100 Roku box I had bought) and was marked down from $250 to $200 because the box had been opened.  Win-Win!

It was SO easy to set up.  I did have to consult the manual again to figure out how to turn the sound on, but now when DS, DDIL and the granddaughters visit they'll have a working TV.  DS and DDIL love "Chopped" and "Iron Chef", so they'll have to find similar shows on Netflix.  Movies include "Finding Dory" and "Zootopia" so I think the older granddaughter is covered.

What started all this was my latest bill from Comcast/Xfinity.  The rate for my package was supposedly guaranteed for 2 years (started 7/2015).  The bill went up from $130 to $135 and I saw that, while the package had stayed the same, they add on a couple of separate fees for broadcast TV and something else that went up last month.  So, their $5 increase just led me to drop a $130/month service.  Looks like Google Fiber will give me faster Internet for $50/month.

The savings will pay for the new TV really fast!  And I suspect that I won't have any trouble getting rid of the old TV by listing it as Free Stuff on Craigslist.

[Happy prose]

Good luck. How do you get Google Fiber?

[Deleted]

Feb 11, 2017 19:41:18 GMT -5 Happy prose said:

Good luck. How do you get Google Fiber?

It has to be installed in your area, but it's available in mine (KC suburb).

[Deleted]

Yes on getting rid of the old school tv for free on CL.  These get harder and harder to get rid of.  The thrift stores don't want them.

When my ex-BF moved out, he left a heavy 32" placed on a high shelf in the sunroom.  It took him, a fire fighter, and his strong SIL to put it up there.  He didn't leave it out of kindness.  I managed to find someone who wanted a free tv, but it still wasn't easy to get down.  It involved a cedar chest strong enough to stand on and a table to serve as a midpoint for lifting it down.

That was 8 years ago.  I'd have to pay to get it down now.  

[weltschmerz]

The savings will pay for the new TV really fast!  And I suspect that I won't have any trouble getting rid of the old TV by listing it as Free Stuff on Craigslist.

Ha! Even when I put my old TV out on the curb, along with the manual, remote and a sign saying "Works Great!", nobody took it. It sat there for weeks, until the local schoolkids kicked in the screen.

[Deleted]

Feb 11, 2017 21:50:54 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Ha! Even when I put my old TV out on the curb, along with the manual, remote and a sign saying "Works Great!", nobody took it. It sat there for weeks, until the local schoolkids kicked in the screen.

I promise to post an update when I list it. My experience has been that the Craigslist crowd will grab nearly anything if it's free (one exception being scrap lumber). DH once speculated that they probably try to sell stuff at flea markets and throw it out if they can't sell it after a few tries.

[NoNamePerson]

Feb 11, 2017 23:19:38 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Feb 11, 2017 21:50:54 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Ha! Even when I put my old TV out on the curb, along with the manual, remote and a sign saying "Works Great!", nobody took it. It sat there for weeks, until the local schoolkids kicked in the screen.

I promise to post an update when I list it. My experience has been that the Craigslist crowd will grab nearly anything if it's free (one exception being scrap lumber). DH once speculated that they probably try to sell stuff at flea markets and throw it out if they can't sell it after a few tries.

Reminds me of the time my son put some scrap lumber and other stuff out in front of his business and put a sign "Free" on top of pile. It sat for two days. He then put a sign "For Sale" on pile. It was gone overnight!!!

[bookkeeper]

I just got rid of the timbers that were left in my yard when I bought the house five years ago.

I advertised them on Craigslist for $25. If something is free, often there is little interest. If you charge a small price, it seems to go.

I still had people lowballing and demanding delivery but a very nice couple came with a trailer and cash and took my eyesore away.

[bookkeeper]

We walked away from Dish Network and a $75/month cable bill in 2014 when we sold our last house and moved.

We installed air antennas in both our houses and never looked back.

We can easily afford the money the cable was costing us, we could not afford the inactivity or poor eating choices in front of the tv.

Having less tv to watch has translated into more outdoor time and smaller waistlines. DH has even read a few books just for fun.

We did get lucky enough to get a relative's cable login and password so we can watch Husker football at home. You put two kids through university, you become a huge fan.

[Deleted]

Feb 12, 2017 9:49:21 GMT -5 bookkeeper said:

We can easily afford the money the cable was costing us, we could not afford the inactivity or poor eating choices in front of the tv.

Having less tv to watch has translated into more outdoor time and smaller waistlines. DH has even read a few books just for fun.

I watch TV after dinner.  Period.  I share your concern that expanding it (and with Netflix there's plenty to enjoy) would expand my waistline, too.

I also pay a lot of attention to my ongoing monthly costs.  By buying an iPhone almost 3 years ago instead of leasing it, switching to a lower data allowance and then switching to Ting, I estimate that I've saved over $2,000 in 27 months.  The phone cost $550 but it has some residual value.  Dropping cable will be the same- saving $60-$70/month going forward after the one-time cost of $200 for the new TV plus, apparently, an early termination fee of $50 from Comcast.  It will be worth it.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

The local Goodwill takes old style TVs back, they package them up to be recycled for parts.  It's just easier going it this way....

[Kolt!]

Man. I got rid of cable ages ago! It's so costly... and I hate commercials now because I have netflix...I refuse to sit through commercials now...like I just wait for something to come on amazon or netflix to avoid them.

I have Amazon Prime and Netflix and it cost me far less a month than cable. I pay about 18 dollars a month for these subscriptions combined. And Amazon Prime comes with far more then just movies and tv shows... books, shipping, reduced cost on certain items... it's awesome...

Cable cost around here like... 50-80 dollars if not more..it's insane.

I only miss the cooking channel, lol. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Yay for sales! We only keep cable for the live sports. We actually use our several years-old Wii for both Amazon Prime TV and Netflix. I bet you could get one of those off of someone for gosh darn cheap. 

[Deleted]

Well, that didn't turn out as planned.  Although my neighborhood is wired for Google Fiber (previous owner showed us where they'd dug up and replaced the end of his driveway to run cables) it appears that my "Fiberhood" is "Under Construction".  My guess is that they don't have enough people subscribed yet.  Boo.

I checked the Comcast competitors (Verizon, etc.)- not available in my area.  I called Comcast after checking options on their Web site.  What a fiasco.  I'm currently paying $135/month for phone plus Internet at 250 mbps + lots of TV channels.  Keeping that speed, and going to Internet only would cost-$145/month.  Umm, no.  Finally got it down to $70/month for 150 mbps plus basic channels.  Two-year contract with early termination fee of $300, but that decreases by $30 every 3 months.  (Yeah, I know, that's less than pro rata.)  At least I didn't have to pay the junk fees for modem lease and an installation fee.  Then near the end of the call the Internet went down.

I did the modem reset thing- turned off the modem and computer, brought up the modem and then the computer again.  All is well.  I suppose it zoned out as they changed settings.  Well, at least I'm saving around $60/month.  Mission accomplished.  If and when Google Fiber is available I'll have a decision to make.

[souldoubt]

I finally cut the cord a few months back.  I already had amazon streaming (prime) and netflix then I added Hulu without commercials and the cheapest sling option.  At the end of the day I'm saving over $400 a year because I'm no longer paying for cable boxes or what seem like random taxes to the cable company.  Every year I did a dance with the cable company where my old "deal" expired and they tried raising my rates, I called threatening to leave and they cut it a bit but it still went up in the end.  I'm a big sports fan which was the biggest reason I waited so long and now that I cut the cord I wish I had done it sooner.  I realize that I don't miss shows like I thought I would because I don't see commercials for them and I've got more than I can ever watch at my disposal.  The only channels I don't have that I wish I had on sling are CBS and ABC but at least ABC has a free streaming option (with commercials) and the shows of theirs I like are on Amazon and/or Hulu.  I still get the NFL games on the NFL network and FOX through sling which also has some movie channels and many of the channels on sling have streaming options for current seasons shows.  

[andi9899]

Feb 11, 2017 19:46:41 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Feb 11, 2017 19:41:18 GMT -5 Happy prose said:

Good luck. How do you get Google Fiber?

It has to be installed in your area, but it's available in mine (KC suburb).

I didn't realize you were in KC. Me too! I just cut the cable and am getting Google Fiber too! I can't wait to be done with TWC. I'm still figuring out Sling. But I have Netflix and Hulu set up with roku.

[gooddecisions]

I am so jealous of anyone who can get google fiber or an equally inexpensive internet option. Verizon and Comcast are the only two options in my area. Internet alone will cost $100 after the introductory rate so once you add Netflix and Hulu, you're not saving much.

So I haven't cut cable yet. I DVR anything we might watch and fast forward through commercials, if the program has them. The t.v. doesn't come on until after dinner and it is too dark to be outside.

on the other hand, I use google's cellular plan and only pay $25/month for my cell phone and it has been great.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Feb 13, 2017 10:37:03 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Well, that didn't turn out as planned.  Although my neighborhood is wired for Google Fiber (previous owner showed us where they'd dug up and replaced the end of his driveway to run cables) it appears that my "Fiberhood" is "Under Construction".  My guess is that they don't have enough people subscribed yet.  Boo.

I checked the Comcast competitors (Verizon, etc.)- not available in my area.  I called Comcast after checking options on their Web site.  What a fiasco.  I'm currently paying $135/month for phone plus Internet at 250 mbps + lots of TV channels.  Keeping that speed, and going to Internet only would cost-$145/month.  Umm, no.  Finally got it down to $70/month for 150 mbps plus basic channels.  Two-year contract with early termination fee of $300, but that decreases by $30 every 3 months.  (Yeah, I know, that's less than pro rata.)  At least I didn't have to pay the junk fees for modem lease and an installation fee.  Then near the end of the call the Internet went down.

I did the modem reset thing- turned off the modem and computer, brought up the modem and then the computer again.  All is well.  I suppose it zoned out as they changed settings.  Well, at least I'm saving around $60/month.  Mission accomplished.  If and when Google Fiber is available I'll have a decision to make.

Yeah....we ran into this too.  As Comcast is our only reliable internet service in the area, we are kind of stuck.  Verizon FIOS has been advertising heavily, but they are no place close to where we live.

[justme]

Feb 13, 2017 11:33:02 GMT -5 souldoubt said:

I finally cut the cord a few months back.  I already had amazon streaming (prime) and netflix then I added Hulu without commercials and the cheapest sling option.  At the end of the day I'm saving over $400 a year because I'm no longer paying for cable boxes or what seem like random taxes to the cable company.  Every year I did a dance with the cable company where my old "deal" expired and they tried raising my rates, I called threatening to leave and they cut it a bit but it still went up in the end.  I'm a big sports fan which was the biggest reason I waited so long and now that I cut the cord I wish I had done it sooner.  I realize that I don't miss shows like I thought I would because I don't see commercials for them and I've got more than I can ever watch at my disposal.  The only channels I don't have that I wish I had on sling are CBS and ABC but at least ABC has a free streaming option (with commercials) and the shows of theirs I like are on Amazon and/or Hulu.  I still get the NFL games on the NFL network and FOX through sling which also has some movie channels and many of the channels on sling have streaming options for current seasons shows.  

You know you can get an antenna and should get CBS and ABC...plus the other networks.

[souldoubt]

Not necessarily.  A friend of mine tried doing that and all he got were a bunch of local channels most of which were in other languages.  For him maybe it's where he mounted the antenna and maybe I'd have better luck.  Frankly I have more than I can ever watch and the only reason I would want CBS is for live streaming of NFL games but I can walk to the local bar to watch every game being played for free.  I'd rather stream the ABC shows I want from them or even Hulu/Amazon so I can watch them whenever I want instead of needing to be in front of the TV at a certain time.  I've realized that I don't miss shows/channels/cable like I thought I would because they're out of site out of mind.

[Deleted]

Feb 13, 2017 12:41:36 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

Feb 11, 2017 19:46:41 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

It has to be installed in your area, but it's available in mine (KC suburb).

I didn't realize you were in KC. Me too! I just cut the cable and am getting Google Fiber too! I can't wait to be done with TWC. I'm still figuring out Sling. But I have Netflix and Hulu set up with roku.

I'll be interested to see if you can actually get Google Fiber operational.  As I said I found out this morning that our area is wired but apparently they're not hooking anyone up yet.  They took my $10 deposit, though.

[andi9899]

Feb 13, 2017 14:17:36 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Feb 13, 2017 12:41:36 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

I didn't realize you were in KC. Me too! I just cut the cable and am getting Google Fiber too! I can't wait to be done with TWC. I'm still figuring out Sling. But I have Netflix and Hulu set up with roku.

I'll be interested to see if you can actually get Google Fiber operational.  As I said I found out this morning that our area is wired but apparently they're not hooking anyone up yet.  They took my $10 deposit, though.

They said it might take up to 6 months. My mom has them and she lives less than 5 miles from me. She said it took them more than one month but less than six to get hers up and running. We'll see.

[Deleted]

Feb 13, 2017 14:20:52 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

Feb 13, 2017 14:17:36 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

I'll be interested to see if you can actually get Google Fiber operational.  As I said I found out this morning that our area is wired but apparently they're not hooking anyone up yet.  They took my $10 deposit, though.

They said it might take up to 6 months. My mom has them and she lives less than 5 miles from me. She said it took them more than one month but less than six to get hers up and running. We'll see.

Thanks- at this point I hope they take awhile.  Not surprisingly, I'm now on a 2-yera contract with Comcast with a $300 Early Cancellation Penalty that reduces by $30 every 3 months starting one month from now (so, in mid-June it would go down to $270, mid-September to $240, etc.)  But if Google Fiber comes through I'd pay it just to get rid of Comcast.  To be fair, service and reliability have been just fine, but I don't like the hocus-pocus of their pricing policies and Google Fiber is faster.

[Sam_2.0]

We have Google Fiber We were in Raytown when they first came through, paid our deposit, and the week they installed it we moved. Then we had to wait again for it to come out to our new area, pay a new deposit, and we've had it up & running for over a year now. I told Andi earlier, it's good and certainly better than the ATT we had before, but I wasn't completely wowed by it. Has a lot to do with the equipment you use with it too. Their router is ok but we hooked up our own to get better coverage within the house. If you need a lot of access points or coverage through 3 floors then you may want to look at a different router.

We have the full package - TV + internet. We are saving money vs. DirecTV + ATT but not a lot. With the sports we watch it doesn't make sense to drop the cable though. We would have to piecemeal it all together to the point where I would rather just pay for one service and be done with it. I know we watch way too much TV, but our kiddos still go to bed at 7 so we are stuck at home after that. I need something to entertain me!

[andi9899]

I'm trying to figure out Sling. I get that I can watch stuff when it's on, but I don't know how to save it for later. Can I not do this?

[justme]

Feb 13, 2017 17:09:50 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

I'm trying to figure out Sling. I get that I can watch stuff when it's on, but I don't know how to save it for later. Can I not do this?

I don't think you can. I believe you can only watch live or from their on demand type stuff. At least that's what my bro mentioned.

[souldoubt]

Actually on some of the channels available from sling you can go back so many days and watch a show that's already played.  You can't fast forward but you can pause, turn it off and start over from the beginning or where you paused it at.  With sling there's no way I'm aware of to record shows like you would with your cable box that you can watch later.  That said a lot of the channels we watch have streaming options available - NBC, Scyfi, HGTV, etc.  They also have 4 encore movie channels that have streaming options.

[andi9899]

I'm going to have to call and find out how to do this then. If I can only watch live, it's of no use to me as my schedule is all over the place. Glad I got two months free when I bought the Roku stick.