Cutting the Cable

We aren't totally poor and destitute, but we are a one-income middle class family. We don't have tons of credit card debt, our cars are paid for, and we never take all-out destination vacations. But to make this homeschooling/one-income thing feasible, we do have to cut corners. Sometimes it seems those corners keep whittling away until there is only a small disc left, but that's a lament for another day (sigh!).

Like most everyone else, we have one of those lovely TV, phone, internet bundles from the local provider, in our case - Verizon. Over the years, we've played that back and forth game between Verizon and Comcast (our only choices) to get the best price on the bundle. Verizon made us do a 2 year contract this last time, which expired in April 2011. My oldest son started at an out-of-state college last summer (thank you FAFSA and Grandmas!), so I've been really watching the bundle bill and looking for a way to cut the cord.

At Christmas time, after doing a bit of research for a couple of months, I decided to purchase a Roku player, to test the waters in my home (cable dependency). If you are unfamiliar with Roku, it's a small device about the size of a slice of bread, that plugs into the wall and into your TV. It connects wirelessly to your modem and provides internet streaming directly from the modem to the TV. Some channels are free, but some like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu require a monthly subscription. Well, I'm already paying for Netflix, so that wasn't a big deal.

The Roku has really been wonderful! For a one time charge of $80, the device is mine, and my kids have found just about everything they want to watch either through Netflix or free content. I was actually quite surprised how easily they disengaged from the cable box. (I did help them along a little bit by actually disconnecting it for 2 weeks, so they would have to learn how to use the Roku and search for what they wanted to watch.)

Then I began searching telephone replacement options. I have a pay-as-you-go cell phone that I don't use often, and no one else in the family has one, so I need land line service. I checked in to Magicjack and Vonage. I have friends who've used both; they've had good and bad to say about both. My preference was to go with Magicjack since it's $40 for the first YEAR, and $20 for each YEAR after that - but they don't let you keep your number. So hubby has opted for Vonage - $16 per month - our device is due to arrive next week. I'll let you know how that goes.

So obviously we are beyond April, and we hadn't made any decision about whether or not to keep cable. Actually, I decided we should drop it, but hubby is afraid of not seeing The Weather Channel, MSNBC, and live football games. In my world, these don't matter, so I was good to go. Then I discovered PlayOn...

Stay tuned for Cutting the Cable, Part II - The Decision....