Rainy day sunset last night.
Going through our subscriptions and cancelling them, I’ve cut a bit of fat out of our yearly budget.
I feel like I’m on a roll, but then my husband got a text to his phone with the monthly cable bill.
We were going to add a TV into a room and then decided we didn’t need or want it. I told my husband that I’d return the cable box we weren’t using and talk to the cable provider to see how we could whittle down the bill.
Also, one of our neighbors who is retired did a bunch of research and cut ties with our cable provider to lower his bill. Another neighbor uses Youtube TV. In the meantime, I said I’d address the cable bill immediately to lower it, and then we could investigate other options.
After a trip to the local cable company, I managed to slice 34% off our monthly bill. I dropped a bunch of stations we never watch like movie channels. What was really weird was Amazon was ALSO charging us for two movie stations that were in my cable package. So, we were being double charged.
My daughter said she hears and reads that tons of people are getting charged for TV subscriptions on Amazon Prime they didn’t sign up for. She believes there’s going to be a class action lawsuit. All I can say is double check your Amazon bill if you use it. Look under digital services and subscriptions.
I called Amazon today and complained. They are reimbursing me for six months of these charges. I guess it’s better than nothing. They began the conversation with a one month deal.
My kids have never subscribed to cable now they’re on their own and wonder why we bother to watch live TV. That’s the wave of the future.
Do you use cable TV or do you use Roku or other smart TV with third party apps like Netflix?
I won’t pay for cable TV packages, or even the basic plan. The cost is so ridiculous and there is nothing that I want to watch live that I can’t wait a day or more to see. I use a chromecast device that allows me to send a streaming site on laptop to the TV screen- mostly just making the viewing easier on a bit larger screen- which is nice for older eyes! There are ways to get around buying into tons of streaming sites as well. While not perfect, they work well for my needs. I would be really ticked off to have found a double Amazon charge as you did EA.
I think we will move to the direction of cutting ties with cable. I am curious how many people are doing it? I’m upset with Amazon!
I think there are quite a few who are sort of caught in the cable habit but it is a dying commodity, which is why they run so many “great” introductory offers then jack up the costs after you’re in! If you can find the options you want in other places then why not. I think people like the options to pick and choose rather than being locked into plans and then stuck with so many components they never use.
I agree with you 100%. We like to watch PAC 12 sports and we need to find an option where we can do that without cable. It’s just taking the time to do some research.
Cable isn’t even an option where we live. For years we only watched DVDs from the library. When we switched our phones to T-mobile, they added a free Netflix account, so we’ve added that to our rotation, but we don’t watch TV all that much regardless.
I used DVDs from the library for years. I introduced my kids to many classics and musicals that way. One day my son asked, “Do they make any movies where people don’t burst into singing?”
😂
One has to very vigilant otherwise these companies will try to charge us for services we don’t use.
I wouldn’t have even thought to look under digital services on Amazon because I never ordered those services.
I should do the same! 🧐
I was surprised. I think it must have been a free offer for when I first signed up for Amazon Prime that then turned into monthly charges. Everything on my credit card hits as Amazon, so I don’t notice extra charges.
Yes that’s very clever and sneaky of them.
Not very ethical!
Nopes.
👍🏼
I got rid of all but one cable box, replacing them with Firesticks I bought on Black Friday for like $10 each.
That’s a good solution.
We mostly use streaming services so it is a no brainer
That’s what I need to find out. What do I watch more?
We cut the cord 15 years ago when our bill jumped to over $300/month. , We live in an area big enough that over-the-air gives us great options. We also have a ROKU TV so we get Pluto, Tubi and ROKU for free. Throw in Prime (and I looked, no charges not authorized) and we have all the TV we can handle for $15 per month plus just the cost for hi-speed internet. Cable can forever bite the big one.
That’s great. I’m sure that’s the direction we’re headed. I’m glad you didn’t have any unauthorized charges on Prime!
I just signed up for Netflix yesterday. $6.99 isn’t bad for one person and you can cancel any time. No Contract.
We have Netflix too and use it a lot.
We have a bundle for TV, internet and two phones. My husband could not handle no TV and gets frustrated with streaming so…
My husband does too. And he likes his sports package.
I don’t mind going to RedBox from time to time as they are current but husband is right. We get everything!
I need to do my homework and ask my neighbors who have cut the cord what they are using.
Sometimes we are entertained by watching YouTube. I like going to Red Box but often find I am the only one there.
I haven’t seen Red Box yet here we live. They had some in Palm Springs.
I got rid of Cable TV years ago. After a year they were always raising their rates $40+. I was at almost $200 with constant re-runs on any channels I liked. So, I was only watching the news in the end. I lived in Seattle and so many people disliked Comcast and refused to give them money. I decided to go down to just WiFi with Xfinity and then use streaming services. Also, I have a Samsung TV and get Samsung Plus TV channels. So, I’m all set. I hate how Xfinity has a monopoly on us and they charge what they want. They just raised their prices too.
I grew up in the Seattle area (Snohomish) before cable existed. We had ABC, NBC, CBS, Channel 11 and PBS channel 9. I think what’s better in the Phoenix area is there isn’t a monopoly like where we moved from. There are several cable providers and all the streaming services.
We switched to YouTube.TV and saved a lot of money. Great topic, everyone is trying to figure it out. It’s confusing, hugs, C
I’d like to learn more about YouTube.TV. Do you get PAC 12 sports?
Yes, but Larry is our television guy, it’s very important to him and he won’t miss games so I’ll have to ask if he’s paying extra for anything. As far as I know it reduced our bill by half!
That’s great! 👍🏼
We keep saying we are going to get rid of Cable for there really isn’t a lot we watch, but … we still have it. We also say we will get rid of our landline, but I really don’t like talking on my cell phone that much. Its small and I can’t hold it in the crook of my shoulder and it gets hot. I just don’t feel comfortable having long conversations that way.
Good for you in making cuts where you can. We have been doing that with grocery shopping. We are fortunate to have a lot of discount grocery stores around us.
We got rid of the landline before we moved from CA to AZ. We never missed it. At one point we had a separate line for our fax machine!
We would have a lot less spam calls if we got rid of the landline!
I get a ton of spam calls without a landline.
Ugh! Guess there is no way to avoid them!
Not anymore! I can silence unknown callers but then I was missing calls from the service people for my dishwasher and garage, etc.
I watch YouTube
👍🏼