Economizing

[Bob_Roller]

I made good on my threat to cancel cable television today .

My cable provider keeps raising rates to the point, where it's no longer realistic to continue .

I purchased a digital to analog television converter today, connected it and I'm never going back to cable again, unless it's free !!!!

The 2000 model year television I have ( Sony Trinitron 36 inch CRT), isn't a digital model, so I needed to get a converter, as the 'public' airwaves were changed to a digital format in the US about 5 years ago .

I already had a stone age television antenna in the attic and coaxial cable run to my receiver a few years ago, for FM radio reception .

It took all of 5 minutes to connect and activate the converter .

Minimum monthly rates I could get from my service provider, Cox Communications, was around $80US per month and 95% of the programming, I didn't watch .

Next move, is to get a "Magic Jack', it plugs into your computer modem and accesses phone service via the Internet .

About $30US for the converter device and $30US per year service charge .

Saves another $500 a year over traditional phone service .

In the 35 minutes I was in the Cox Communications store, 18 people had cancelled their cable service, when I finally got called for my transaction, the service clerk said that as of 2PM that day, 230 customers had come in and cancelled their cable service, his comment was, if this keeps up, he may not have a job at the end of the year !!!!

[nhmaf]

With any luck, your cable company will get the hint and lower prices while they still have some customers left!

Our satellite TV provider (Direct TV) has been inching upwards in their prices as well, but my wife is quite the negotiater and usually gets us a couple of discounts, etc.  a couple times per year, which tends to forestall most price increases.

There are very few OTA channels one can get in our mountainous neighborhood, though it is more due to the lack of broadcasting stations than anything else..

[suecanada]

Not having enough customer base to attract more providers, we get stuck with lack of competition to keep costs sane. Derek does what Mike's wife does.....whines and logically pleads for all and every discount everytime our renewal is due. I met a fellow in NB, Canada that recommended Magic Jack so must look into it. Our Cable provider so far is giving us 500 minutes long distance time free but phone connection itself costs about $40.00 per month.
Back in the aerial days when I lived in a flat area I got 18 good channels. Now in our hilly area all blocked to the south no one in this town uses an aerial. Bob is right...95% of the channels no one watches and most of those are the same shows as in the first 70 channels.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

I haven't had cable or satellite for probably 10 years.  Screw them.
There is plenty to watch with my converter box (if I really want to sit through commercials).
I prefer to get DVD's from the library and watch commercial-free.  I have also purchased several television series box sets when I find them 2nd hand.

These are mostly things that can only be had living in a big city, but I think if I was living in the country I would toss the thing and make my back porch my entertainment.

[Bob_Roller]

A coworker just got his Magic Jack yesterday, the price is $60US for the converter, plus $20US or $30US per year for the srvice .

It's good for all of North America, unlimited local and long distance calls .

He said it took about 20 minutes to go through the instructions and getting it set up .

[wilcom]

I've had my Magic jack for over 5 years. It's absolutely the best bargain ever, $20 a year for phone service with voice mail, wadda deal.

I have my internet over the cable so I'm in a catch 22. Its about $120 a month for the basic cable plus internet with one package that gets me Speed Channel.

If I go with the telco for dsl I have to have a phone line. There goes $50 a month if I can't figure a way to get "life line service" for about $10.

I think the bill is 70 for cable and 50 for internet.  The 50 for internet access is on par for the area and I have had no issues with the service(time warner) in the 8-10 years I have had it. Modem took a dump once and they were out the next day to replace it.

The $17.50 a week for the cable is worth it for me. I get MotoGP superbike races, all the Formula 1 races, more nascar than I could ever want, Rally's from Europe, drag racing, sprint cars, dirt track. All the stuff I watch is not on channel 2-13. I haven't watched channels 2-13 in 20 years. So for the cost of cable for what I watch, there is no option for me, I do wish it would cost less , but it doesn't.

I'm probably an odd duck as I do not watch movies, ever.  DVD's and the like are not a replacement for what I use the cable for .

I do like economizing though and have traded air conditioning for evap cooling and the savings are about $300 a month minimum in the summer months.

[Johnster]

I live in the suburbs of Cincinnati, so broadcast TV wasnt bad before...and its better after going digital- especially if you have kids.  I dont let them watch TV too often but whenever they earn it, there is always something on the PBS channels that is educational and kinda fun (my kids range from 6 to 2 years old).
  I try not to watch too much TV (there are still commercials on over the air TV) but occasionally I get sucked in.  I also have an old TV with a converter box (the digital broadcast stuff is sent out in HD...)

Havent had cable in the last 20 years.  I miss it a little (Discovery Channel, Speed...) but not enough to pay for it.

Also - I have an antenna on top of my house, this expands my channel selection by a factor of 2  (my in-laws have rabbit ears and cannot recieve half the channels that I can in the same neighborhood)

Lastly - Wife and I just agreed to go into Netflix - $8 or $9 per month (on top of the $20/mo for cheapo DSL internet), all you can watch, commercial free, streamed over the interwebs to your computer/ROKU box or internet enabled TV/DVD player.
   I'd say we love it, but she has spent a LOT of time watching TV in the last 3 days (we got it 5 days ago)- she loves it (there are foriegn TV shows she likes...AND there is Top Gear UK if I ever sit in front of the TV long enough  
   Id say my wife loves it, but If she spends another entire evening watching "Pasta", I'm going to have to talk to her about it

  For the price, Netflix looks like a great deal.  The selection isnt the best, but its not bad at all (movies and TV shows, US and foriegn...)  Its more TV than we need for many years to come.

-John