Cutting the Cord: My Personal Journey

​Author: David Wilson

​With ever-rising cable prices and the advent of many new streaming services you may have debated “cutting the cord” with your cable provider. While it may seem scary leaving the normalcy of watching cable TV, I hope my personal journey of “cutting the cord” gives you enough insight to “take the leap” and save some cash. My family saved over $500 just from cancelling our cable subscription! 

​We first prepared for the cancellation by upping our high speed data connection to ensure smooth streaming. This involved calling our internet service provider (ISP) and inquiring about pricing for various internet speeds. I then took those numbers and called a competing ISP to talk about their prices and ended up getting a better deal. Personally, I recommend that your internet speed be at least 12mbps or more if you are planning to stream multiple devices at once. Representatives at your ISP will be able to dictate which connection speeds will best fit your needs. 

The next step involved buying and installing a nice antenna. Despite living in a rural area, our antenna picks up about 25 channels. Most importantly, these channels include local news, weather stations, and major broadcast channels such as ABC. I would recommend paying a little extra for a nice antenna. This is a one-time charge, so why not go the extra mile to ensure good performance!

​Now that we had the local channels, we shifted our focus to how we wanted to stream other content. While the market is full of streaming devices, my personal favorites are the Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire Stick, and Roku. Some honorable mentions include Apple TV and the Nvidia Shield. Due to a low price, high compatibility, and performance we decided to go with the Google Chromecast for our TVs. If you are hesitant about the install process, don’t be! They make it “so easy a caveman can do it.” If you own a smart TV, a streaming device is probably not necessary. 

At this point, you are officially setup for a life without cable! The last step in your journey is choosing streaming services that fit your needs. While the large selection may seem intimidating, I’ll go through my personal favorites to give you a starting point. First on the list is Netflix. This service is great for finding movies and tv shows. With regularly changing content, it is rare that I don’t find something to watch. Next is Amazon Prime Video, a service that comes with your Amazon Prime Subscription. It doesn’t necessarily have the best content, but it helps fill the gaps in programming. Last on my list is Hulu TV, which combines a large library of TV shows with a Live TV service. This is a particularly valuable service if you enjoy watching sports channels. With various levels of subscription plans and pricing, you can find which level best fits your needs.

Again, these are just my personal favorites for streaming services. The market is full of other options that may be a better fit for you. I recommend trying out various services by utilizing free trial periods to really get a sense of what you like and need.

​Now you can call your cable provider and “cut that cord!”

Overall, I think that after the fact you will find the process of cutting out cable relatively painless. Personally, I don’t feel that I have lost much of anything from going cableless. Not only have I gained more money, but more importantly, time with family and friends that was previously spent watching TV. Hopefully you will find the same results!