[EStimpert]

I did it today! We got rid of cable completely and signed up for Hulu Plus. Our savings will be $70 a month. I guess because I've always had cable it was so hard to do, mentally I mean
Has anyone else done this and is so glad that they did? There's a few shows I will really miss and my little one will miss Nick and Disney on Demand, but I'm hoping we can get used to it pretty quickly.
I'm also wondering if Netflix is a must to have with Hulu?

[mclaroc]

I cut our cable about 3 years ago, and I never regretted it. We buy DVDs of our favorite shows , used or on sale, and we also bought a VCR , and we buy old movies and Disney classics for the kids. I think what I like most about this , as well as the savings, is that I don't feel we HAVE to watch tv, like we did when we had cable, because we were paying so much for it. We now watch 1 or 2 hours a day, when the kids are sleeping, instead of leaving it on all day when there was always something to watch. And my house is much cleaner too !

[farina_kim]

I don't have cable either. It's been 10 yrs. It's funny, my oldest son which is 12 yrs old now, tells me that he is the only kid in his school that doesn't have cable. I tell him, it kills his brain cells. He is also in Honor roll, all A's student, received multiples academic awards, loves reading, plays Clarinet and soccer. He will be starting 7th grade this year. He will be playing football and all his classes are advanced. It will save me tons of money when its time for college. Praying for scholarship. I don't regret it at all. We also have rent movies at the library. We have a $23 membership for Blockbuster that we borrow as much movies in a month (1 per visit). I'm glad we don't have cable.

[fairysaver]

I wasnt impressed with Hulu Plus they still interupted every few minutes for comercials, not much less than without paying, most shows cant be streamed thru our xbox and the selection is very narrow. I have to say I tried this and ended up getting lowest price on dish we could and am much happier.

[EStimpert]

Originally Posted by fairysaver

I wasnt impressed with Hulu Plus they still interupted every few minutes for comercials, not much less than without paying, most shows cant be streamed thru our xbox and the selection is very narrow. I have to say I tried this and ended up getting lowest price on dish we could and am much happier.

We have a Wii that Hulu Plus does not work with as well. We do have a WDTV Live that it does and I put it in my daughters playroom so that she has Hulu Plus and a DVD player as well. Right now I have my laptop hooked up to the TV in the livingroom to play Hulu and Hulu Plus, which I obviously cannot do all the time, I need my laptop sometimes too

Just trying to figure out if I should do Netflix as well, or even instead. I have a free month of Hulu Plus, which I just started today, so we do have time to see if we like it.

[lynzw521]

We've been considering this, and signed up for the free trial of Hulu Plus, but the ad breaks were annoying andtoo frequent- also it didn't work well streaming through the PS3. I cancelled our free trial already, after a few days! We do have Netflix which streams really well and we are considering eventually just going with that- we really don't watch much tv anyway other than the shows we each dvr each week. A friend of mine cancelled cable and has Netflix and Amazon TV, where you pay per episode or series but you have to have a Roku or something for that I think. You can buy episodes of current shows on iTunes too which we've looked into as hubby would miss the Discovery channel series' that you can't get on any of the Netflix etc programs, and I ashamedly am addicted to such shows as KUWTK and Giuliana and Bill . They are anywhere from 1.50-2.99 per episode though and once we added up the shows we think we would want to watch (though probably would get over the 'need' to watch them pretty quickly) we may as well stick with cable !

One thing I have wondered about life without cable/satellite-what do you do about news or events such as the upcoming Olympics next year? We don't watch much sports except that....

[EStimpert]

As for the news, I found Fox News online has up to date videos of their headlines, that was my biggest worry as well.
Im finding the same thing with Hulu Plus, and want to quit but its only been a couple days so ill wait a couple weeks. I use Hulu, the free version, all the time, so I am used to commercials and ok with it. (Although Netflix not having any is nice). Free Hulu has the shows I want to watch and I see no added benefit to paying for Plus. That being said, because I started Netflix as well. I really like it and so does my 4 year old.

[joshmamabear]

have you signed up with Netflix yet? If not and you're a member of swagbucks, make sure to click the link from there. sometimes there are offers up to 1000 points if you click Netflix from there. that's enough for some amazon GCs or paypal funds

[EStimpert]

Originally Posted by joshmamabear

have you signed up with Netflix yet? If not and you're a member of swagbucks, make sure to click the link from there. sometimes there are offers up to 1000 points if you click Netflix from there. that's enough for some amazon GCs or paypal funds

I havent checked out Swagbucks yet, but I am now thinking I should!

[polydoly13]

I'm 34 and have lived most of my life without cable. My parents had it for a very short time, I had it for 2 years in college, my roommates all wanted it and I felt I should pay my portion. My Dh and I have contemplated it so that we can have local news/weather, but never done anything about it. I have netflix and I download tv shows that I want to follow. It works for us. We have a tight budget and don't feel we need to fit this in now. I am a TV addict so it actually works best, I find I watch less tv.

[suzanimal]

We cut cable a year ago and rarely miss it. We bought a Roku (they start at 59.00 and go up to 99.00) and stream Netflix and a free channel called Crackle - it has tv and movies.

[barbnron]

Me and the kids actually lived for several years with no TV we read a lot and used the computer, no hulu then. We didn't suffer too much. Then DH and I got married and I moved here at first we had satellite, verizon for the phone, and satellite internet. Then we signed up for a bundle pack from the cable co. and actually wound up paying less than we were for only phone and internet. You should check out bundle packs sometimes it actually saves, for us it's now like getting TV free. And I have about 4 or 5 years of TV to catch up on

[LetaB]

My folks had cable for a few years when I was still at home. And then one of my apartments had it free. That was it.

We have a Roku box with a zillion channels. We only pay for two of them- Hulu Plus and Netflix, each $8/mo. So our "cable" bill is $192 per year, which is what most people pay in a couple months. Local news and weather are on there, too, but those channels are free, along with other good stuff like Chow and Kidlet. The Roku itself cost $80.

[nonniepooh]

We got rid of satellite 2 years ago when DH lost his job. We have not missed it at all. We always thought we had to have it. Over the years that we paid for it, we could have bought a new car, $25,000 over 20 years. We have an antenna (We are the only one our block that has an antenna) and go to to the actual websites to watch whatever we want.

[Satori]

Hulu Plus isn't worth it imo. We do love Netflix and I have Amazon Prime which has quite a few videos on demand. I pay $39 yr I think as a student and its worth it but I spend a lot of money at Amazon too

[joshmamabear]

Originally Posted by Satori

Hulu Plus isn't worth it imo. We do love Netflix and I have Amazon Prime which has quite a few videos on demand. I pay $39 yr I think as a student and its worth it but I spend a lot of money at Amazon too

I didn't know they charge 50% off for students since the one on the website says $79 per year but can be shared by 5 people. Can you share your amazon prime membership, too? And you also get unlimited 2 day free shipping on anything you buy on amazon, right?

I'm considering switching from Netflix to AP if the TV shows and movies are comparable. Do they have a lot of documentaries and National Geographic on AP?

I think you got a great deal with AP!

[Satori]

Originally Posted by joshmamabear

I didn't know they charge 50% off for students since the one on the website says $79 per year but can be shared by 5 people. Can you share your amazon prime membership, too? And you also get unlimited 2 day free shipping on anything you buy on amazon, right?

I'm considering switching from Netflix to AP if the TV shows and movies are comparable. Do they have a lot of documentaries and National Geographic on AP?

I think you got a great deal with AP!

For students you can get the 1st year free but videos are not included. Year 2-4 are 50% off and include regular Prime benefits. I can share it with those in my household and yes I get the 2 day shipping which is why I got it. The videos were just a bonus to me. I haven't looked at the video selection much as we have been enjoying a Star Trek marathon here Either way, Between Netflix, AP, Hulu and the network websites we get to watch pretty much anything with the exception of Discovery channels. Wish they would steam shows!

[SouthernBellSaver]

I really need to get out of debt and did Dave Ramsey's course last year but I am finding it so hard to give up. So reading this is encouraging. best wishes to you.

[Satori]

Originally Posted by SouthernBellSaver

I really need to get out of debt and did Dave Ramsey's course last year but I am finding it so hard to give up. So reading this is encouraging. best wishes to you.

Whats so hard about it to give up? 500 channels and there is never anything on! But seriously, look up your favorite shows online and I bet you will find them streaming for free. I run a long VGA cable from my computer to the TV and I can sit comfortably and watch what ever.

[EStimpert]

Originally Posted by SouthernBellSaver

I really need to get out of debt and did Dave Ramsey's course last year but I am finding it so hard to give up. So reading this is encouraging. best wishes to you.

I agree. Its got to be a mental thing with me. I finally did it two weeks ago and don't regret it at all!!

[anixon2]

We got rid of it 3 months ago and haven't regreted it at all! We have netflix and when we can't get something on there we just connect to our computers and stream them No more waiting to see what will happen next or getting upset because you missed an episode because you can just watch what you want when you want! Cable is so over rated!

[LetaB]

Yeah, we can connect the laptop to the TV if need be, but it was worth it us to get the Roku because we have one TV and one laptop in a family of four, and the little kids can use the dead simple Roku remote, but not the laptop. And you can't get regular Hulu on the Roku, just Hulu+.

If it were just me, single, I wouldn't (and didn't) even have a TV. Just a computer suits me fine.

[EStimpert]

Originally Posted by suzanimal

We cut cable a year ago and rarely miss it. We bought a Roku (they start at 59.00 and go up to 99.00) and stream Netflix and a free channel called Crackle - it has tv and movies.

We have a WDTV and a Wii, I need to see if either has Crackle, ive seen some of their selection on Hulu and its great!

[EStimpert]

Originally Posted by anixon2

We got rid of it 3 months ago and haven't regreted it at all! We have netflix and when we can't get something on there we just connect to our computers and stream them No more waiting to see what will happen next or getting upset because you missed an episode because you can just watch what you want when you want! Cable is so over rated!

The only show I was worried about missing was Big Brother, and theyre online, so no worries, and saving $70 a month!

[Sasha101]

We dropped our cable and landline, and went with the cheapest package from directTV. Instead of Netflix we use Redbox. I don't spend $8 a month on movies as it stands, and the selection was never recent enough for my liking to stay with Netflix.