Making the move from a pay-TV service, such as cable TV, to cord cutting is no small move; however, it does not need to be as difficult as many new cord cutters make it.

Here are 3 common mistakes new cord cutters make and how you can avoid them.

#1 Expecting Cord Cutting to Work like Cable

Cord cutting is not cable TV. Although it may give you the same content, it take time to learn. Just like an iPhone and an Android phone can both make calls, text, surf, and have many of the same apps they work differently. Cord cutting and cable TV work differently. And it will takes a bit of time to learn how to be a cord cutter.

Think of moving from a cable box to a streaming player as the move from Android to iOS. Its all thereyou just need to find it again.

The biggest issue is looking for channels instead of shows. For example, wanting Fox when you really just want the shows on Fox. If you look for Fox you may find a Fox App on Roku and Fire TV but it needs a cable login. If you look for the shows you would find out that Fox shows are on Hulu and Netflix.

Give it some time to learn a new way to do things and make sure to look for the shows not the channels.

#2 Rushing into Cord Cutting

It often seems that people jump the gun to cut the cord before they are ready. Cord cutting is not hard and is a lot easier if you take time to prepare.

Before you cancel cable get your cord cutting setup ready. If you want an antenna for local channels, buy it and set it up before you ditch cable. Nothing is worse than canceling cable and scrambling to buy any antenna so you dont miss tonights show. That often results in overpaying and maybe not getting the right antenna for you. (Need help finding a antenna? Checkout AntennaRecommendations.com for help.)

So make sure to set everything up from streaming players to antennas before canceling cable. We even recommend testing out streaming services before you ditch cable. Is Sling TV or PS Vue right for you? They both have their advantages, but they depend on what you want. Take advantage of their free trial before you ditch cable so when you do you are all set up.

Preparation can remove a lot of the headache later.

#3 Wanting Everything



You dont need to sign up for everything! The great thing about cord cutting is options. There are so many great services out there but what do you really need?

For example, you dont have to pay all year for HBO NOW when you only want it for Game of Thrones. The great thing about cord cutting is no contracts. You can subscribe to HBO only when Game of Thrones is on.

The second danger is overpaying to get just one channel. Do you really want to pay for the most expensive PS Vue service for one channel so you can watch one show? It would have been far less expensive to just buy that show on Amazon Video with a season pass.

Do your best to avoid the temptation to just keep adding services in an effort to get one show or channel. Often it is less expensive to buy just one show with a season pass.

Bonus Tip

When you look at your savings compared to cable ask yourself am I already paying for a cord cutting service. When I talk to people who say cable was less expensive I typically find out they are already paying for Netflix and Amazon Prime. If you will already be paying for them there is no need to count that as a new cost.

So ask yourself what cord cutting services am I already paying for? You would be surprised how many cable TV subscribers also pay for two or three cord cutting services such as Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon.

Do you have a tip for new cord cutters? Post it in the comments.

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