In 2018, the average cable bill was just over $100. In addition to that, despite major competition online and elsewhere there is still a 5.5% cost increase every year with cable packages.

Let’s be clear, that isn’t even keeping up with inflation which hovers around 2% a year.

14000 Americans are cutting their cable each day yet revenues are still going up every year. They are quite literally banking on you finding it too confusing or too difficult for you to make the switch. Fortunately as we will discuss here, with minimal effort you can break free of the old ways and embrace the future which will save you loads of money going forward.

Cable companies have no choice but to gouge their loyal, yet shrinking customer base for every penny they own. I’ve saved thousands of dollars over the last few years by switching to alternatives and I have never looked back.

Here’s how to get started:

First off, I’ll go under the assumption that everyone in 2019 already pays for internet (or how else would you be reading this?). This opens you up to numerous streaming services that cost a fraction of what you would be paying monthly for cable. You also get access to exclusives and movies that aren’t available yet on standard cable packages.

If you already have a Smart TV you’re ready to begin, Netflix, Crave TV and Amazon Prime are some of the most common and grant you access to libraries that are always evolving and adding content. You’ll have thousands of movies and TV shows at your disposal and on demand. That alone should be enough to stop giving your money to cable companies.





If you don’t already have a Smart TV there are some inexpensive options to set you up to begin saving money. Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and of course if you own any modern gaming console like an Xbox One or PS4 there are apps you can use which provide these services.

The two most common misconceptions I hear about people who aren’t ready to give up cable are that they need cable to watch sports (which at best will only last 7 months a year depending on the length of the season) or they need cable to watch the news.

Both are wrong!

As far as sports goes, revolutionary new services are starting to pop up that allow you to stream live sports for far less than a typical cable package. Some of which are ESPN+, CBS Sports, Hulu, fuboTV and SlingTV. Depending on how big of a sports fan you each service will cost you around $10–$30 each so for the casual fans one of these would be fine. You’ll still save money in the long run if you subscribe to multiple services compared to cable sports packages which can run upwards of $200 for HD content.

When it comes to news, the industry that likely keeps cable alive right now, most people stick to one news channel at most and even then the vast majority of Americans no longer get their news from cable TV. To those that do, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC are available on fuboTV, Hulu and SlingTV.

Also, there’s the option to ditch cable news completely and stick to free alternatives such as news websites or independent live YouTube channels.

In summary, here is a comparison of your average cable TV subscriber who enjoys news and sports and the alternative online live streaming option. Me personally, I subscribe to Netflix.com and ESPN+ as I no longer watch cable TV News.