Cutting the Cord to Cable & Satellite – It really is time.
Just like most everyone in Canada at one point or another, I too had a monthly bill for my television watching that somehow grew to over $100 per month plus tax and I knew it was time to cut the cord and rely on streaming services online for my enjoyment.
The first thing we did was sit down as a family and list all the shows we “HAD” to have and was quite surprised to see how small that list actually was. Next on our list was shows we would like to have and things of interest to see what channels and options we needed and to see how low we could keep our bill. On top of regular satellite cost, we were all ready paying for Netflix and as a bargain hunter I also subscribed to Amazon Prime for what use to be 2 day free shipping. My husband also was paying for a Spotify account so they kids could have music in addition to everything else we had.
Once we sat down and hammered out the list of what we had and the cost we were spending each month I was so stumped on why we didn’t cut the cord to cable long ago. This is just a rough idea of what we had:
Satellite bill $140 Monthly
Amazon Prime $7.41 Monthly ($89 yearly )
Netflix $15 Monthly
Spotify $15 Monthly
Approximately $178.00 a month just for television and music listening. We paid our internet bill on top of that. We decided cutting the cord to cable was happening and it was going to happen now.
The first thing I knew that we could stop was Spotify. I understand the kids like their music and so do I but we already had music included with the Amazon Prime Membership! If you are not a member of Amazon prime, you can get your first 30 days for free! Sign up here to get started
What does Amazon Prime give you for your money?
- You get free shipping with no minimum purchase on millions of products that are prime delivery
- You get access to deals and lightening deals before non prime members.
- Free Release Date Deliveries: You have the option to pre order new releases on games, books, etc and have them delivered to your home on their release date.
- Amazon Video – Watch Amazon originals, popular moves, TV shows and more – Personally we still are not tired of prime video, there are always new things coming on that interest our entire family
- Amazon music – You have access to over 2 million songs ad free – Kids like that if you open it on your tv with you smarttv or firestick, it also shows you the words so you can sing along with it and be right .
- Free Kindle Books – Get access to hundreds of books,including childrens book all for free in your membership!
- Free Unlimited Photo Storage on Amazon Drive – Access you photos from any device at any time
- Free Amazon Gaming – This gives you access to free games and content on Twitch
As you can see for under $100 a YEAR the benefits you get are an amazing deal ! Get your free 30 day trial here and than only $79 plus tax annually!
If you are a student, you can get 6 MONTHS FREE Prime membership by visiting here and only pay $3.99 a month after that with a cancel any time.
If you want an upgrade to any service you can get it however I have not found it necessary yet. If you want access to even more Music with Amazon Music you can get a deal right now! Sign up for Amazon Music paid extra membership and get 6 months access to Disney + FREE
In our home we have the Amazon Echo, Dot, a few plug in’s that allow us to voice activate lights and other items, it only made sense to buy the Amazon Fire Stick that allows me to not only have a nice remote, but it’s voice activated, It allows me to download other apps for my tv viewing pleasure. I can access my Amazon Music, my Amazon Video, Pod Casts, and so much more!
CityTV is a free app you can download and you do not pay for it. It’s 100% free. You can watch shows live or you can watch them on your own time. I watch General Hospital every day on the free app. Our household also watches Chicago Fire, Med and PD and CityTV offers all of these shows, Law and Order and so many other free prime time shows! You can see all the shows offered on City TV by visiting here You do not need to log in with a TV provider to watch this channel.
The all time favorite CTV does not require you to log in to watch it however there is a slight catch. It’s not a bad one and well worth it if you do not want to pay for the channel. How many Grey’s Anatomy fans are in the house and Station 19?? The catch…………. you need to watch the show the following day but before next weeks episode airs. Grey’s, for example, is on Thursday evening, I can watch the show Friday or any other day up to next Thursday, on the day of the episode they lock the previous weeks show. You have almost a week to watch it so that should be plenty of time before they lock it up. You can see the list of shows here
CBC Gem is yet another free app you can download and pay zero dollars a month. It features LIVE tv, shows, kids , documentaries and more! No need to sign in to watch it. See all the content Gem has to offer here
Stack TV is a 12 channel subscription package that you can add on through you Amazon Video for only $12..99 per month after usually get 2 months free . The channels are great for a wide variety of audiences and include: Global, HGTV Canada, Food Network Canada, W Network, Showcase, Slice, Adult Swim, National Geographic, HISTORY®, TELETOON, Treehouse, and YTV. This does include access to the popular The Good Doctor and Oak Island.
Discovery + is a new option for Canada that offers two different add on prices, for $4.99 a month you can get content with ads (trust me it’s not that many) or $6.99 a month without ads. Channels you get is all Discovery Channel, TLC, HGTV, Food Network, Animal Planet, Magnolia Network, natural history content from BBC, Science Channel and more
Other popular add ons for those who pull the plug on cable include:
Netflix has plans from $9.99 to $20.99 per month
Disney Plus Canada includes: Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic and Star for a cost $11.99 per month or $119 annually
We have an adult child out of the who subscribes to Disney Plus and we subscribe to Netflix family account so she pays for Disney and I pay for Netflix.
Our current cost for our TV and music pleasure is much different!
Amazon Prime $7.41 per month ( $79 plus tax annually)
Stack TV $12.99 per month
Discovery+ $4.99 per month
Netflix $16.99 per month
Disney+ No charge as shared.
We now spend only $42.38 per month compare to $178 for a MONTHLY SAVINGS of $135 ! We have option to more channels, more things we like and enjoy, lots of new options and most importantly we save over $100 a month just from cutting the cord on cable.
