Cutting the Cord & More
Cutting the cord is both easy, and annoying. The annoying part comes from the fact there are far too many streaming services these days (it was far simpler back when I cancelled cable). Instead of working with the original services (Like Netflix and Hulu), everyone decided to branch out on their own, and it can feel like having cable all over again. Tons of channels and lots of expense.
The good part? There are a lot of free streaming services, and some of them actually have quality content. And if you’re lucky you can do password sharing with friends and family, if you all have different pay streaming services, and are willing to share with one another (unfortunately Netflix is going to crack down on that). One of the other tricks is to sign up for the free preview, binge the stuff you wanted to check out, and then cancel. It’s a good thing streaming services don’t lock you into a contract, so you can cancel anytime, and let’s hope it stays that way.
I cut the cord from cable a long time ago, and am a current Disney+ subscriber (with the Hulu package). When I originally canceled cable I started out with just Netflix and Hulu, at the time it fulfilled my TV viewing needs (and back then Hulu was actually free), and of course I also watch a lot of YouTube.
But I didn’t stop at cable, I also got rid of cell phone and internet plans that lock you in. I’m currently using a prepaid BoostMobile service for my cell, paying $35 a month, and I have a prepaid XFinity internet, which is $45 a month. I’ve heard complaints about XFinity prepaid, but I’ve had no problem with using the internet, streaming, and online gaming. Even when more than one person is using the internet.
Personally, my favorite part is the freedom of prepaid and streaming services, but it doesn’t hurt that it has also saved me some money. Ten years ago, back when I had a cable/internet plan, and a cell phone plan, I was paying around $250 a month for all of it. Now with prepaid and streaming services I’m paying about $95 a month (internet, cell phone, Disney+). It still kind of seems like a lot, and there are ways to get some of it even cheaper, but that sometimes calls for sacrificing some quality. For example, there are some prepaid cell phone plans for $15 – $20 a month, but those have limited wifi (which works for my roomie, but not for me).
As I said, it’s been awhile since I cut the cord, and I honestly haven’t looked into cable plans to see if they have gone down over time. But it wouldn’t matter to me even if they did, as I currently have no desire to be locked into a plan that I can’t cancel when I want/need to.
I’m still not done looking into ways to save money, while keeping these “luxuries”. The options written in this post are simply what is working best for me at the moment. Do you have any ideas to share?
