Making the switch from cable to digital antenna

We haven’t had cable TV services for many years – and even cut basic cable in 2013. The following services are on sale right now, saving you even more for the next several months and up to a year:

Hulu is always one of my favorite networks.

We started using Paramount+ last fall to stream a few kids movies, and they now have a sale of 3 months for $1 per month. If you’re a fan of the original Real World on MTV, then you have to watch the first season’s reunion (Real World Homecoming) and the new reunion show for Los Angeles is live this week!

What led to us cutting the cord:

We did it. We cut the cable. It’s been something I thought about for such a long time, and over the past 5 years, we’ve been cutting back more and more on our services. This past week, though, I finally canceled our television services. (We’re still with Charter for internet, though I may explore other options to see if there’s a better price for the speeds we’re seeing.)

What led to this change?

1. We were only getting basic channels – ABC, NBC, CW, Fox, CBS, PBS, another ABC affiliate station and roughly 5 shopping channels. Our total bill was just over $70/month and $40 of that was our internet. So roughly $30 for fewer than 7 channels that we watched. (And we really only watched 3 or 4 of those channels.)

2. With a digital box, we were not getting a digital signal. When I was 100 months pregnant (literally, the day before I was due to have our son), a Charter rep came to our house to switch out the box – yet again – and realized that our wiring might be the problem. He wanted to hang cable across the outside of our house and drill a hole in our wall into the living room – through our vinyl siding. His exact words, “I’ll drill a hole around here (pointing to our vinyl siding near our living room), but I’m not sure where it’ll come out in your house.” Um. No.

3. We would have had to pay upwards of $1000 to have the cable re-wired properly. At the time of this post, I didn’t have a job. That wasn’t an option.

4. As of this past Tuesday, we were being forced to take the digital boxes since Charter is going to an all digital signal. (The boxes were “free” for a year and then customers have to pay for them.)

A few weeks ago I was doing a little research, and I came across the Mohu antennas. I was intrigued and the reviews were really good. Last week when I received my “final notice” about the digital boxes, I ordered the ultimate Leaf antenna from Amazon. I hooked it up on Wednesday night and my husband and I were blown away by the quality! It was so simple to hook up to our television and I used painter’s tape to move it around the wall until I found the spot where it pulls the most channels. (It’s now hanging with two thumbtacks holding it up. It’s so light and thin.)

Testing out the digital antenna gave us a much clearer picture – an actual DIGITAL SIGNAL that we weren’t getting before. And we get 14 channels that we actually will watch. None are shopping channels.

In a couple of months, I intend on upgrading to the Sky antenna. We’ll be able to connect our downstairs television and possibly get an even better signal. (Currently, I have to move the antenna if I want to watch Fox. It’s just not a clear, fluid picture.)

Our internet price increased to $54, but we’re still saving $15 per month. So we’re saving roughly $180 per year, and when Charter starts charging for the boxes next year, we’ll be saving even more money.

We do pay for Hulu and my husband has subscribed to certain network apps (like HBO) when a show was airing he wanted to see. 

Tell me, have you cut the cord? Do you live and die by your television shows on expanded cable (you know, the ones that I don’t watch anymore, or if I do watch them I stream them online the day after they air?) How much are your cable services, if you don’t mind me asking? I was offered expanded basic for $79. I got them to leave me alone when I said I don’t have a job now.