The cable company keeps begging us to come back. Low introductory rates, hundreds of channels, bundle and save...

No thanks. We cut the cord (well, sorta), and nobody got hurt. By 'sorta,' I mean we still have cable internet. (We're not cavemen, for crying out loud.)

Our cable bill was $139 per month. Per month! So in October, we bit the bullet, and had a big TV antenna installed. Yes, it was an investment of a few hundred dollars -- but our cable internet bill is now $59.99 each month. We'll recoup the upfront cost in less than a year.

But, but, but, what about recording? There would be an uprising of insurmountable proportion if we gave up the DVR. (Oh, Dad, the Hell you put us through!) So we use a TiVo box (pictured above), which in my opinion, is better than any cable company DVR. Again, there's an upfront investment, but we're not paying any monthly fees.

Admittedly, we get fewer channels. CNN, A&E, and the like are gone, but we haven't missed them. The locals -- ABC-12, WNEM TV-5, NBC-25, and Fox 66 -- all have sub channels that carry plenty of additional programming. We've also taken advantage of Amazon Prime video and Netflix, services which we were paying for already.

We wanted to keep our landline. (Go ahead, make fun of us. We have thick skin.)  But rather than pay the cable company, we opted for a VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) solution. The Ooma box (pictured above) provides landline service to our existing home phones, using the internet. We pay $4.22 per month for access to Genesee County's 911 service. That rate varies by location.

So cutting the cord has its advantages and disadvantages. For us, we felt that the cost savings far outweighed any negative impact it could have.

Pros:

  • Tremendous cost savings
  • Over-the-air antenna provides much better picture quality than cable
  • TiVo is superior to cable company DVRs.

Cons:

  • Fewer channels
  • Upfront investment

 

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