I've Cut the (Cable) Cord

So many people can't believe that I don't have cable. I can't believe that so many people are paying such outrageous prices just to watch TV.

About three years ago, when I moved into my new apartment, I didn't opt for cable. A few months after moving in, a gentleman came to my door offering cable. Told him I mainly watched network TV and wasn't interested. He convinced me to get "basic" cable (no boxes) for only $12.99/month. At this rate I said it was a great deal. Well.....


Nine months of enjoying the basic cable channels like TNT, FX, USA and MTV, I literally watched a Comcast guy come near my living room window and then I had no service. I immediately called, and was told that I had "limited basic" which only gave me access to channels 2 through 22. It was a mistake that I had been receiving "standard basic" cable. So then I pretty much just got network TV, QVC and some public access channels. And now the price was $14.99 per month.

I kept the "limited basic" because I still have Comcast as my internet provider. If I was to cut cable, then they would charge me an additional $10 for the internet. I figured the extra $5 wasn't bad since I didn't have to play with the antennae.

A few months ago Comcast changed their limited basic cable, I believe in another attempt to get me to upgrade to digital cable. They no longer offer HD channels with limited basic. And honestly, once you go HD, you can't go back. So if I wanted HD I'd have to get digital cable and pay extra for the HD boxes. Seriously Comcast? I ended up cancelling my cable, but keeping my internet.

I plugged in my trusty rabbit ear antennae and I get HD channels over the air. For some that don't realize, that was what that whole digital migration was about. I also get a few extra channels with my antennae than I did with my limited basic cable. I now watch most of my favorite shows on network TV and thats fine since most of the shows I watched were on those channels anyway.

I also use Hulu to watch some cable shows or to use it as a DVR for shows that I may have missed. Hulu has a great service. Most ABC, Fox and NBC shows are featured on their site. Hulu has a subscription service, when new episodes of shows you selected are uploaded to Hulu they are automatically be added to your queue. There is also a premium paid service where you can watch entire seasons and stream in HD, but I have yet to try this service out yet. Hulu often airs only the last five episodes, so as long as you watch once a month you should be able to see everything.

USA and SyFy also features many of their shows on Hulu. These shows are usually uploaded one week after the air date. But I can keep up to date on shows like Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs and Eurkea. TNT shows are streamed on the TNT site. I've been able to keep up with shows like The Closer, Leverage, Memphis Blues and Rizzoli and Isles. However, these shows are aired a week. CW also streams their shows online, so I've been able to keep up with one my new favorites Nikita.

However, there are still shows that I haven't watched. I don't understand the obsession with Jersey Shore, The Real Housewives or Sixteen and Pregnant. Many of these shows are available on the MTV site or Bravo. But I've never watched them, so I really don't think I'm missing anything.

I found now that I have cut the cord, not only am I saving money (over $600 per year based on the cheapest digital HD cable option), but I'm getting out more often and doing more since I don't have a bunch of TV shows to watch. I'm reading more books and getting to the gym more often because I'm not spending my day in front of the tube.

I use a cord I found on Ebay to connect my laptop to my television. You can find a variety of connection hook-ups and lengths. I chose a 15 foot cord so my laptop can sit by me on the couch and I don't have to get up to resize the screen or go to the next episode. Luckily, my television has a PC input so I didn't need a special connection like component or HDMI. When looking for a cord just search for "VGA to" and the type of connection you need. You can also split the screens so that the TV shows appear on your TV and you can still browse the net on your computer.

So the question is, are you willing to cut the cable cord?