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SOME MONEY SAVING TIPS (even with bad antenna service)
My brother signed up for an internet only service for $29.99 a month. The cable companies don't advertise it, but you can plug the cable directly into a TV with QAM tuner (almost any TV manufactured since 2006) and he gets over 20 channels. That way he can watch football games and network TV in high definition. He loses out on ESPN monday night football, and Thursday football on the NFL channel, but if he really cares about the game he can go to a bar or someone else's house.
Rather than pay $140 a month he supplements the basic TV with Netflix or Hulu+ for $10 plus DVD rentals. If there is a series on cable TV, they simply rent the DVD at the end of the year, and watch the entire series at once.
For news shows like CNN or FOXnews you can more or less look at their websites.
There are multiple options for "plain old telephone service". One of the simplest is to buy a phone for about $40 that will function as a relay for your cell phone. That way when you bring your cell phone home at the end of the day and plug it in to recharge, you place it near the base set. While the cell phone is recharging you can use the other phone to walk around the house. It frees you from having to run back to the recharging location every time the cell phone rings when you are at home. Look for a phone with DECT 6.0 capability and CONNECT TO CELL capability. The phone will more than likely be made by VTECH. It can handle up to two cell lines and a third land line if you don't want to give that up. A little window on the individual headset will tell you which line is calling, and also function as CALLER ID. You can get up to 5 to 8 handsets for as little as $20 per handset. If you retain a land line only the base must be plugged in. Unlike the cordless phones of yesteryear, the DECT 6.0 phones have excellent reception up to 500 yards through most walls. With multiple handsets you can also use them as an intercom.
The cheap way to replace DVR service is to buy a coaxial to USB tuner ($25-$60) for your computer. Then you can record the shows on your computer's hard disk like a TIVO box, and play them back. You need some additional connection if you want to play them back on the TV screen. It helps to have a post 2006 computer which is more than likely to have a large hard disk and a fast processor. The newer TIVO boxes have 500 to 2000 Gb hard drive, but 500 Gb has become the standard in computer hard drives today.
Does your cousin live in the Pittsburgh area? I have dish and cable internet. So I'm thinking about trying it. Just so I can see what happens. Did he have to run a channel scan on his tv to get these 20 channels? I know since the digital switchover comcast has all their channels off of a digital cable box.
I thought I'd revive this thread because I'm reconsidering my tv/internet/home phone and cell phone service. I am curious about the clearspot internet mentioned for $35/month. I suspect it's not fast enough for an internet gamer though.
My problem is that everyone in my household has different needs. Hubby needs Steelers and Penguins. Kids need fast internet and some lighthearted channels like Comedy Central. I need a phone I can talk on forever because I'm a big talker.
I'm thinking the best course of action is to just keep switching between Verizon and Comcast for the introductory offers. I'm putting out $400/month for cable/internet/home and cell phones that don't even have the data packages. That just makes me sick.
I thought I'd revive this thread because I'm reconsidering my tv/internet/home phone and cell phone service. I am curious about the clearspot internet mentioned for $35/month. I suspect it's not fast enough for an internet gamer though.
My problem is that everyone in my household has different needs. Hubby needs Steelers and Penguins. Kids need fast internet and some lighthearted channels like Comedy Central. I need a phone I can talk on forever because I'm a big talker.
I'm thinking the best course of action is to just keep switching between Verizon and Comcast for the introductory offers. I'm putting out $400/month for cable/internet/home and cell phones that don't even have the data packages. That just makes me sick.
I have ATT for our cell phones and I just switched to a new plan that was cheaper and gave us a better data plan. Check with Verizon and see if they have any new data plans that you can switch to.
I like DirecTV. Good sports packages. I used to bundle, but found I was happier using different companies so I could get the exact service I wanted. I am considering dropping the satellite when my contract is up and trying the basic cable, hulu, roku route. Don't know if I have the patience for it. Not sure if I can get the sports I want. Doesn't matter now as I'm in a contract. Who knows what options will be available when the contract ends?
I'm putting out $400/month for cable/internet/home and cell phones that don't even have the data packages. That just makes me sick.
That's quite a lot for no cell data. How many cell phones? The cable/internet/phone shouldn't be more than about $150. I would balk at paying even that much, but still, I think that would cover most people's bill for those, on Comcast or Verizon. So that leaves $250. If you have a $250 cell bill, you should be able to have a reasonable amount of shared data included on about 4-5 phones, with unlimited voice and text. The more phones you have, the cheaper it is per phone, and with these new plans you can put up to 10 devices on them. The modern cell plans are based around a shared data pool of however many GB, and the plan also includes unlimited voice/texting. I even did this with our work phones; it cut our bill for 30 phones (most of them iPhones) by around $900/month, from around $2400 to around $1500.
Doesn't matter now as I'm in a contract. Who knows what options will be available when the contract ends?
Sometimes it's worth paying the penalty to end a contract if the overall savings are greater by switching.
What do you use for internet?
Quote:
Originally Posted by greg42
That's quite a lot for no cell data. How many cell phones? The cable/internet/phone shouldn't be more than about $150. I would balk at paying even that much, but still, I think that would cover most people's bill for those, on Comcast or Verizon. So that leaves $250. If you have a $250 cell bill, you should be able to have a reasonable amount of shared data included on about 4-5 phones, with unlimited voice and text. The more phones you have, the cheaper it is per phone, and with these new plans you can put up to 10 devices on them. The modern cell plans are based around a shared data pool of however many GB, and the plan also includes unlimited voice/texting. I even did this with our work phones; it cut our bill for 30 phones (most of them iPhones) by around $900/month, from around $2400 to around $1500.
I have Comcast for cable/internet/phone and Verizon for three cell phones. Both bills are near $200/month. $180 or $190 something depending on which way the wind blows I guess. We do have too much on the cable---HBO, etc. We also have hulu and Netflix, which I didn't add into the $400/month. For Verizon, I have the highest minutes package because I'm a talker and unlimited texting for all phones. I haven't been using my cell phone for over a month since the battery is dying so quickly. I've liked the feeling of people not having 24/7 access to me. It's very refreshing and liberating. I'll check to see if getting phones with data plans will reduce the cost.
For Verizon, I have the highest minutes package because I'm a talker and unlimited texting for all phones.
That's why it's expensive for no data, paying for lots of minutes. What you want perhaps is to look at Verizon's "Share Everything" plans. It works just like the ones we now use on AT&T. You pick an amount of data, and then the talk and text is unlimited.
So for 3 phones, let's say you don't really need data and you just keep "dumb" phones. You could share 1GB of data at $50 (even though you don't need it, that's the minimum), then 3 phones at $30 each, that's only $140 and you get unlimited voice and text for all phones. If you get smart phones they are $40 each, and then you'll need a little more data because you'll start using it. But you could share 4GB of data between 3 smart phones and still only be at $190. Plans - Share Everything - Verizon Wireless These numbers exclude tax.
If your Comcast bill is pushing $200 then you're probably getting too much stuff. I dunno. I've never had any service close to that level. But I'd call them and tell them you're switching, or turning something off. If you've been a good customer for a while they'll offer you a break for a year or something. My bill is only about $60, but after I called in and talked to someone for a bit, I got $10 off for a year for no reason at all.
Hubby needs Steelers and Penguins. Kids need fast internet and some lighthearted channels like Comedy Central. I need a phone I can talk on forever because I'm a big talker.
Steelers = Over the air antenna $10 - $50 one time purchase. If the Steelers have a Thursday game, he'll have to go to a sports bar or something.
Penguins = No idea. This may be the thing that necessitates cable for you.
Comedy Central = It's likely all the shows are available on the channels website or Hulu Plus ($8/month). Toss in Netflix for another $8/month for good measure.
Home Phone = Try using Google Voice. You can still have a real phone number for people to call and you can even hook up a VoIP cordless phone to use so you don't feel like you're using internet phone.
You can use game systems or a device like a Roku (~$50) to stream things like Hulu & Netflix to your actual TVs instead of being stuck watching them on your computer.
So maybe $150 in one-time hardware purchases (antenna, VoIP phone, Roku), plus ~$80 a month in internet and internet subscriptions, plus your cell plan. Subtract that from $400 and decide whether or not it's a price worth paying in order to watch Penguin games at home.
We made the switch before the holidays. I still pay Comcast for Internet (~70 for the higher speed) but switched to using a Roku. We have Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime, which all come out to about 21/month. My wife is a TV junkie so all three were a must to get her on board with the plan. So, we pay almost $100 a month where we were paying 175 before. Still a lot but I haven't found a good high speed Internet alternative yet. That plus a good HD antenna and we have just about everything we need aside from cable sports and some other cable programming. But, our viewing habits are focused and we spend less time in front of the TV. And Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon offer WAY more in the way of good children's programming.
Also, Amazon Prime pays for itself as it get you free shipping on almost everything they ship. We use Amazon a lot so it has worked out for us.
So maybe $150 in one-time hardware purchases (antenna, VoIP phone, Roku), plus ~$80 a month in internet and internet subscriptions, plus your cell plan. Subtract that from $400 and decide whether or not it's a price worth paying in order to watch Penguin games at home.
It's out of more like $200 (the $400 includes cell phones) but still a good exercise.
We do pretty much the same, Hulu Plus and, well, actually no we're not paying for Netflix streaming right now. I got a PS3 as a gift a while back so we use that for streaming Hulu Plus directly to the TV. (I've never played a game on the thing; we also use it to play movies on Blu Ray or DVD.) I do pay Comcast a few bucks for economy TV because it's basically a wash; they juice the Internet rate by about the same amount if you cancel it. It works out better because the TV is in the basement and an indoor antenna didn't work that well out here with it partly underground (couldn't get ABC or PBS, although others did work usually).
The Steelers are always on broadcast, I think even the Thursday games show in the home market don't they, as long as they're sold out? The Pens though, that is harder without having an actual cable connection I think.
The sports is actually the hardest. Most of what the kids need is not at all tied to the time slot on the actual channel, so watching online or via Hulu Plus or whatever usually fits just fine. If you must see, I dunno, Game of Thrones or something while it's actually airing, then you're stuck with HBO. It's a very small number of things that make the bill add up, and live sports is the big killer. If you could unbundle things it would cost more to get ESPN than HBO.
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But you could share 4GB of data between 3 smart phones and still only be at $190. 
