We’ve moved to a new home. As part of our ongoing money saving efforts, we decided to do away with basic cable and move to the simplest available package- network channels only.
Tip1: Your cable company offers this option even if they don’t actively advertise it!
We greatly enjoy TV. But we don’t like the cost or the habit. How often have you skimmed through over 100 channels (or more) just to declare, “There’s nothing good on tonight!” And how easy is it to settle on the couch to brainlessly watch whatever happens to be on the TV while finishing off yet another bowl of chips?
We will miss some of our favorite stations: Food Network, Bravo, Nickelodeon. But the shows we most enjoy can be found on DVD. Sure, we’ll always be behind a season or two, but who cares? DVDs work for us even though we don’t always purchase them. You can frequently score a Red Box movie rental for free if you follow their promotional codes. Netflix lost us as customers when they started messing around with the price structure. We didn’t cotton to that move, but a lot of our friends swear by Netflix streaming options as a cheap alternative to cable. We’ll be experimenting with streaming free programs from Hulu, etc., and we’ll post on those experiences soon. Don’t forget the benefits of a library card when it comes to enjoying a DVD for free!
We now allow Plum to purchase one TV program, or movie, on DVD per month to add to her viewing options. Our Bluey already has enough DVD choices since he enjoys watching programs over and over again. Mom and Dad have a constantly updated excel spreadsheet to track and add to our favorite TV show/movie ideas and their prices. We’ve recently begun watching Season 1 of Mad Men.
A hidden bonus to having a network only package is the secret channels they add into that package like, MeTV and RetroTV. Remember the original Star Trek? Have you watched it lately? We had a very enjoyable evening catching an episode that we would have easily skipped when we had more options. The costuming, staging, and acting are just priceless!
Tip2: When you cut your cable package back to its lowest level, your cable company will try very aggressively to get you to upgrade. It is in their corporate interest to have you numbered as a viewer of the higher tier channels. So they will start calling you regularly to try to get you to upgrade. When you have a minute, talk to them, hold your ground and you can end up with a pretty good deal. We usually start with “What package can yo give me that will not raise my bill?” Eventually, they will make us a better offer.