Cut Cable Cost (apprx. $744 per year)

Have you ever really paid attenion to your cable bill?  Have you noticed all the different charges?  There's a charge for basic channels, standard channels, digital channels and HD channels.  A DVR fee, an HD DVR fee, not to mention all the taxes, urcharges and miscellaneous fees.  This all adds up to one hefty bill.  And for what?  How many shows do you really watch, I mean really watch?  Not all the reruns and shows you have on in the background while you are reading or cooking dinner.  I'm talking about that handful of shows you look forward to each week.  If there are, let's say,seven.  And at $70 a month that equals out to $10 per show.  Hardly seems worth it when you think of it that way.

So cancel the cable.

If you are already a subscriber to Netflix, you probably already pay about $8 a month.  It is nice to be able to stream select shows and movies, and it nice to have hundreds of movies and shows too choose from.

So cancel the cable and get a little box called Roku.  It is a device you hook up to your TV that streams different channels over the internet.  You will be able to have access to Netflix and also add Hulu Plus, which gives you access to current TV shows for a low monthly fee (apprx. $8 a month).  So now you are able to watch your favorite shows for significantly less money!  You also have access to free channels like Pandora, Funny or Die, major news networks and many others.

Here is the financial breakdown.  Let's say you are spending $70 a month on cable and another $8 a month for the ability to stream Netflix.  That's $78 a month total.  Cancel the cable and purchase a Roku box for about $60 and keep Netflix.  Add Hulu Plus subscription for $8 a month.  Now your monthly "entertainment" expense has gone from $78 a month to $16, a savings of $62!  You first month savings paid for the Ruku box so it is all savings from here on out.  That's over $700 a year, and you still get to watch all of your favorite shows!

Now you don't have to pay for Netflix and Hulu Plus to enjoy a lot of your favorite shows.  Many are available online for absolutely free!  But you may be one that opted to pay for the convenience of streaming them to your TV and to have a nice selection of movies.  But if you prefer you can save an additional $16 per month and just watch your shows at your computer.  this would add another $192 to your yearly savings bringtin an annual savings to $1032!  With an HDMI cable you can easily hook up a laptop to your TV and watch shows that way.

It is amazing how much time TV can rob from us if we aren't paying attention.

Thanks to Britni Ross from her ebook Grow It, Build IT, Save It.