How to save money on television or cable bills.
While owning a television and subscribing to a cable network falls into the “want” category of life, many people view it as a necessity. This thinking will not change especially as TV/cable becomes more and more sophisticated and high tech in terms of quality and compelling content. Since obtaining the financial help for a cable TV bills is basically non-existent, we have some suggestions on saving money regarding television, including streaming services as well as cutting the cord.
Consider using a television antenna to receive free broadcast signals or only have one TV hooked up to cable, leaving the rest to antenna use. This cuts back on renting a converter box and it may cut the cable bill by a percentage of the TVs in the home. So if a family has 3 televisions, and they get a free signal for 2 of them, then they will save 67% on their monthly cable bills.
Please note: If a homeowner’s association or landlord tries to block the installation of an antenna due to the outside appearance of the home or apartment, the FCC’s “Over the Air” reception law can help. This federal government regulation prohibits associations and landlords from preventing residents from adding an antenna to their home.
Try a streaming service like Netflix, Hulu, YouTube or Amazon Prime which offer low priced viewing in the area of tens of dollars per month depending on the package you purchase and provider. This is known as cutting the cord. The price is much cheaper, and the amount of shows available to view is still very high.
No one can view the hundreds of channels available on cable so streaming is definitely worth consideration. These services typically have a huge selection of TV shows, movies and original programming. Some of the content may only be a day or so old, especially on Hulu. The content offered to consumers will meet every family members viewing preferences while helping them to put money back into their pocket book. If you have an older TV, a digital box or stick device can be purchased to connect to the streaming service. Find more details on cutting the cord to save on cable bills.
If pay per view is appealing to you for events from the WWE, the NFL network or ESPN, consider subscribing to the network online and then canceling the subscription after the event is over. So people may think this is illegal or unethical. It is say, as those companies can just prevent individuals from canceling if they wanted too.
For example, the WWE has an online network membership that costs under $15 per month while an individual event may be $50 or more each when purchased through the cable company. ESPN offers a streaming option that can rely cut back on a cable bills. It is for PlayStation game systems bundling their sports channels with 60 cable channels for under $50 per month.
Unless you urgently need to watch a show in real time, consider letting an entire season go by on regular cable TV In turn, the shows are usually released to DVD and streaming services which you can then watch without any delay or interruption. Once again, the cost may be several dollars total vs. spending hundreds of dollars per year on a regular cable TV package. Libraries also carry DVDs which you can borrow and watch for free.
If you or a family member enjoys video games, review the video options available through your game system as many streaming services may already be built into it. When available, it normally costs a fraction of what regular TV service may be. This option through a gaming system may also cost much less than cable.
Keep an eye out for free viewing or trial events from cable providers as well as satellite companies. Oftentimes they will provide free viewing for a designated amount of time for things like premium (think HBO or Showtime) and pay-channel content. Watch shows for free and record content to watch at a later date.
Again, remember cable is a WANT. That monthly bill is not required to provide the basics for your household. You can live without television. Use your income for food, housing, and more critical expenses. After all, you and your family’s financial and survival take priority. Also note that cable can easily be canceled until finances are more stabilized and then added back at a later take if the household budget allows.
Many people have dropped pay television due to the less expensive streaming services and over the air programs available through antenna. In fact, Nielsen reports that over the air television programming continues to increase by several hundred thousand viewers per year. All of these people are saving a substantial amount of money on their television costs. This proves that you can easily live without cable and be just fine.
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