Decrease Your Cost for Television Cable

Many families easily spend $1,000 a year on TV service and they aren’t getting the use out of that money.  I know I seem to always watch the same 5-6 channels, but our bill is so high.  I myself need to look at other television service options to trim my bill since it is just wasted money being spent.

Below are some tips to help you save money on your TV service.

1.  Don’t pay extra for the premium channels unless  you are watching them every night or several nights a week.  If you are mainly watching the news or game shows, then the HD channels might not be worth it to you.  The HD channels are worth it to my husband, but I never use those channels since that is just more channel numbers to memorize.

2.  You could consider renting movies or using a Netflix service for your movies instead of paying extra for the movie channels or pay-per-view.  We love Netflix, but we just canceled that service as well since we watched a whopping 3 movies in the last 3 months!  We don’t seem to have the time to even watch movies.   Netflix also has a variety of packages to fit your budget and they also have a plan where you can watch movies and television shows. You can buy a special device for a one time fee that allows you to stream Netflix movies and television over the Internet to your television and then just pay the unlimited package plan of $8.99 a month.  Also, our local library always has a great selection of dvds and new releases, and those are free.

3.  Many shows are now online for free, so you might not need to pay extra for all of the channels and switch to a basic package.  We sometimes watch shows online when we have missed one or forgot to record them.  The quality isn’t bad if you have a good connection.  Some of the sites that are popular for viewing online are Fancast and Hulu.

These online television sites have tons of episodes such as Lost, Heroes, Housewives of (New Jersey, Orange County, Atlanta), The Office, and even the Fox News Report.  You can also view movies at these sites like The Incredible Hulk Returns.  I wasn’t familiar with most of the movies, some seemed to be a little older, but I am sure that they these sites will continue to grow and add more.

4.  Shop around at competitors to see what their introductory prices are to make sure you are getting the best deal.  AT&T started doing cable now in some areas and you could always try a dish network.  It is worth it to compare the packages and plans.

5.  Bundle plans- sometimes you can save more money if you use the same company for Internet Cable, Television Cable, and phone.

6.  Haggle with your provider to see if they can at least offer you a deal or a price reduction for a few months.  I am trying to find the cheapest cable plan now and to find its specifics, but the cheapest they show online is $56/month for the basic package.  So, I will be calling them this week and trying to find if they will give me a better deal.

7.  Another option you have is to cut the cable and read a good book or get a new hobby.  When we went out of town this summer, we spent one weekend at a cabin with no television and it was so nice to not hear Barney or the drama in the news reports.  I am not sure if I couldn’t totally cut it out, but most shows I do watch are on the basic local stations.

Let me know if you have anymore ideas…I am always looking to save a few bucks!

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