Cutting your cable to lower your bills is never going to work. You can’t live without watching television at a time when there are plenty of platforms available. Television will remain on the top for entertainment lovers, movie buffs, and binge–watchers.
Time has changed and people are shifting more towards streaming services. The reason is obvious that the cable bills are going sky high and low–income families can’t afford them. Moreover, many cable providers do not provide any perks to facilitate customers. However, when it comes to Spectrum bundle deals, you will get 200+ channels, unlimited data cap, and downloading speed starting from 100Mbps.
If you are thinking of cutting off the cord, just keep in mind that you won’t be able to watch any live streaming. Especially, if you are a sports fan or a news leech, the things might get freaky. Some streaming services do offer live streaming, but for an additional cost. This means that your objective of saving money might not be fulfilled.
How to cut down on your cable bills and stay within budget is one of the most asked questions nowadays. Here’s how you can do without doing much. Just follow the tips to achieve your objective and stay economical.
Do Your Research
The first thing to cut the cost of your cable bills is to find the service providers in your area. Depending on your location, the prices and packages may vary. Compare the plans of all the service providers in your area and look for plans that cost you less. Most of the cable providers charge you extra without letting you know.
Stay away from all of these service providers. In case, you are not sure about the prices, just call customer support, and ask for it. Some cable providers might increase the charges after 12 months. Do consider the cost you will be paying after the completion of the first year. Some people might get upset after they come to know about the extra cost they have to bear in addition to what they had been paying before.
Premium channels cost you extra and yes, they do offer something you cannot live without. But there might be some premium channels that are of no use any longer due to the end of the series that you couldn’t resist watching. However, when the show is over and there is nothing more to watch, then why not unsubscribe it.
For instance, HBO can cost you as much as $20 per month, while SHOWTIME charges as much as $15. Now calculate the figure for what you are going to pay yearly without any reason. However, if the TV series is back again, you can ask the cable provider to add it to your plan. By doing this you will be able to save an extra $240-$300 per year.
Get Rid of Extra Cable Boxes
Cable boxes are an extra burden on your wallet. You might have chosen 3 cable boxes for your house and two of them might not be in use. Why do you want to go for extra boxes that would cost you anywhere around $5 to $15? Remove the extra cable boxes and save some money on your cable bills.
Shrink Your Cable Package
Cable TV is full of fluffs and bluffs. Some of the channels are never watched even for centuries while others are running on television all the time to entertain you. You might have subscribed to a cable TV package that offers you more channels, but that too with a higher price. There is no need to pay higher when you can cut the cost and opt for channels that you mostly watch. A report published by Nielsen in 2016 found that Americans pay for more than 200 channels, while they watch only 20 channels. So what’s the point of wasting the money unnecessarily. Give your wallet some break and check the channel lineup to find the best one that suits you.
Bundle Cable and Internet
In today’s world, everyone is looking for some deal packaged together to offer some discounts and help save money. The majority of cable providers also offer a bundled package that brings down the cost from anywhere near $1000 per annum. Now that’s a huge saving for low–income households.
Moreover, while combining the packages, you don’t need to opt for the premium package. For instance, adding premium channels like HBO, Showtime, STARZ, and STARZ Encore would charge separately according to their plans and prices. Choose any one of them if you wish to watch your favorite show broadcasted every week.
Cut the Cord
There are several ways to reduce cable bills and one of them is to reduce your bill by cutting the cord. If you are living like a nomad and travel often, the best way is to cut the cord completely and find out streaming services that suit your requirements. Moreover, cable TV providers also lock you in a long term contract. If you opt–out of the services before the said period, you will need to pay charges, which may cost you anywhere between $120-$200.
If you are a fan of watching sports or live TV broadcasts, you can find plenty of streaming services like Hulu, Fubo, and Sling TV. The monthly cost may vary for each of the streaming services, but one thing is for sure that you won’t be getting any surprises added to the bills. Contrary to cable TV, streaming services charge you a fixed amount, which is suitable for low-income households. If you just want to watch TV series or movies, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and HBO are good to go for.
Final Verdict
When it comes to reducing the cost of cable TV, you can talk to customer support and ask for the best option. But if you are not comfortable paying high bills, you can surely opt for streaming services along with high-speed internet.