Getting ready to Dump Cable!!!

We are making the switch this July. Mostly financial savings driven. We already have Netflix and Amazon Prime that we can stream through the blue ray dvd player in our room. Will be adding a Hulu+ subscription too this summer. And buy either a roku or another blue ray dvd player that is internet streaming ready to put on the living room TV.

I think between the 3 subscription services, we'll get to watch mostly everything we want. Hulu gives us the current network TV shows (CBS, ABC, FOX, NBC, etc. and I'm pretty sure we'll get cable shows from AMC, VH1, etc. too). Amazon Prime and Netflix gives us the movies and older shows. And for a small fee, you can buy to stream more recent shows like Breaking Bad, etc.

I will miss HBO. We're keeping it until the new season of Game of Thrones is over. I won't get to see the new season of True Blood (but will eventually be able to watch on DVD or stream from Amazon Prime), so it's not like I'll never see it.

I also won't get the local news networks for the evening news. But will have internet so can always just pop that up on a laptop. Or... read the newspaper again. seriously old school!

It's a big test to see if we can go forward without cable/satellite. I'm the one totally addicted to the TV, so if I can do it, I'd say anyone could.

Cost of service for Amazon Prime is $80/year; just under $7 a month. AND you get the free 2 day shipping, a lot of shows/movies for free, 12 free books a year via the Kindle Library too. We like the Prime for the diaper discounts too, so we'd have it regardless if we had cable or not.

Cost of service for Netflix "streaming only" - no dvd's- is $8/mo.

Cost of service for Hulu+ is also $8/mo.

Cost of a second Blue Ray DVD player... averaging around $40-$50 (one time purchase) Roku similarly priced.

Cost of only the internet service to run said devices and streaming would be $48.95 so say $50 for the same internet we already have (although may beef up the connection speed and need to still get quotes).

So we're looking at a total cost for this upcoming year of $922 or $77/mo on average.

My monthly cable bill presently is: $2724/year or $227.
My cable bill includes my internet, phone and TV.

I'd say $77/mo is much better than $227/mo and I anticipate if we kept the cable package since my 2 year deal expires this summer, that that monthly price would also go up significantly.

I also know if I drop my cable company for at least 3 months, I can re-negotiate a new customer package deal and get a better coming back on to it price if the experiment fails and we end up hating not having full access to TV.

I have to believe that we won't hate it. Seems like we won't have to go without much.