Our Xfinity bill was going up again, not just a tiny bit – this one was a HUGE jump. No, no, no, I said – that will not do. It’s time to cut that cable cord, STAT, but how will I watch the things I still want to record? One of the primary sources of entertainment in our household is watching TV. The idea of not having quick and easy access to certain things was daunting.
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We did it, though. We cut the cord at the end of July, and the transition has been much simpler than I feared, thanks to a few quick tricks—well, not quick tricks exactly, but amazing streaming programs that helped us fill those voids without major issues.
I know we are late in the game to cut the cord, but it’s freeing, and I am excited to share what we are using now to give ourselves the same entertainment we are used to.
Cutting the Cord from Expensive Cable Companies
We had been cable subscribers from the moment I moved out alone. If memory serves, we had also been with Comcast/Xfinity since we moved to Vancouver in mid-2008. Small price jumps were easily tackled by contacting them and getting a new package. This time around, there was no play in prices or offers of the latest packages to ease our pocketbook.
So we said, bye-bye-bye.
Are you still using cable? I admit it’s nice to have, and it makes it easy to watch your everyday shows. If they hadn’t jumped so high in prices, I bet we’d still be customers ourselves.
How We Watch TV Entertainment Now
- YouTube TV – this helped us overcome our major hurdle. How do we keep recording Jeopardy and watching it later? We likely could get pretty good over-the-air TV, but we’d have no way to record it to watch at our convenience. I looked at at-home DVRs to record live over-the-air content, but none had great reviews, and most were expensive. Thankfully, YouTube TV enabled us to have our local shows while offering unlimited cloud DVR service. It’s been so easy to learn and allows us to watch at our second home, unlike our cable. Using the provided link to try out YouTube TV will give you a $15 discount!
Everything else I will be listing, we are already used before we cut the cord. It made it much easier not to miss cable and allowed us more viewing options.
- Roku – first grab yourself a Roku – it makes it so much easier to stream your favorite streaming services but don’t forget they have so many live channels that you can also find something to watch there – FREE! I watched a lot of their LIVE tv channels even before we cut the cable cord. There are so many different types of Roku’s to match your needs and wants!
- Hulu/Disney+—honestly, we get this in a Verizon bundle, which includes Disney+ and Espn+. We use Disney/Hulu quite a bit. Lily uses Disney+ a lot. I think it’s 100% worth having the Disney+/Hulu bundle because we can get such a wide variety of entertainment. And the most exciting part is that Inside Out 2 is coming out to Disney+ on September 25th—we can’t wait! Try out Hulu (free trial with a credit card) and Disney+ yourself!
- Netflix—I don’t think much needs to be said about this one. It’s been around for a long time. Is it the longest streaming service? We use Netflix quite a bit, though. I love a lot of their regular series.
- Paramount+—Criminal Minds—enough said? But seriously, try out Paramount+ today and pay only $2.50 a month for 12 months! You’ll get the NFL on CBS, Big Ten Football, and more! What are you waiting for on this one? Try it! I think you’ll like it!
- Peacock – we don’t pay out of pocket for this as we still get it with our Internet and Xfinity. Thankfully, since it’s the only way we can watch Reelz to watch the new Patrol: Live. And, of course, the original series & Below Decks.
- Sling TV—I just recently peeped into this one. We are not paying subscribers, but I could see this being so helpful and useful—there are so many live channels, a DVR, and On Demand to choose from.
Those are the services we use and love. Parting with any of the above would be hard for various reasons. Of course, there are other services I’d love to try, but I would have to find a great deal (like some of the offers above!).
What services are you using nowadays? Are you going to sign up for one of the above?
I can’t wait to hear what you love or even hate! Leave comments below.
