How To Lower Your TV Bill Despite Rising Cable Costs

I recently saw an article talking about how cable subscription fees are rising this year. Yikes! Cable is already expensive, so even a little increase of $8 a month can really eat into your budget.

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I don't watch a whole lot of TV overall and, in particular, cable networks. So I decided years ago that I wasn't going to pay these ever-rising cable costs every month. So I cut the cord and became a TV streamer.

(I am not a financial expert. All information is based on my own personal experience and research. This information is not meant to be financial advice and is just for educational purposes. This post includes some affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.)

Not including my internet and cable TV service alone would cost me, at a minimum, about $64 a month before taxes and fees. When I first switched from cable to streaming, I was paying about $17 a month for both Netflix and Hulu. And that's when I wasn't using a gift card for either service, or I put my account on hold. That was a difference in cost.

Now you don't have to go my route of completely ditching cable and going full-on streaming. There are several things you can do to lower your cable bill.

1. Ask for a discount

Yep. Simply call up your cable provider and ask for a discount. If they won't budge, you can threaten to switch to a competitor service. That's worked for me in the past. My promotional rate was going to end, so I called the cable company and threatened to leave. To keep my business, they extended my promotional rate.

2. Remove some packages

If you have a lot of premium packages, you can remove them from your subscription.

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3. Get an antenna

If you find that you watch mostly network TV and not a lot of cable channels, you can switch from cable to an antenna. You can get a good antenna for $50 or less. I got a bar antenna like this one for my living room TV.

While the bar antenna works for me, it may not work for you. So you may need to try out a few different antennas to see what works best in your house.

Related read: Is The Roku 3 Streaming Media Player Worth The Money?

4. Become a streamer

Another option you have to cut down on cable costs is to become a full-on streamer. I rarely watch live TV anymore. Instead, I pay for monthly subscriptions to the following streaming services

Hulu: I use this like a DVR as I watch a lot of network TV on here after the shows have aired. I also use Hulu for watching movies and some shows like The Profit that are only on cable. You can check out the costs for Hulu here.

Netflix: For a few dollars a month, I can stream movies and past seasons of some of my favorite TV shows.

Sling TV: If I get the hankering to watch some cable TV, which typically happens in the summer, I turn on my Sling TV subscription. With a monthly subscription, I can watch cable stations like TBS, Food Network, HGTV, and ESPN.

To stream these services, you can use your computer, an app on your mobile device, a smart TV, or a streaming device. I currently use the Roku stick, which costs me about $50.

What I love about streaming services is that I can turn them on and off whenever I want. So once the network TV season ends, I turn off Hulu. Or I can turn off Sling when the network TV season is in full swing.

While the upfront cost of streaming can be a little high, over time, it comes out cheaper for me than having cable.

Is your cable bill increasing this year? What are your plans to save money on cable this year?

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