That Time We Cancelled Cable

About a year ago, we started cutting back on spending where we could. 

Student loans couldn’t be cut back on and are actually quite the little debt mountain, so we had to move further down the list. Discussions to sell out house were next, we talked for months before we finally decided the fall was the right time to list. Now we live in New Iberia, so listing means nothing. As I at least like to joke. The market is slow here, and we anticipated having the house sit on the market for up to two years. 

So what was next? 

Phones. 

We ditched the typical cell phone carriers and moved to Straight Talk. It worked out great, cheaper and we have an insane amount of data compared to what we had before. My only complaint was that the hubby wanted to go the cheapest iPhone route we could just to be cost effective. I went along. Crying on the inside at the new phone cameras being released in the iPhone 8 … but saving money was to come first. 

Last up was cable. 

The hardest and most discussed break we would take. 

I’ve been a long time junky reality TV watcher, so this was a hard one. 

We initially turned off cable, ditched our Chrome Cast, and got a Roku. Next up was keeping the Netflix we’ve always had and adding in Sling. I also became a PBS member, because of Great British Bake Off and Victoria. I couldn’t leave PBS behind. Now another option to possibly get PBS would be to get the modern day equivalent to bunny ears; we haven’t done that yet. 

We really thought Sling would be the answer at only 25 bucks a month, but once football season rolled in, that quickly changed. After talking to Sling, I’m almost certain that if we lived in the Superdome, we couldn’t get Saints football. 

So Sling was then out. 

Next up, adding in Hulu. 

And what do you know, so far so good. The only thing will be buying individual channels for short periods of time during football season. Even with that, it comes out cheaper than cable was costing us. 

A year later on the cable cancelling train, I’m actually not that mad. It’s worked out great and we save a ton of money. Plus, PBS kids is a free app on Roku, so we aren’t hurting on kids shows. 

Now tell me, who all has abandoned cable? Or what areas have you made cuts in to save money?