It’s time to talk about how to ditch cable and switch to streaming, friends! What exactly does ditching your cable even mean, you say? It means we stopped being tied down to our long-term cable contract that was forever rising in price. I was constantly having to go into a negotiation battle to bring it down, and I got tired of doing it. Michael had been asking me forever to make the switch since the cable bill is one of my tasks (we divide and conquer in our house), but I was so scared to make the switch. Why? I don’t know. Probably because I hate change. But you guys, it’s been easy peasy, and we’ve saved some money by doing it.
Here’s all you need to know about ditching cable and switching to streaming.
How to Ditch Your Cable & Switch to Streaming
1. Review Your Cable Bill
So the first thing you need to do before taking the plunge is sit down and look at your cable bill. What are you paying for? For us, we paid for cable & internet together, and our plan was pretty basic. I had worked in HBO “for free” in one of my previous negotiations, but we did have more than enough channels. But I was super unhappy paying more than $150 for an internet speed that was super slow and cable that always had to be restarted and rebooted constantly.
2. Know Your Non-Negotiables
Next thing before deciding to make the switch, know which channels you can’t live without. Some of you are huge sports fans and must watch all the sports. Some of you need a certain network in your life. Do your research of where you can find said networks BEFORE you switch. I promise you there is a streaming service to meet your needs. There are tons!
For the kids, we needed Disney, Disney Junior, & Nick Junior. I couldn’t live without Grey’s Anatomy, Schitt’s Creek, Yellowstone, baseball, and local news. Michael needed to be able to watch crime shows, golf, and University of Texas football.
Side note: These seasons of shows and sports are just that: seasonal. I wasn’t too worried when shopping around for a streaming service, because if we found one that didn’t have one or the other, we could always switch at any given point.
3. Research Your Streaming Services
This is when things got really specific. We have had an Amazon Fire Stick for a few years, and we already had Amazon Prime & Netflix, so now we were looking for a streaming service for cable networks as a one-stop shop. I quickly moved on to researching all the TV streaming services.
Services I looked up: YouTube TV, AT&T TV, Sling TV, Hulu Live TV, and Philo.
Here’s a super in-depth article (and the one I used) comparing each service, how they work, along with pros and cons. For the channel lineup comparison, check out this article by the same website. I highly suggest you bookmark this one as a resource.
What I was most concerned about when deciding to ditch cable was not having local news channels, so that was what I checked for first. To my surprise, most of these services stream your local channels! That’s when I was sold.
Another thing I knew I wanted in a streaming service was the ability to pause live TV, record, and play back much like cable or dish would. Done. Most have this option (some don’t at all), although all of the services who do offer the DVR feature have different stipulations: some record a limited amount of hours and some record unlimited amounts of hours. That was a then a no-brainer for me of which services I could eliminate.
What we went with: YouTube TV
By knowing all of this, it came down to two services. The one who had the most of our non-negotiables was YouTube TV. It can be played on multiple screens at the same time, has unlimited DVR space, it has live TV local news channels, has the most sports channels like the Golf Channel, MLB Network, & Fox Sports, Food Network, HGTV, Investigation Discovery, and the Pop network for Schitt’s Creek. AT&T Now was my close second, but it didn’t have any of those channels.
The only two channels I was bummed to lose were Nick Junior and Paramount. But hold that thought for a work around. ;)
If Lifetime is your lifeline, you might be disappointed though, because YouTube TV does not have that one. Just go through that article I mentioned with the channel lineup to help you see which service provides what. None of them have EVERYTHING. And if they do, you might as well go back to cable for the price. :/
4. Know How You’re Going to Stream
Once you’ve picked your service, you’re ready to make the switch…ALMOST. Now you need to know how each TV is going to play your shows. My suggestion would be to get an Amazon Firestick for each TV in your home. We already had all but one, so it was an easy switch. Some TVs are setup to download most streaming apps, but some will not download. Why? I don’t know. To make life difficult, I suppose. But the Firestick will download any streaming app. Woohoo!
You’ll also want to check your internet speed to make sure your home’s internet service can handle the data. I knew if we were going to all streaming, I would have to upgrade my internet. I wasn’t mad about that. Our area offers fiber internet speed, so I was happy to make the switch.
5. Call to Cancel Your Cable
I think going to all streaming services is becoming the norm, so when I called to cancel, it was painless. So easy! I did ask how it would affect my billing (because contract terms & bundling sometimes can make things tricky), but the service rep was super helpful and helped me make sure my internet would be able to handle the switch as well. I told him how much I wanted to spend (definitely lowball here), upped my internet speed, and the change happened immediately. This is why you need to be prepared with 1-4 beforehand.
6. Setup Your New TV Life
Now that we were heading into the dark side, I set up everything the day we switched. I signed up for YouTube TV (it has a free trial period, too), and then loaded it onto my Firestick. You guys. Why did I wait so long? Simplify your life! We now have YouTube TV, Amazon Prime, Netflix, and the Disney Plus Bundle which comes with Hulu & ESPN+.
*For Nick Junior or other cable network you don’t have, find a family member (like a grandparent) who still has cable and use their cable login for the Nick Junior Now app or cable network app you’re looking for. Team work makes the dream work.
Here’s what my TV looks like now when I turn it on.
With the Firestick, you can access your purchased movies, TV shows, and the like.
You always have the option to buy whatever you need on Amazon as well, if you’re looking for a certain movie and none of the streaming services have it. Just food for thought.
What YouTube TV looks like:
The home page of YouTube TV starts on the Home tab, and it’ll show you where you left off. It will also show you what you think you might be interested.
For live TV, it looks just like a typical cable channel guide.
The only thing that you can’t do is jump from channel to channel. You have to scroll all the way down or up to find what you’re looking for in Live TV.
But you can still record your favorite shows!
You just add it to your library, and it will record new shows and it pops up all the old ones.
You can also search for an old episode of something, and as long as it was on a network that is on YouTube TV and offers free episodes in its respective network app, you should be able to play it, like Grey’s Anatomy, This is Us, and Schitt’s Creek.
One of the major CONS about YouTube TV is that it still has ads, even when you pay for the service. Womp, womp. For instance, if you’re going to watch an old episode of something that you didn’t record initially, you will have to let the ads run while watching.
When you’re watching live TV, you still get regular commercials, although sometimes it’s just filler ad space which is strange.
Disney Plus
We are loving Disney Plus! I love having all of the Disney library at our finger tips. No bad things to say about it.
Since we have the Disney Plus bundle, we also get Hulu & ESPN +. Honestly, the bundle isn’t worth it to me. We have so many other shows and apps to keep us entertained.
Hulu
Honestly, I could live without Hulu. I think once I finish Handsmaid’s Tale, I cancel the bundle and stick with Disney Plus alone. I haven’t even downloaded the ESPN+ app.
Netflix
No bad things to say about Netflix. Love having it! We do the family swaparoo with this one, too.
The Cost Difference
These are real numbers. I went back and looked at my bills and charges, and this is the real deal with tax and fees. I was that specific. I’m sure everyone has different plans, but this was mine.
I was hesitant to add in Amazon Prime in here, because I would have it regardless, but if you’re considering it, why don’t you have it yet? Totally worth it just for the streaming shows. Mrs. Maisel is worth it and then some, plus Prime 2-day shipping. Need I say more.
Nonetheless, we are SAVING MONEY. I am so glad we made the switch.
I was so scared, but why?! Absolutely zero reason to be scared. I will say, if I didn’t have reliable internet, I would not have made the switch. It’s a must. We upped our internet speed to the highest it needed to be.
Hopefully that answered all your questions! If you have any more, please leave a comment here or send me a message. Happy to help!
