I just noticed this is post number 100. Whoo hooo!
I found an even cheaper solution to my home Internet. Currently, we pay $110 a month to the phone company for our home phone and Internet service and $28 a month to the cable company for basic cable. My plan was to switch our Internet to the cable company, which would cost about $65 a month for the level of Internet speed I'd like to get, then cut out TV cable service and the home phone. That would eliminate the $110 phone bill all together, but what we pay to the cable company would a little more than double.
To get TV service, I bought this:
I love the Roku, which streams TV shows and movies to the TV. It doesn't require a subscription to a service to stream -- there are quite a few free options -- but to increase variety and to have access to new TV shows, I sprang for subscriptions to Netflix and HuluPlus. (Until my membership to Amazon Prime expires this coming December, I also have a whole additional set of shows available though Amazon, but I have no plans to renew it. It doesn't cost much, and it works wonderfully, but I think we get enough TV with the other two options. I might even cut out Netflix eventually, too.)
The Netflix and HuluPlus subscriptions cost $16 a month for both. Overall savings with this option -- I still have yet to make any changes with the Internet, home phone and cable, so we haven't realized any of the savings yet -- is $57.
However, for the first time the other day, I considered that it might be cheaper to just upgrade the Internet service with the phone company. Turns out, it is. The Internet portion of our phone bill is $30. The fastest Internet speed the phone company offers is $43. Since we don't notice too many problems with the Internet streaming as-is, I feel pretty confident that just a short boost in speed is all we really need. Therefore, the cheapest option is to leave the Internet where it is but upgrade its speed. Once all the taxes are added in, it will probably cost us $50 a month. We still cut out the landline and the cable. Therefore, what we spend for Internet and cable every month would be just $66, once the cost of Netflix and HuluPlus are added in. Savings with this method: $72 a month.
What holds me back from making the change is that I'm a chicken. Every time I've ever called to have something disconnected, I've gotten a hard-sell from the person on the other end of the phone as they tell me why I really need their service. But, if I want to make my goal, I need to get some backbone and just do it.
Wish me luck.
I found an even cheaper solution to my home Internet. Currently, we pay $110 a month to the phone company for our home phone and Internet service and $28 a month to the cable company for basic cable. My plan was to switch our Internet to the cable company, which would cost about $65 a month for the level of Internet speed I'd like to get, then cut out TV cable service and the home phone. That would eliminate the $110 phone bill all together, but what we pay to the cable company would a little more than double.
To get TV service, I bought this:
I love the Roku, which streams TV shows and movies to the TV. It doesn't require a subscription to a service to stream -- there are quite a few free options -- but to increase variety and to have access to new TV shows, I sprang for subscriptions to Netflix and HuluPlus. (Until my membership to Amazon Prime expires this coming December, I also have a whole additional set of shows available though Amazon, but I have no plans to renew it. It doesn't cost much, and it works wonderfully, but I think we get enough TV with the other two options. I might even cut out Netflix eventually, too.)
The Netflix and HuluPlus subscriptions cost $16 a month for both. Overall savings with this option -- I still have yet to make any changes with the Internet, home phone and cable, so we haven't realized any of the savings yet -- is $57.
However, for the first time the other day, I considered that it might be cheaper to just upgrade the Internet service with the phone company. Turns out, it is. The Internet portion of our phone bill is $30. The fastest Internet speed the phone company offers is $43. Since we don't notice too many problems with the Internet streaming as-is, I feel pretty confident that just a short boost in speed is all we really need. Therefore, the cheapest option is to leave the Internet where it is but upgrade its speed. Once all the taxes are added in, it will probably cost us $50 a month. We still cut out the landline and the cable. Therefore, what we spend for Internet and cable every month would be just $66, once the cost of Netflix and HuluPlus are added in. Savings with this method: $72 a month.
What holds me back from making the change is that I'm a chicken. Every time I've ever called to have something disconnected, I've gotten a hard-sell from the person on the other end of the phone as they tell me why I really need their service. But, if I want to make my goal, I need to get some backbone and just do it.
Wish me luck.
Best of luck, and congrats on hitting 100!!!
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