Posted: April 3rd, 2012 | Author: Joe | Filed under: spending, Tips | Tags: Cable, Cable Bill, cutting the cord, How To, save money, Spend less | No Comments »
An increasing number of people are wondering how to lower their t.v. cable bill or even how to cut the cable cord altogether. It’s no mystery why. The average American family with cable t.v. is paying over $900 a year for the service.
What would you do with an extra $900 in your pocket this year?
Aside from saving money, you may find you have more free time as well. Cable television feeds the viewer a constant stream of programming. This leads many to plan their lives around when their favorite shows are on, and spend the remainder of their time channel surfing in the hopes of finding something to fill the void.
Cutting the cord changes your life. It does so because alternative providers don’t provide content in the same way – they provide it more like a menu of available shows. Not quite a la carte, but closer than cable. It’s a bit of a mind shift, but it puts you in control of your life again.
Since cutting the cord, my wife and I find we watch tv when we want, and when there is a show we’re interested in. The rest of the time we used to spend channel surfing we now spend talking, reading or just plain living.
I know many others who report a similar phenomenon. I hope that you can experience it too.
Now, without further ado, here’s how to cut the cord on cable t.v., save hundreds of dollars doing it and learn to live again.
Step 1. Determine your “must see” t.v. shows.
Every cable television customer I’ve ever spoken with admits they only watch a handful of channels or shows, yet pay for a tiered package of hundreds of channels encompassing thousands of shows. Most of their television watching time amounts to simple channel surfing and complaining that “there’s nothing on”.
Alternative television options don’t work like that. Aside from the Dish Network, or DirecTV, you don’t get a one-stop provider that will give you everything you get with cable t.v.. Of course, going with one of those other content providers won’t free you from large monthly bills either.
Since the point of this operation is to replace your existing cable with alternative providers but at a lower price, we need a list of shows you consistently watch. Mark the “must see” shows in your list, and start with those.
Step 2. Find out where you can watch your shows online.
Once you have your list of shows, it’s time to figure out where you can watch them. Netflix and Hulu are 2 wildly popular streaming content providers. Amazon is another. The trouble is, none of them has all the shows available. Many shows are only available on one or the other – not all.
You may be lucky and find that everything you watch is available through Netflix, or you may be like my wife and I and realize that most of what you watch is on Netflix, but one or two of your “must see”s are only on Hulu.
For a more in depth look at various providers, read: Where to watch online content streamed to you television.
Step 3. Determine how to stream online content to your t.v..
Once you have your list of shows and verified they are available from alternative sources, you’re ready to proceed.
In this 3rd and final step, you need to determine what kinds of hardware, if any, you will need to make the magic happen.
Unfortunately there’s really quite a bit of information to impart for this step, and I don’t want this post to go on forever.
To that end, I have shared that information here: How to stream online content to your t.v..
Good luck and happy cord cutting!
A word of caution
I feel I should offer a few words of caution as an addendum to this post, to help you avoid being burned one last time by your cable provider. This has happened to some cord cutters – don’t let it happen to you.
Some cable providers charge less if you bundle your cable and internet services together and will charge a higher rate for just internet, so be sure of your provider’s policies before you drop the cable t.v. service.
If you are unlucky enough to have such a cable provider, you can find other high speed internet providers in your area. As a rule of thumb, you want at least 5mbps download speeds, but higher is better.
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Posted: March 29th, 2012 | Author: Joe | Filed under: spending, Tips | Tags: Cable, Cable Bill, cutting the cord, Saving Money, spending | 1 Comment »
If you’re like me and millions of other Americans, you’re tired of paying close to $900 a year for cable television. In this post I will discuss how to watch streaming t.v. shows on your television after you’ve learned where to watch t.v. shows without cable service.
Streaming programs to your television.
The first thing you need to determine is whether you can stream programs straight to your television, or if you need an additional device to get the stream to your television.
Many HDTVs sold in the few years are “smart t.v.’s” -televisions that connect to the internet, so it may be as simple as plugging the internet cable into your television.
Even if you have a traditional t.v., you can still watch full episodes of your favorite shows from the internet on your t.v., however, if your television does not have an HDMI input you will have a more difficult time.
For the remainder of this post, I will focus on watching streaming t.v. shows on a non-Internet ready television.
Pick a device.
There are a host of devices that connect to the internet and/or home network and let you stream online content to your television.
Inexpensive Blue-ray dvd players, like the Sony BDP-S580 Blu-ray Disc Player (which currently retails for $112) provide internet access to Netflix , YouTube , HuluPlus , Pandora , and more. That’s just one example, there are many internet ready Blue-ray players on the market.
Some are wi-fi ready, and others aren’t. Just be sure that if you’re going to buy a new player for streaming t.v. content that you get one that suits your situation. In other words, don’t get a player that’s not wi-fi ready when you have no means of getting an internet cable to connect to it in your living room.
Besides the internet enabled Blue-ray players, there are other HD streaming media player devices like The Boxee Box by D-Link and the many flavors of Roku. And of course, there’s the Apple TV for all you mac lovers out there.
I wasn’t sure what to get or even if this whole experiment to cut cable was going to work when I set out to try it, and I didn’t want to drop $150 or more on a device I wasn’t going to use. Instead, I went with the Roku 2 HD Streaming Player, for $69. I had a $50 Amazon gift card from Christmas, so I felt a little better about the purchase. Even so, $69 is a small price to pay to free yourself from the cable beast.
I have to say that I am very impressed with the Roku. It’s tiny -I mean “fit in the palm of your hand” tiny. It’s so light weight that the HDMI cable weighs more! But the performance is quite good. Not as good as the Sony Blue-ray player we have, but that’s a hard line into the internet and just a better device overall. This is also due to this Roku being the 720 HD version. If I was going to rely solely on only my Roku for streaming content, I’d probably upgrade to the Roku XD 1080p Streaming Player.
But I use the Blue-ray as my primary Netflix and Hulu Plus device. I use the Roku for everything else, like PlayOn.
If the device you’ve chosen is wireless, as I suspect is the situation for most people these days, you may need to upgrade your network to get the best quality and performance.
How to stream online content to your t.v..
Television programming from the internet can be sent over your wireless network to your t.v. or through a traditional Ethernet cable. If your device or television accepts direct connection via Ethernet cable, then it’s as simple as plugging it in. However, if your device requires wireless internet then you will need a router.
If you already have a wireless home network you may be ahead of the game, but if it is more than a few years old you may need to upgrade to get the best performance. This was the situation I was in. My home network router was about 6 years old and provided what I needed for basic internet use, but it just could not keep up with streaming HD video.
Here are the Best 5 wireless routers recommended by CNET Reviews:
I went with the ASUS because it was on sale for $119 and I found a promo code to drop it to $109, but that was a rare alignment of sale and promo code. It’s also a dead sexy device. 
Spending over $100 on a new networking device seemed like a lot since we’re trying to cut our cable bill and lower expenses, but once we realized that it’s a 1 time expense and we will be saving that much in 3 months without having a cable t.v. bill, it quickly became a justified expense.
Streaming live t.v..
Streaming live t.v. shows from the internet can be done with additional services, like PlayOn.tv. Basically, services like PlayOn run on a computer in your home that is connected to your network, and takes live shows from the internet and streams them to your network device like Roku or Boxee to your t.v.. Live streaming is most important with sports. Most other shows can be watched only a week later over the internet, and would behave like watching a show over DVR.
It’s also important to note that some television shows are not available on Netflix, or Hulu Plus. Some are only available on Hulu basic or on the network website. CBS shows are a good example of this. One of my personal favorites is NCIS. You cannot watch full episodes of NCIS anywhere except the CBS.com website. I have no idea why CBS doesn’t license the show to Hulu, but they don’t. So the only way to watch NCIS (and some other current CBS shows) is to use a service like PlayOn, or connect your pc directly to you television.
Final thoughts.
Cutting the cord is a trade off. you’re swapping some channels and options for a lower monthly bill, or possible no monthly bill. Much of the costs described in this post are 1 time expenses, unlike your cable bill.
Once you cut the cord, and purchase the necessary equipment, there are no rental fees, broadcast fees, miscellaneous fees or any of the other hidden charges cable companies love to stick you with.
Just be sure to get your ducks in order before you cut the cord, because getting all your shows in one place is not as simple as it is with cable. Many of the devices and/or hardware can be purchased piecemeal too. You can try Netflix and Hulu Plus for 30-days free. I recommend doing so before you cancel cable. That way you can see if those providers are going to work for you.
Also, keep in mind the minimum internet speeds for movie and television quality:
- 5 mbps for 720p HD
- 10 mbps for full 1080p HD
- 10+ mbps for 3-d HD content
You can check your current internet speed at Speakeasy Speed Test.
Happy cord cutting!
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Posted: March 27th, 2012 | Author: Joe | Filed under: spending | Tags: Cable, Cable Bill, cutting the cord, Saving Money, spending | 2 Comments »
If you’re like the millions of Americans looking to slash your cable bill, then one of the first things to figure out is where to watch t.v. shows without cable service.
There are a variety of providers who make popular television shows – past and present – available to stream to your computer or your television. Here are a few of the more prominent ones that will save you money on your television bill.
Hulu vs. Hulu Plus
There are actually 2 services offered by Hulu – basic, and “Plus.” Each flavor carries different shows. Hulu (basic) is free, while Hulu Plus will cost you $8 a month. The basic Hulu service is targeted toward pc users, while the Hulu Plus service targets “smart t.v.” watchers.
That makes sense to me, but I don’t understand why they don’t offer the same shows on Hulu Plus that are available for free on Hulu. I’m hoping that Hulu will someday hire an exec with a brain who can figure out they’d get many more subscribers to the Plus version if they only rolled the free content into the Plus package.
To watch Hulu free content on your t.v., you need another provider called PlayOn. See below for details on that.
Netflix vs. Netflix.
There are also 2 different versions of Netflix: the DVD provider, and the streaming t.v. provider. Each service costs $8 a month, and provides a different set of content. This is an important distinction. When checking the availability of your shows on Netflix, make sure you’re checking only the streaming option. Unless you want to pay for both, then it really doesn’t matter. But then you’ve just doubled your Netflix bill.
Amazon Prime vs. Amazon Instant Video.
Amazon Instant Video has a vast collection of streaming content, but all of that is pay per view. Amazon Prime is a subscription based service that provides free 2 day shipping on Amazon orders and access to their Amazon Prime video streaming selection at no additional cost.
The problem is that the Amazon Prime selection sucks. The selection on Amazon Instant Video on the other hand is excellent, but it’s about $2.99 per video/episode. You do the math on a whole season of just one of your favorite shows and you’ll quickly realize it’s more expensive than cable t.v.!
Like Hulu and Hulu Plus, I just don’t understand Amazon’s decision on this one. If they combine their television content from Instant Video and Prime and offered all videos at the Prime subscription rate, they would easily dominate the streaming television market. Instead, they are content on losing that market share to Netflix and Hulu. I’m hoping they will someday figure this out, and non-cable paying television watchers everywhere can rejoice.
PlayOn.tv
Most set top devices (Roku, the Boxee Box, many internet ready Blue-ray players , etc..) provide access to a Hulu Plus account, but not the basic Hulu account. In order to watch content available on Hulu on your t.v., you either need to connect your pc directly to your television (via HDMI or similar cable), or use another service like PlayOn.tv.
PlayOn is a program that runs on your computer and takes the internet stream from Hulu or CBS.com (ESPN, Comedy Central, Spike,Nick, SyFy, TBS, Cartoon Network, NHL and many others) and relays it to your set top device over your home network. The service is not free however. It currently runs about $4 a month. Still cheaper than cable, but each PlayOn subscriber watching Hulu is a lost Hulu Plus subscriber. (Are you listening, Hulu?)
How to watch CBS shows online.
CBS is not a team player. They don’t want to provide their content to either Hulu or Netflix, yet they provide it for free on their website. This makes no sense to me. They would make more money selling their content to Netflix, and it would be easier for customers to watch if they did so.
The problem with the free website is that it’s inconvenient to watch on your t.v.. To do so requires either a direct connection from your computer to your television or an additional service like PlayOn (described above).
This was a particular problem for me because my wife and I love NCIS, which is not available anywhere but cable/dish/etc and cbs.com.
Life without DVR.
One of the major mindshifts my wife and I had to make was life without our DVR. Most people I’ve spoken with about the subject of cutting cable raise the specter of living without DVR like it’s on par with be told by their doctor they only have months to live and they’ll never get to take the European vacation they’ve always dreamed about.
It’s understandable. After all, the DVR puts the television watcher in control. They can watch when they want to, and skip through commercial breaks while doing so. Here’s the thing though – watching online content over Hulu or Netflix (or a similar service) is like DVR by default. You choose when you want to watch your show, and in many cases the commercials are already stripped out of the show for you! Even shows that do contain commercials are significantly shorter than their broadcast counterparts. We’re talking 43 minutes for an hour long show with the commercials.
Conclusion
As you can see, dropping your cable television currently requires you to replace them with a patchwork collection of alternative providers based on the shows you watch.
Streaming internet content to your television is still a fairly new technology and I believe that as the business model matures and more people drop cable, we will see services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon offer more shows in common and viewers will not have to create such a patchwork in the future.
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Posted: March 13th, 2012 | Author: Joe | Filed under: Insurance, spending | Tags: Health insurance, Insurance, pet insurance, spending, Tips | 3 Comments »
I brought my cat in to see the vet a week ago, and since it was a new vet I had to fill out a form with relevant information regarding my pet. One thing that caught my eye was a space for pet insurance policy information. I had never considered it before, but this got me wondering:
Is pet insurance a good idea?
Treatments and diagnostic routines that were previously only available to humans are now available for pets. Conditions that were once fatal are now possible to treat, albeit at costs that run into the 1,000s.
The cost of Pet Insurance can be as high as $6,000 over the life of your pet, but chances are that you would never claim that much in reimbursement costs.
A few years back, my wife and I experienced our 1st financial tipping point which was triggered by a trip to the veterinary hospital for our cat. While that experience prompted us to take a long, hard look at our finances and eventually started us down the road of financial overhaul and debt-free living, we never once thought that health insurance for our pet was a solution.
After careful consideration of pet insurance this time around, we’re taking a pass on it but there may be cases where it makes financial sense. Here’s why it might make sense, and why it’s probably not worth the money.
When Pet Health Insurance Might be Worth it.
If your pet is at high risk to suffer from expensive diseases and the thought of having insurance gives you peace of mind, then you may sleep better at night knowing that you would be covered in such an event.
If that’s you, then you want to be absolutely sure you understand the terms and conditions of the policy and be positive you are getting the coverage you need.
Why Pet Health Insurance is Typically Not Worth the Cost.
Pet insurance is typically not the money saving proposition it seems once you factor in deductibles, co-pays and reimbursement caps. Pre-existing conditions and hereditary conditions are typically excluded from coverage. Some insurers do cover such things, but expect to pay a higher premium due to the increased likelihood of payout. Coverage for older pets carry higher premiums or are sometimes not available. Some insurers simply refuse to cover pets older than 9 years.
Read this cautionary tale from Wise Bread to see one case when pet health insurance is not really worth it.
If your pet is not a purebred, and not subject to an increased risk of serious and costly disease, then you are probably better off skipping the insurance, and saving the amount you would be putting toward a premium. Take that money and automatically save it every month in a savings account (such as the ING Direct savings account ). It will be like paying the premium but you get to keep any interest from the bank and in the very likely case that you wouldn’t file a claim, you get to keep the money too… perhaps for your next pet. Think long term. 
Bottom Line: Is Pet Insurance Right For You?
The choice of whether to purchase pet health insurance is a personal one. You have to determine just how far you are willing to go for your pet. If you’re the type of person who would “do anything” to save Fluffy – no matter what the cost – then you may seriously consider health insurance for your pet. This is especially true if the alternative is going into debt.
However, if you’re a more pragmatic sort of person who is willing to provide good, basic care for your pet but find yourself thinking, “it’s only a cat/dog, and he’s had a good life” when faced with the prospect of a 4 figure vet bill, then you’re best off by taking a pass on the pet insurance.
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