Cable cutting is about freedom and user advantage

We are about to turn off the last of our Dish Network package because we have added a digital off-air antenna through which we now get our local networks for free.

We got one of our two Roku devices by paying our Sling TV bill in advance for three months. When that 90 day period runs out, we will likely turn off our Sling TV package for a few months, restarting it when the college football season begins again, and HGTV has had a chance to get more new episodes into their coffers. ESPN/ESPN2 and HGTV tend to be the main channels we watch in the Sling TV package. But we have been getting so many other channels and services now, that we are not really watching Sling TV.

When we turn off the Dish Network account and later temporarily turn off Sling TV, our total monthly television bill will be less than $19 a month. When we move the $10 a month we've been paying Dish Network for our local channels and allocate that $10 to Netflix, we'll be up to $29 a month.

When college football season begins again, we will restart the Sling TV package, which will add $20 a month to the bill. Because there are no contracts, when football season ends, we will likely turn off Sling TV after the five month college football season because football is my only real sports passion.

The ability to move money around and turn on and off services that you are not under contract with, is one of the great advantages of the world of cable cutting.

There are so many free channels we are finding, that we seem to be having a great time discovering new channels and services, checking out a lot of great programming -- especially science and nature, films, news, new technology, etc. -- that in the end, we will likely settle in at around $49 a month for it all. That is about a third of the cost we were paying for our 250 channel cable TV package that gave us 235 channels that we never watched because it seemed that nothing was ever on when we went to the channels.

We have built a cluster of over 100 channels on the Roku that we do watch. We have so far found about 25 channels on the Apple TV 4. On the Amazon Fire TV we have found about 50 channels. Throw in network websites that we can use Google Chromecast to mirror to the TV screen (or that Apple and Android users can achieve using AirPlay or screen mirroring), and there seems so many great services that are now available outside the world of cable TV.

Another great advantage of cable cutting is that most of what you see are on-demand services, so the shows don't start until you get there and click on them. Showtime is up to you.

Cable cutting is a far different world that what you get with cable TV. It isn't for everybody but for us, we are thoroughly impressed and are having a great time saving about $1,000 a year.

#cablecutting

.