Save Money by Canceling Your Cable

One year ago today I wrote: Money Saving Tip: Cancel Your Cable. Check it out if you're interested in saving a good chunk of change every month.

Comments

[twins15]

I can't live without all the sports on cable TV!! :)

[Stevek]

My wife and I went on a TV fast for the entire month of August. It was a great experience, and I highly recommend trying it. In addition to "quality time together", we rediscovered the joy of reading books. I also can feel just how much my mental skills atrophied over the years of just vegging in front of the TV. It's amazing how much extra time you'll find when there's no TV around. We still have Sudokus littering the family room.

Though we're back with TV, even watching my Washington "Re_skins" (they didn't have much "D", so I'm leaving it out) wasn't that big of a deal, and I sort of half watched it while reading a book.

I also have DirecTv, and I've heard (though not confirmed) that you can suspend your service for a period of time with them. So if you try a month without TV, you can already start saving! (We didn't do this so we could listen to the music channels for background music).

[Debt Free]

Even if you don't eliminate your cable TV entirely, many people pay top dollar for the various programming packages, when in fact they watch very few of the channels. You can cut back to the basic cable (still probably around $40-$50, depending upon your market), and get most of the good channels. If you're not wedded to some special sports or exclusive series, ditch the movie channels and get a cheap Netflix subsciption instead. You'll save huge money and still get plenty of quality programming, probably more than you should be watching anyway.

[Rhea]

I have gone back and forth over this question: Should I cancel the cable? I just keep rationalizing that the entertainment I get is worth it. I am a big reader and I do read less because of cable, but I just love so much of the stuff I see....

[ca48]

So far this is the most effective tip I've been informed of. Thanks for the suggestion, I really need to consider this. I hope my hubby agrees with it too.

[cory]

I've spent a few years with the bang-up cable package, and the past few years with virtually no cable at all (I say virtually, because I have the minimum available cable package. Broadcast reception in my area is unreliable, so I basically pay the Cable Company $9/mo for gauranteed reception). I enjoyed having cable, and I liked a lot of the programming choices available, but the weirdest thing happens when you drop cable: Even though you liked it and spent a lot of time with it, you don't miss it.