Community Chat

[Caligurll]

I am current paying about $195 for Comcast Triple Play.  Last summer when my current plan was about to expire (I was paying $205 at that time,with one movie channel) I told them I needed to lower my bill and wanted to drop HBO.  So, the countered with this offer:  HBO, Showtime, and all the other movie channels for $196.  I always start my conversations with Comcast by telling them I want to drop something off my service to lower my bill and they always come back with more features with a lower price.  Any time there is an improvement in internet speed in my area my service is automatically upgraded.  From time to time I get coupons ($5.99) for free movies, which I can use for a movie or just apply to my bill.

I also have Netflix and Amazon Prime.  I enjoy watching TV and all the varied programming available.  I don't go out a lot to movies or dinners, so this is my main entertainment and I'm happy with it.

[mousiegirl]

I am going to request that all Asian and Latino channels be dropped as I never watch these, wonder what the discount would be, a joke probably.  We are constantly trying to get a better deal, what a nightmare to deal with them on the phone after waiting forever for someone to answer the phone.  Once, we discovered that they had been overcharging us for two years, so after complaining, we did receive a refund.  the rates are constantly rising with no changes, and now they removed two channels and added Asian channels, sick and tired of paying for channels we never use.

[LolaMontez]

My husband is a TV addict, and several months ago, I turned him on the Roku Ultra Player.  He is not very tech savvy, so I doubt he is even using it to its full capability, but he LOVES it! 

Today, I am waiting for my new Roku Streaming Stick that I ordered for $50 on Amazon Prime.  As soon as I get it hooked up, I am cancelling our basic only $78.83 DirecTV subsscription and getting a "Direct TV Now" subscription for $35/month which comes over the internet.  This gives you a lot of the top cable channels, network channels, local news,etc.  I already have Amazon Prime Movies as part of my basic Prime subscription, so this should be fine for us.  Most of the reason, I watch so many home shopping channels is because I can't find anything I want to watch on satellite.  Hopefully with all the Roku channels added, I can find something I want to watch.

[SharkE]

DVD player and free movies at public library

[RedTop]

We’re out in the boonies where our only option is satellite TV.   Back when we relied on an antenna, we had good/fair reception for NBC and ABC, and fair/poor reception for CBS.  Our reception was weakening, which is why we signed up with DirecTV.   

My husbands TV is on nearly 20 hours a day, every day, and is what helps take his mind off his physical pain.  TV is extremely important in this household, and would be the very last thing to go.   I save enough on other frugal habits to insure my husband has the programming that makes him happy.   

[AuntG]

OP, you might want to contact them. We got a cheaper package and only lost a movie channel and stuff like a golf channel we never watched. I'm not missing the things that mattered to me.

[Regal Bee]

I would discontinue ours in a minute but my husband doesn't want to. We pay a fortune for mostly junk and I watch almost no television at all. Totally not worth it.

[151949]

We have ROKU and watch that much more than we watch our cable TV. It has netflix - we get the shows from England like the Crown ,and Doc Martin etc. You can even get CBS - NBC - & ABC on ROKU for a small fee.

We get our cable in with our HOA or we would have D/C it a long time ago. Our cable co. is Comcast and it is constantly going oput on us halfway thru a show. Thank Goodness we were smart enough to get our internet thru Verizon , now Frontier ,where I live.

[Maltichonmom17]

Our guaranteed rate expired last month and our bill increased by over $50, now well over $200 a month.  Spectrum apparently doesn't negotiate new guaranteed rates for existing customers, so at the end of this billing period, we are cutting the cord. 

We have a free trial of Sling, and we will keep that for WAY less than the cable bill. I can watch CNN, all three Hallmark channels (only get two of them on cable), all QVC channels (also only get two on cable), and all of the cable channels that I actually watch. The only channel I will miss is Animal Planet, which  isn't an option. I do like not paying for channels I never watch. 

We're already now paying the full, unbundled price for internet, and already pay for Netflix and Amazon Prime. We already have Fire TV and fire sticks on all the TVs. Our only new, one time expense is buying the boxes for the local channels. We use our cell phones and don't even use the land line, so won't miss the phone ringing all day with annoying calls. It's going to save us a lot of money. 

It was a bit of a learning curve to figure out how to use Netflix, Sling, etc. but I was happily navigating my way through it in a pretty short time. My biggest happy realization was when we got Netflix and Prime some time back, and discovering that I could watch what I want when I want, instead of randomly watching whatever programming the cable channels threw at me. There's so much more out there. 

[riley1]

We quit cable (TWC) several years ago - cost was just over the top. We have ROKU (Netflix & Hulu) and stream most everything. For me it was an adjustment - not that I watch a lot of TV - but watching some of my favorite shows say a few days or a week later.

Wouldn't go back to paying that price at all.