What Do You Spend on Home Entertainment?

I'm entering my third year of "dancing with the devil", also known as "buying cable service from Comcast." I'll detail my dealings with them in a future post, but before I do, I wanted to ask you all the following:

What do you spend (per month) on home entertainment?

I'd like to know what cable (Comcast, Time Warner, etc.), movie (Net Flix, Blockbuster, Red Box), web service, etc. you use to watch shows/movies at home, how much you pay per month, and what services you get (HD, how many channels, etc.) -- or if you do none of this at all (or have an alternative strategy.)

I want to compare myself to the average FMF reader and see where my spending is versus yours. So if you'd let me know what you do and how much it costs, I'd appreciate it. (FYI, I'll be using this information for my upcoming Comcast update.)

Comments

[Matt]

Wide Open West, WOW Cable. Basic cable of 78 channels with 2 converter boxes for our tube tv's. Channels are now HD. Internet and basic telephone bundle.We use our cell phones for long diatance calls. Internet is way faster than old ATT DSL. Out the door bill with all taxes and necessary items $90 a month. I love WOW cable.

My son watches Hulu, old shows via the web.
My son's xbox is conncected to the net. He online games with his year subscription. Not sure of price.

No netflix or red box. Rarely rent a movie and that is our local family video store.

[Easychange]

Comcast. 2hd boxes. Phone and Internet. ~210 per month.
Netflix. 1 disk+streaming. 16-18 bucks I think.
Movies 3-5x per year at 40 bucks a pop.
Redbox about 5x yearly at 2 bucks a pop.
iPhone music and apps about 90 bucks/year.

[dcs]

I spend $111.94/mo with Comcast - Digital Starter ($60.98 no idea how many channels) and "performance internet service" ($46.95) whatever that is speed-wise. I have 1 TV, not HD. Once, maybe twice per year I'll rent a movie though Amazon or Comcast On Demand (I think they are $3 each).

I recently downgraded from a higher tier on the TV service, reducing that bill by about $40/month and frequently contemplate cutting it more but never do.

[Robert]

$116.71 for Comcast Cable & Internet (I'd happily drop the cable if the wife wouldn't complain.)
$16.95 for Netflix (dropped streaming when they changed their pricing plans)
About $20 a month (average) for ebooks from Amazon.
About $5 a month (average) for movies & popcorn/soda in the theater.

So my total per month for entertainment is roughly $160.

[Jon]

$54.99 for Internet (Time Warner 10Mb connection)
7.99 for Netflix
7.99 for Hulu plus (trying it out for a couple of months)
about ~6 a month at Redbox

[JM]

No cable TV. Cable internet is currently $30/month as an introductory price, goes up to $45 then $60 (though I think we should be moving by then to a house and we will switch from Comcast to Verizon FIOS for obvious reasons). Redbox maybe an average of once a month for $1 each time. Hulu (not Hulu Plus), official show websites, Amazon Prime (which we got for the free shipping, not the free content), and other Internet content more than make up for the no cable.

[buhler]

Netflix was 9.99 now 7.99 for the new streaming only service.
FIOS $50/month

[Andy]

Comcast basic cable = $9/month
Netflix = $8/month
Verizon Fios Internet = $55/month

Stream things through Hulu, ESPN3 and various other websites for free.

[Nicole]

Blockbuster delivery - $20.00
DishNetwor - $32.00
Redbox- maybe $5.00 per month?

[Megan]

$30 monthly Internet
$8? New Netflix streaming only plan
We get movies from Redbox or Blockbuster when free codes come out.

[Rod]

$35 a month for internets. (Qwest)
$11 for netflix
$9 for hulu
Bought a roku so that I can stream whatever I want through it in Full HD. That thing is awesome.
Local channels on the antenna but I find most of the stuff on normal TV to be revolting and refuse to watch it.
I am a geek so we have alot of laptops, computers, Ipad etc... We all end of watching something different.

[billyjobob]

Dish network $46 per month. Includes HD DVR and I get Starz movies for a year. After that I might pay $13-14 for a movie channels.

[JimL]

We combine our phone, Internet and cable into one bill with Time Warner. We pay a combined amount of $180/month. We have 4 HD boxes, 2 with DVR's. We also have the HD package of channels.

We will probably be breaking up the package to different companies when we switch to Directv.

[Shannon]

Dish network for $40 per month - that's a serious special with all the movies channels free for three months. That's 2 TVs with one DVR. HD channels are free. We'll end up paying around $60 after the first three months - we'll just keep Starz or HBO. We've got Internet with Time Warner - $35/month. Used to have Netflix, now we do Blockbuster Express and get DVD's for $1 if we can't wait until they come out on Dish.

[LotharBot]

Netflix streaming about $10
Fiber Internet, our share is about $12.50
Hulu and other tv-watching sites, free

I also pay about $100 per year for a sports streaming package, so that amortizes out to $8/month.

[Ry]

We got a promotion with Comcast for 15 mbps internet, $19.99 per month for the first year and $35 per month for the second year. No cable.

Netflix 1-DVD at a time is $8 per month.

Redbox occasionally, adds up to about $12 per year.

[Matt]

2 Rooms DirecTV (1 HD DVR, 1 Standard Box) - $48/mo
Comcast Xfinity Internet (2 yr promotion) - $14.99/mo
Wife and I each have Verizon smartphones w/ data packages - $135/mo

Occasionally, get DVDs by Redbox ($1)or stream them through Vudu ($3.99) for newest releases or if I'm too lazy to drive to a Redbox.

Use Hulu (The free service, not paid) for tv shows that I miss or want to catch up on.

I was sooooo close to dropping DirecTV solely because Hulu provides enough television in my busy schedule and not having a satellite package reminds you to go outside in the summer, but I like sports too much and there isn't a good way to get football and baseball online that I'm aware of.

[Brad]

$104 for Charter Communications which gets me 1 DVR box plus their HD lineup and cable internet service
Also Netflix at 7.99 a month for streaming only plan

[StLpastor]

45$ for charter internet
8$ for netflix
the cell phone's 25$ a month data plan always feels like a home entertainment expense as well.

[Christy]

$110/mo Comcast "Digital Starter" Cable, plus Internet. I'm guessing there are about 50 channels and i'm not sure if it is HD, but I don't think so.
$8/mo for Netflix "streaming only" - cancelled the DVDs since they changed the pricing.
I also have videos/TV available through Amazon Prime which is $70/year, and we can watch Netflix and Comcast Xfinity through our mobile phones.

[Old Limey]

$88.41 for Comcast - Extended Basic + 1 DVR box and 3 standard boxes.
$17.31 for Netflix 3 DVDs/at home.
Total $105.72/month and good value for money.

My Internet is not home entertainment.

[Traciatim]

15Mbps down/15Mbps up Fiber Internet: $60
Netflix: $8
MMO Supscription x2: $30
Indie/Steam Sale Games: $15-20

Every month or so I buy an indie game or steam sale game or some other sub $20 game, either for me or the kids. This adds up pretty quick to have a pretty huge collection of games to play. I find games so much better for entertainment than movies or TV because at least your brain has to do something, even if it is just simple.

[Economically Humble]

$10 a month for Qwest Internet (we kept calling and they kept lowering our rate)
$7.99 for HULU
$8 for netflix.

I'm a graduate student so I like to keep things inexpensive, when possible.

[KaseyD]

Wow, am I the first TiVo subscriber???

$14 for TiVo
$8 for NetFlix
$0 to $4 for Amazon Video

plus $40/month for AT&T Elite (768 Kbps up/6.0 Mbps down) which is more than adequate for streaming.

[Walden]

We have our internet, phone and cable bundled with Comcast for (recently renegotiated 2 year contract) $150/month. This includes high-speed wireless internet, 2 HD cable boxes (1 with DVR), and all the major premium channels (HBO, Starz, Cinemax, Encore).

We also have Netflix. Currently we have 2 Blu-Ray discs at a time plus the instant streaming. The price just rose a few dollars to $23/month. We are getting rid of the discs altogether since we have so many premium channels. We will keep the instant streaming to use on the iPad/Wii, I that's $8/month.

Other than that, I buy a couple Kindle books each month (using gift cards) and get everything else at the library (free!). We buy a few iTunes albums/songs/apps every now and again, but we usually have gift cards for that as well.

[Jeffrey A. Haines]

My wife and I are both in our early 20s, and as such, are voracious consumers of popular media. Luckily, we've been able to ween ourselves off some of the more expensive multimedia delivery options.

We currently have the 1 DVD Netflix plan, but will be dropping the DVD portion at the end of this month due to the price increase. We generally substitute "Watch Instantly" for what would be our Cable TV viewing, and going forward, this will cost $8 a month.

Our only other home entertainment cost is our internet connection. We use Verizon FiOS, and have been very happy with the service. Our plan costs about $50 a month.

[JP]

$35 for internet service
$11 for Netflix (streaming + 1 DVD)
$0 for antenna TV

I dropped the cable connection when I moved the last time. Don't really miss it other than some live sports. I may get the NBA pass if I can watch any game online for a reasonable price.

For those thinking of cutting cable TV, plug your coax into a potato and reprogram your TV. It will give you an idea of what stations you might get over the air (for FREE).

[Jonathan]

We live next door to my in-laws. When we got married, our house already had a satellite dish and so we moved the DVR receiver my wife had in her bedroom at her parents' to our house and her parents still pay the additional $5 per month for the extra receiver. So free satellite TV (basic package - no movie channels except during promotional weekends). They also have FiOS internet and installed a wifi router in the room closest to our house so we have internet. We rent movies from blockbuster maybe once a month, so total cost on TV/movies/internet is approximately $5 per month.

[Claire]

Comcast HD Extended Basic runs us about $96/month.
Comcast Internet is paid for by work at about $45/month
We have appleTV and occasionally rent a movie on there, but I have a ton of iTunes gift cards, so that's usually free.

[Matt Kennedy]

$157 for AT&T U-Verse. U200 and 5mbps.

$10 for Netflix streaming via Roku HD. Love it. Considering Hulu Plus.

One thing I haven't seen much of here is discussion about HTPCs. Home Theater Personal Computer, for those not up on the lingo. A friend has one and loves it. I'm strongly considering it, but shy on pulling the trigger 'cause I'd struggle to find a lot of the shows we watch, primarily on USA and Discovery.

Has anyone gone this route?

[LL]

$38 for Dish Network - HD, 200 channels, DVR for two tvs.

$34 for Time Warner internet - 3Mbps download speed

$11 for Netflix - streaming with 1 DVD, which will change to streaming only at month end, then it will be $8.

[Jenna]

$50 for Comcast "economy" internet & basic cable (it's split about $35/$15)
$10 (will be $8) for Netflix

Not sure what our internet speed is, but it's fast enough to stream Netflix videos through our Blu-Ray. As much as the sales rep tried to convince me that it was going to be so much slower by downgrading, we hardly noticed a difference when we switched.

For basic cable, we get the network channels, music channels, shopping channels, and a handful of other channels I thought were cable (Oxygen, Ion). No boxes, so no DVR service, but most of the channels broadcast in HD, so that's not any extra on our bill.

We got rid of our fancy digital cable package over a year ago. Even then, we were on the lowest plan and probably got several hundred channels. We maybe watched 5 of them regularly (outside network channels). It wasn't worth the extra $50 or so. We don't miss it.

[jeffbone]

Roughly $100/month with the devil (Comcast) for the digital starter package on one TV and expanded basic on the rest, and "Performance" Internet service. It used to be about $90 until Comcast went all-digital, and forced everyone in my area to rent digital terminal adapters for all outlets beyond the first two. They claim this action was an upgrade, but providing the same service at greater cost sure doesn't seem like an "upgrade" to me. On the other hand, I'm entering the fourth year of being on a double-play "special promotion". I call them every time the promotion expires and threaten to leave (not a bluff, either) for DirectTV and/or FiOS, which prompts them to renew the promotional rate.

No streaming services of any kind. I've investigated the HTPC/Hulu/etc. idea but haven't gone much further than concept exploration at this point.

[Gene]

We have no cable. We use a rooftop antenna and digital converter boxes to get quite a few local channels in Columbus, OH.

However, we do have AT&T internet for $25.00 a month. It is seldom used for movies, but I have watched a few old TV shows on Hulu.

[Sarah]

We are in the process of switching ours up right now, so I have all these numbers offhand:
Wow Internet + Cable = $83 ($30 goes towards TV)
we are dropping the Cable portion, and only doing Internet.
Netflix - $12 (1 dvd + streaming)
we are dropping the dvd, and going to streaming only (which will be $8)

So right now, entertainment only (not counting internet) we spend $42. We will pick up hulu plus, which is also $8/month, and will be spending $16 after next month.

We did have a one-time cost of buying a Roku (to assist with streaming - if you have a blue-ray player you don't need this though I guess) and we will have a one-time cost of buying a digital signal converter since we have an old CRT TV that pre-dates digital air signals.

[Sarah]

I should add - I don't think we will miss the DVD portion of netflix. We rent occasionally (very very occasionally) from Amazon - so if there is something we really wanted to see that wasn't available on streaming we would probably get it from Amazon (for around $3) or get it from Redbox (which is always iffy as to if they have what you want, but is only $1) - I anticipate that this will be around 3-4 times a year tops, so much less than the Netflix price-hike.

[JimL]

Matt,

I have used a HTPC in my previous home theater. There is a section on the avsforum devoted solely to HTPC's. It is a nice option if you are using an OTA and/or you have burned all your discs onto drives.

Check out the forums at:

www.avsforum.com

[texashaze]

DirecTV for 2 TV's with DVR/HD @ $78/mo
Netflix 2 discs + streaming (we'll be dropping this now that school has started)
Redbox @ $5/month (we rent about 3 blu-rays/mo... we'll do this instead of netflix)

[Unlcle El]

Optimum Online triple play Bundle w/HBO 1 HD DVR box-120 a month, Reg package w/all the HD channels included. No on Demand as this is 5 extra a month.
NEtLix-10.50 a month 1 dvd+streaming through my TV, But I hear this service is going up to 16.99. (Probably will not cancel it)
Future Total = 136.99 a month for TV.
Pretty ridiculous if you ask me.

[Pam]

Second TiVo user here.

Cable TV: $35
Tivo no-subscription DVR: $0
Verizon DSL: $20
Free DVDs from local library and Redbox (with free promos): $0

Total $55.

You'd be surprised at how much good content you get with basic cable with a DVR like TiVo. I find that I do not have to get DVDs from library or Redbox much because I have so many recorded options on TiVo.

[Kathy F]

Comcast Cable TV- very limited basic, about 20 channels for $20 per month. It is the only way I can get TV at all since the antenna on top of my condo building does not get a signal anymore.

Netflix DVD only for about $8 per month.

Verizon DSL internet for about $40 per month. My condo building is not set up for FIOS yet.

[jim]

$130 (now 122) for Comcast cable TV.
$11 for Netflix
$95 for phone+internet

We overspend on this stuff and I know it.

We have one of the higher end cable packages with a zillion channels, HBO, HD, DVR, and a sports package. But thanks for the reminder on how much money I'm wasting. I just called em and canceled the $8 sports package that we haven't been using much. I could cut the cost if I bundled services or shopped between vendors for a discount deal, but we've been house shopping and may move sooner or later so I've been reluctant to do that. However since I thought about that I asked them and they said if we move then I can just move the service and contract so I might start shopping for a better deal now anyway.

The phone/internet is a different company so we're not getting a bundle discount. Our phone has several options like caller ID & call waiting that they charge more for. Its also $5-6 just for long distance service that we never use. I've been meaning to switch long distance to at least cut that $5-6. We have a home security system that requires a landline plus my wife likes the security of 911 via landline. Our internet is fast fiberoptic like 30mbs or something for $45-50. They don't have cheaper internet options which is crazy.

I've tried hulu and other free internet TV and for some reason the reliability has been poor and I hate watching a video that freezes or has to buffer randomly. Netflix streaming worked great for us, but after they raised their rates we decided to drop streaming and use DVD only.

Do I win a prize for wasting the most money? ;-)

[Bre]

$33/month for internet service (Time Warner)
$8/month for Netflix (streaming only)
$0/month for antenna TV

[HomerS]

$0 - Cable (Pair of old rabbit ears in the attic. We're in a major market and get plenty of channels.)

$15 - Internet (3Mbps DSL.)

As JimL mentioned above, avsforum.com was a great source to get my HTPC set up.

[Nashville]

Embarrassing but true:

DirecTv - $160.00 per month for all 250+ channels (except some special HD and adult channels) 4 boxes, all DVR, 2 HD, 2 standard. Looked into cutting premium movie channels a fe times but going a la cart was not going to save me much.

Phone/Internet - $115.00 per month for local phone, unlimited long distance, caller ID, etc, and DSL internet.

But we rarely go out to the movies or dinner. There, that made me feel much better.

[Matt]

$0/month - Antenna
$38.95/month - Cable Internet
3x ATV2's w/XBMC @$69/each = BEST INVESTMENT EVER!

We stream all of our shows/movies. Easy setup, no extra moving parts, and all the shows/movies you can think of.

[Jeffinwesternwa]

No "pay" TV, I have a nice attic installed antenna (one time cost undere $50), I get 25 english and a few spanish channels just outside Portland, OR. Best picture (not compressed like cable or satellite) and all major and many minor( This, RTV, HSN, ATV) etc., ) ones too.

Wireless Internet via Cricket $45.20 mo includes taxes, unlimited use.
Netflix 2 @ mo and sometimes via download $6~ month
newspaper $11 a month includes tax and tip.
Maybe a redbox movie a month $1.25

No landline (cell phone only)

and I'm a multi millionaire too....

[Jclimber]

$30 for DSL (ATT)
No cable, just get all our TV from an antenna (about 15 channels or so).

Our landline is about $25 and I want to get rid of it but it's connected to the security system. So I have to wait until I swap the security system with one that Watchlight (Alarm Relay) supports.

[Anonymous]

Our personal austerity program includes no cable tv, no Netflix, etc. We could watch stuff on hulu or Amazon Prime but with a small child at home, who has time?

We do go to the movies maybe 1x-2x month. Tickets are about $8 per person here.

[laura]

$20 basic cable + all HBO channels (included in HOA fees)
$8 netflix - streaming only
$12 or so for HD cable box
$75 or so for high speed internet
$30 or so for kindle books and Zinio mags

We went crazy buying every board game our first few years of marriage only to play incessant backgammon on the ipad. we still do play board games but i'm not sure how you would add up that cost.

Maybe $40 a season for HD Flashpoint on itunes. when i forget to tape a show or the computer shuts down, i'll watch some cable shows on the internet.

I buy the entire series of tv shows when I can find them or when they are on sale. I got Castle for $15 a season, etc. Usually I buy the old shows that aren't found anywhere like Relic Hunter or Scarecrow and Mrs. King. That adds up to be about $200 a year at the most maybe? I think i found the complete series of Middleman for $8 at Half Price books (unopened) and Daybreak on sale at Best Buy for $7. These are great for watching between the regular and summer seasons and during holidays when there is nothing on.

@ Matt
We have a mac mini ($400) with an Eye TV ($100?) hooked up to it. We use a projector ($300) for the screen ($100). Much, much cheaper than a large screen TV. And the HD cable is crystal clear. BEE-YOO-TI-FUL. We get anywhere from 70 viewing inches to 100 depending on the source.

We also have an ancient PC with a $50 blue ray player in it that works fine. We have it hooked up to a switch so I just press a button and the projector flips between the two. The graphics card in the ancient PC is fine, but the one in the mac mini isn't keeping up so we may sell it and buy a better computer.

Our cable company screwed up MSNBC. It won't come through. HGTV comes through on the correct channel and on the MSNBC channels and they won't fix it. So I get suze orman on itunes. The quality difference is night and day. the non HD itunes is awful. But it's free! And at least i get to listen to it.