Eliminate Your Cable Bill and Still Watch TV

Eliminate Your Cable Bill and Still Watch TV
by Jessica Michelle
Even TV junkies can live without cable

Reducing your regular monthly expenses can be tough, but
there's one option that's gaining popularity. More and more
people are cutting the cable cord. I'm a self-professed TV
addict and I dropped my cable subscription a couple years ago
and haven't looked back. Even though I don't get cable
anymore, I'm still able to watch new episodes of all my
favorite shows on my TV. How do I this? Read on for ideas on
how to survive as a TV addict without a huge cable bill.

Use an antenna.

Did you know that over the air channels are still free? And
they're HD too! You can hook up an antenna to your TV and get
a lot of channels with great quality. And the new antennas
aren't the bunny ears they used to be. Most are sleeker,
smaller and provide much better quality.

Another option is to sign up with Aereo, which allows you to
watch live TV through their remote antennas. It's just
$8/month and includes a remote DVR so you can schedule
recordings. The downside is that it's only available in
certain areas now, but they are rapidly expanding, so check
their website to see if your city is covered now or coming
soon.

Watch online.

There are a lot of free and low-cost ways to watch TV online.
You can watch directly from TV network websites, or watch
recent episodes for free on Hulu. Hulu makes most TV shows
available the day after they air. Amazon Instant Video has a
great selection of TV shows and movies available for free for
their Prime members. Also, Netflix is a great way to catch up
on past seasons of TV shows. And don't worry about having to
watch it on your tiny laptop. A lot of tablets have built in
streaming devices that let you stream content to your TV. Or
you can invest in a $5 HDMI cable and hook up your laptop or
tablet to your TV.

Hook up a streaming device to your TV.

If you don't want to stream through your laptop, you can
purchase a steaming device that will allow you to stream many
TV shows and movies, such as Roku, AppleTV, or the lowest cost
option at $35, Google Chromecast. Some are free and some
require subscription services, such as Netflix. Or if you have
a gaming console, such as Xbox or Nintendo Wii, you can stream
movies and TV shows through them as well.

Getting rid of your cable subscription is a great way to save
money every month. One thing to be conscious of is how many
pay streaming services you join. You don't want to eliminate
your cable bill only to have a bunch of online subscriptions
to pay for each month! It will take some exploration to figure
out which service and method is best for you, but the money
you'll save every month will be worth it.