Comments on: Big Savings Possible when Considering Your Cable/Satellite Options

By: Baumbe

Baumbe — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:52:20 +0000

So, ignorant question… but how do you watch the internet on your TV? Do newer TVs have this option, or do you need to connect your computer to your TV with a cable of some kind?

Thanks!

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:05:06 +0000

Buy don’t lease your cable modem. Comcast was charging me $5. a month to lease the cable modem. I purchased one on Amazon.com (their’s a list on Comcast website of compatible modems…I got the Motorola SB5101) for $56.98 w/ no sales tax and free shipping. It will pay for itself in about 11 months.

The extra bonus is that when I called Comcast to give them the MAC no. off of the new cable modem they noticed that I was on the “economy” cable plan 1 GB for $24.95 a month. He offered to upgrade me to the 12 GB plan for six months for $24.99 (regular $42.95) and told me that at the end of the six months I could revert back to the economy plan for a month and then be eligible for the $24.99 upgrade for another six months.

By: Staryla

Staryla — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:19:39 +0000

Tracye–

Ask about getting cable internet without ANY television.

We can’t live without our internet connections, but have never paid for television. We had a stand-alone cable internet connection (it was either Cox or Comcast–I always get those two confused) for a few years. Since then we’ve switched to DSL.

The cable companies don’t ever push that option–they want you to buy one of their *packages*. But if you ask it is possible to get stand-alone cable internet and save a few bucks. About a month after we’d started our cable internet (without any TV) package I got a HILARIOUS phone call from the cable company wanting to give us a “great offer”. It went something like this:

Cable guy “I notice you currently subscribe to our internet service, but don’t have any of our television packages. What kind of television service do you currently have?”

Me “We don’t watch TV”

Cable guy “Do you use Dish or Satellite…?”

Me “We don’t watch TV”

Cable guy “(long pause)…You don’t watch TV?”

ME “No, we don’t watch TV”

Cable guy “So you like watch your computer?”

By: Susan Gammage

Susan Gammage — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:14:54 +0000

Thanks for the great tips. I just checked out Hula, but alas, it’s only available in the US!

By: Allan

Allan — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:14:52 +0000

Robin,

Do a Google search on FTA (free to air) satellite TV. You can get as many as 600 channels, including all the sports channels………………

By: Robin

Robin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:32:46 +0000

What about watching sports. Does anyone know how to get channels like ESPN and other sports channels live for free?

By: That’s Not as Cheap as it Looks (Beware of Tangential Purchases)

That’s Not as Cheap as it Looks (Beware of Tangential Purchases) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:14:27 +0000

[...] are the only thing that keep people from ditching cable completely, I know [...]

By: Jesse

Jesse — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:49:37 +0000

@mol61 — nice point. Also, your kids don’t see those same ads and beg you for the next most important thing they absolutely need in order to survive :)

By: mol61

mol61 — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:39:16 +0000

And if you forego TV your are also avoiding all those cleaverly produced commercials that get you wanting things you can’t really afford on a sub-conscious level. So getting rid of TV is a WIN WIN….more time and MONEY

By: Jun

Jun — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:24:29 +0000

Great post!

@Tracye, if DSL is available in your area, it might be a lot cheaper than cable internet. It generally is. That’s what I did when I got rid of Comcast cable TV and internet.

I canceled my TV service a couple of months ago, and can’t believe that I’ve been able to survive without it. I used to turn the TV on the moment I get home from work. Now, I hardly ever turn it on (I have the local channels thru a $5 converter box, and I hardly ever watch them anymore). I was planning on buying an HDTV, even had an HDTV fund in the budget.

A little downside to this is that I find myself a bit in the dark when friends refer to something they saw in commercials. It’s kinda fun actually. Lots more time and money to do other stuff.