Yes we did it! We finally cut the cable cord a few months ago and have been loving it ever since!
Sarah and I had been talking on and on for the past year or so about cutting the cord and ditching our cable service. At the time, we had been using AT&T Uverse for quite a few years and really had no complaints on the service other than the price. When you added up the cost of our internet and TV service, we were paying roughly $150 a month for the two. That adds up to an annual cost of $1800 or $18,000 over 10 years for simple internet and TV services. Yeah let that sink in for just a minute! The crazy part of all this is the fact that we really don't watch that much TV. In fact, we spend most of our TV watching using Neftlix to watch some of their great shows like House of Cards or Friends.
What was stopping us from ditching cable?
Well the main reason we never could ditch cable rested solely with me! Guys, you will understand this point......I couldn't give up my ESPN!!!! As crazy as it sounds, that is simply where the debate stopped every time we had this discussion. While I may not watch a lot of TV during the week, I am a huge college football fan and the thought of not being able to watch games on ESPN in the fall always prevented me from taking the plunge. College football is the one sport where I don't care who is playing, I am always interested in watching the games. I knew I would not enjoy Saturdays in the fall as much without having this option to watch games on ESPN. So inevibitaly every time we discussed cutting cable, we would never take the next step due to this reason.
Along comes Sling TV!!!
This past January I kept hearing about a new TV service called Sling TV that was being launched by DISH Network. Sling would be along the lines of Apple TV providing a steaming TV service as an alternative to regular cable at a cost of only $20 a month. The most attractive part of Sling was that it was going to include both ESPN and ESPN2 as a part of the package!!! I began investigating to find that Sling would include these channels as part of a 12 channel lineup that also includes the likes of TNT, TBS, AMC, and HGTV to name a few. This had me really excited and thinking it had to be to good to be true.
How does it work???
Sling works through your internet connects and can be run on a computer or tablet, but most users would want to run it through a streaming device of some kind. Sling works with Amazon Fire, Roku, or Xbox. We chose to purchase a Roku after a test run on our computer to see if we liked Sling to begin with at the start. Sling then works as an App on your Roku device that you select and then choose the channel to stream for your watching pleasure. The Roku can work through a wired connection with your Ethernet or a wireless connection to a remote location in your home.
Pros
- The Channels-great selection of major networks for only 12 channels
- Cost-Can't beat only $20 a month for cable
- Ability to add other service like Hulu, Netflix, etc...through the Roku
- Easy to set up and use immediately
Cons
- Limited channel selection-No NFL Network, Big Ten, etc...
- No local channels-we purchased a HD antenna for our main TV in the house
- Wireless streaming can be spotty depending on placement in your house
- Initial purchases of Roku for each TV, antenna
Overall Review
If you are looking to finally cut the cord, this is definitely the way to go. You get a good selection of channels and most importantly for guys access to ESPN and ESPN2. We have been using the service since February and have loved the service and do not miss cable or the bill at all!! All told Sarah and I spent roughly $180 in start up costs to get Sling running in our house for a Roku for each of the three TVs and the HD antenna. We also switched our internet over to Comcast as they had the better price for a higher streaming internet speed However, our monthly costs for TV and internet are now $80 after taxes vs. the $150 we were paying before. This saves us $70 a month which equates to a savings of $840 a year. If we took that money and invested it at a 7% earnings rate, we will have a little over $12,000 in ten years! I can definitely do without a few cable changes for those kind of savings!
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