What do you think of my cable TV bill?

fuzzybuddy said:
Way back in the days when dinosaurs ruled the world (1970s), my cable TV bill was $14.78 (US). I thought that was highway robbery back then. Today, my phone/cableTV/internet bill was $210.00. I'm not sure what kind of internet capability is. I don't download movies, etc. My internet usage is pretty basic. Cable TV has about 80 or so channels. I don't have the option of switching cable provider. So, it's them or a totally different type of provider. Since everybody , around me, is in the same boat, it's hard to see if I'm getting just ripped off, or Royally getting ripped off.
Thanks.
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Wow!!! That is quite a chunk of cash! Hubby and I cut the cable cord years ago. We bought a roof dish antenna which gives us 30 channels including our 3 major local stations. One time cost of around $200. We have Netflix, at $14 per month and Hulu at $15 which gives us even stuff on major networks, you just have to wait a day to watch. We have Amazon Prime at $125 per year which we have mostly for purchases but we do get the Amazon Prime Streaming so if you count that, it is, say, $10.50 a month. We pay $50 a month for high speed Internet and a landline. Total is about $90 per month and we get it all except for premium channels like HBO. BUT Hulu broadcasts a lot of HBO and Showtime stuff at the end of a season. Let's put it this way: we could watch TV 24 hours a day for the rest of our lives and not run out of stuff to watch, if we were so inclined. (We're not.) We have been very happy with this arrangement.
 
Gaer said:
Why would ANYONE still use Cable when free TV is available?
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Because free TV doesn't offer much online. And places like where I'm at the reception is lousy for those boxes & the antennas. I don't have a problem with free tv but some people want stuff you can't get online.
 
We left cable at the end of 2007. We use AT&T for Internet access, with Antenna TV, Hulu and Netflix, we pay about half of the $140 we used to give to cable and haven't even considered going back to cable since. In the middle of our 13th year without cable TV and doing just fine. Don...
 
For some people,TV and internet are their entertainment, myself included.
I don’t drink,gamble,smoke etc.
Have no need for expensive clothing,don’t entertain,my apartment is way to small
I enjoy going out to eat but that’s hit or miss right now.
 
LindaB said:
We don't fax anymore. Scan, attach and email is most accepted.
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There's a way we can fax using the computer, but I never used it. I had to have the fax for work, but now it's no longer needed. I'm one of the old-timers where you get used to having something and don't want to get rid of it.
 
We subscribed to satellite because the antenna service is lousy here. The channels are available if you can get them but if it's windy, you're out of luck. And in this area, there is more wind than not. The sound is interrupted so much you can't follow it. That's why we subscribed to satellite.
 
ISP - $40 (unlimited basic bandwidth)
CC - $54 (2 phones unlimited talk/text 10GB data)
Prime- $10
Netflix- $9

Total - $113 Monthly

Watch TV about 3 hours late evening.
 
I had "triple play" with Optimum...phone, internet and cable. Once my bill reached $168 I felt it was time to trim that. I turned in one of my DVR boxes and downgraded my plan. Then the next year when I threatened to leave, I got a "special" that lasted a year. In 2017 the bill went from $139 a month to $103 a month.

In 2018 they raised it to $129 a month. I must've threatened to leave again and they reduced it to $92 but a couple of months later due to added fees and surcharges for things I didn't even use, it went up to $105. When they went up again, I decided to "cut the chord" and cancel my home phone service in July 2018. With internet only my bill was $61 a month but they raised the cost for that.

Optimum raised my internet bill for the last time in December 2019. I wasn't happy with the service because too many times I was getting "you are not connected to the internet" after having been online for awhile. So I switched to Verizon Fios and have internet service only. All in is $56 a month. I pay $28-$38 a month for streaming services, depending on whether or not I have Netflix. I also have an Android box that pulls in plenty of programming. So for streaming and internet my bill is $84 and I'm getting all the programming I could ever want. If I was still with Optimum, I'd be paying $110 or more.
 
I do like to see what everyone is doing now that we have so many options.

We stream via Roku and have access to so much content. Roku has so many good free channels we watch often. We dropped our landline a few years ago because the taxes increased dramatically.

Current monthly costs with taxes:
$62 Hulu Live (husband likes live sports)
$45 Internet
$ 5 AcornTV Yearly Option
$19 Twigby cell - me
$14 Twigby cell - husband

$ 145 TOTAL
 
MarciKS said:
I don't know anything about the Roku's & I don't know how to use one.
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Red Cinders said:
I do like to see what everyone is doing now that we have so many options.

We stream via Roku and have access to so much content. Roku has so many good free channels we watch often. We dropped our landline a few years ago because the taxes increased dramatically.

Current monthly costs with taxes:
$62 Hulu Live (husband likes live sports)
$45 Internet
$ 5 AcornTV Yearly Option
$19 Twigby cell - me
$14 Twigby cell - husband

$ 145 TOTAL
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Marci...Roku is a digital media player (either a box or stick) one purchases for a one time cost. You can access free and/or paid subscription channels like (free) Tubi, The Roku Channel, Pluto and (paid subscriptions) Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Netflix, Philo and others. The Roku box is extremely easy to set up, is very simple to use and has tons of channels. Roku boxes and sticks can be purchased from $24.99 on up. I've had the Roku system for about 12 years. I replaced my original box 5 years ago.

Wow Red Cinders, even with two cell phones added in, you're paying much less than some others for just their cable T.V. providers' plans. I'm with MetroPCS and love it. I can use my phone to provide wifi for my tablet at no extra cost. When I switched to the Unlimited plan...unlimited data and 15GB hotspot, they threw in Amazon Prime for free. I got Disney Plus free for a year when I switched to Fios. I keep Netflix for 5 or 6 months out of the year mostly to watch my CW shows but there's other good content. I subscribed to Philo when it was $16 a month and still pay that but it has gone up to $20. That streaming service has 61 live channels plus all my HGTV beach & island home hunting shows on demand. I've never watched live T.V. on it yet. They also have a DVR service. Philo is offering a free 7 day trial. No sports though.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Marci...Roku is a digital media player (either a box or stick) one purchases for a one time cost. You can access free and/or paid subscription channels like (free) Tubi, The Roku Channel, Pluto and (paid subscriptions) Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Netflix, Philo and others. The Roku box is extremely easy to set up, is very simple to use and has tons of channels. Roku boxes and sticks can be purchased from $24.99 on up. I've had the Roku system for about 12 years. I replaced my original box 5 years ago.

Wow Red Cinders, even with two cell phones added in, you're paying much less than some others for just their cable T.V. providers' plans. I'm with MetroPCS and love it. I can use my phone to provide wifi for my tablet at no extra cost. When I switched to the Unlimited plan...unlimited data and 15GB hotspot, they threw in Amazon Prime for free. I got Disney Plus free for a year when I switched to Fios. I keep Netflix for 5 or 6 months out of the year mostly to watch my CW shows but there's other good content. I subscribed to Philo when it was $16 a month and still pay that but it has gone up to $20. That streaming service has 61 live channels plus all my HGTV beach & island home hunting shows on demand. I've never watched live T.V. on it yet. They also have a DVR service. Philo is offering a free 7 day trial. No sports though.
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Do they come with instructions?
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Wow Red Cinders, even with two cell phones added in, you're paying much less than some others for just their cable T.V. providers' plans. I'm with MetroPCS and love it. I can use my phone to provide wifi for my tablet at no extra cost. When I switched to the Unlimited plan...unlimited data and 15GB hotspot, they threw in Amazon Prime for free. I got Disney Plus free for a year when I switched to Fios. I keep Netflix for 5 or 6 months out of the year mostly to watch my CW shows but there's other good content. I subscribed to Philo when it was $16 a month and still pay that but it has gone up to $20. That streaming service has 61 live channels plus all my HGTV beach & island home hunting shows on demand. I've never watched live T.V. on it yet. They also have a DVR service. Philo is offering a free 7 day trial. No sports though.
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We are very much alike, OneEyedDiva, because I'm also always ready to find and take advantage of a good deal that might pop up. You mentioned Philo which is really a great, reasonable TV service. We bought another Roku for $24.99 last month and with it, it had a free 2-month trial of Philo if activiated by 8/2/20. Of course we had to try it. My husband likes it, and since I don't watch it much, it will be up to him whether he wants to keep it after the trial.

Our Twigby phone service has been great for how we use our phones. We have a small amount of data but if you choose, the service lets you automatically bump up to the next level if you go over. We never do because we don't need much in the way of data because we mostly use the wifi at home. I have unlimited talk on mine, and we both have unlimited text. Twigby is a Sprint reseller with the same coverage area, and we have everything we need for a total of $33 monthly for the two phone lines.

There are just so many different ways now to get good TV and phone services. I know there are some who don't want to change what they've always had (my mother and brothers), but I'm more than willing to see what's out there and get the best deals for us.
 
MarciKS said:
Do they come with instructions?
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Yes..legible instructions at that. 😃 A booklet comes with the product. Here's set up info from their page. Scroll down to How do I set it up?
https://www.roku.com/how-it-works#how-to-setup
Oops...I just realized someone posted the set up video for you. But you might want to read instructions anyway. BTW.. here's are two free streaming choices you can watch online: https://tubitv.com/home https://pluto.tv/live-tv/pluto-tv-spotlight?utm_source=homepage
 
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Red Cinders said:
We are very much alike, OneEyedDiva, because I'm also always ready to find and take advantage of a good deal that might pop up. You mentioned Philo which is really a great, reasonable TV service. We bought another Roku for $24.99 last month and with it, it had a free 2-month trial of Philo if activiated by 8/2/20. Of course we had to try it. My husband likes it, and since I don't watch it much, it will be up to him whether he wants to keep it after the trial.

Our Twigby phone service has been great for how we use our phones. We have a small amount of data but if you choose, the service lets you automatically bump up to the next level if you go over. We never do because we don't need much in the way of data because we mostly use the wifi at home. I have unlimited talk on mine, and we both have unlimited text. Twigby is a Sprint reseller with the same coverage area, and we have everything we need for a total of $33 monthly for the two phone lines.

There are just so many different ways now to get good TV and phone services. I know there are some who don't want to change what they've always had (my mother and brothers), but I'm more than willing to see what's out there and get the best deals for us.
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It seems we are alike Red Cinders. LOL My husband and I stayed with Sprint for more than 10 years. We often had billing issues to resolve which they always did and we've even got some refunds for our trouble. Once a representative took my complaint, decided to review my account and said Sprint had overcharged me by $200 over time. So I got that refund. 😃 My husband decided to try Metro and we discovered on a vacation trip to Ocean City, MD that Metro's wifi connected a lot faster than Sprint's and the bill was lower. Sprint tacked too many surcharges and fees on to the bill. I've been with Metro for 4 years and I started out paying $40 a month. But when I decided to travel more often after my husband died, I decided to up my plan. Have you and your husband tried Sling...I think that has more sports. I tried it, wasn't impressed with their interface nor their HGTV catalog. I couldn't care less about sports so I dropped it.
 
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