How to Cut Cable Without Being Miserable — We Saved $1,600 a Year!

We cut cable when my son was born. He is now 20 years old and has never known a world with cable television. The first time he saw a commercial he genuinely freaked out — he had no idea what was happening. That is 20 years of never paying a cable bill and never once missing it.

When we cut cable we were paying $250 a month for a Triple Play package we couldn’t stand. One heated phone call later it was gone. That was one of the best financial decisions we ever made — and I want to show you exactly how to do the same thing.

And honestly, in 2026 there are WAY more options than we had when we first cut the cord.

The Real Numbers — What We Pay Now vs. What We Paid Before

We now spend about $110 a month total on internet, streaming services and occasional movie purchases. That is well under what we were paying for cable, and we have more to watch than we ever did before.

Of course, your total will depend on your internet provider and how many streaming services you keep. That’s where people can accidentally turn streaming into the new cable bill.

Step 1 — Get Free Local Channels with an HD Antenna

This is one of the first things people forget about when cutting cable: local broadcast television is still available free over the air.

Depending on where you live and what stations you can receive, an antenna may give you local ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS and additional broadcast channels without a monthly subscription.

A good HD antenna can cost less than $30. If you want to record over-the-air shows, you can also add a compatible antenna DVR.

SwagGrabber Tip: Before buying an antenna, check which stations are available at your address and how far away the broadcast towers are. That will help you decide whether you need a basic indoor antenna or something stronger.

Step 2 — Pick Your Streaming Device

If you already have a newer smart TV, you may not need to buy anything at all. Check which streaming apps your television already supports before spending money.

If you do need a streaming device, there are plenty of inexpensive choices:

• Amazon Fire TV Stick — inexpensive and supports the major streaming services.
• Roku Streaming Stick — simple interface and lots of streaming apps.
• Google TV devices — a good option if you already use Google products.
• Apple TV — a pricier option that works especially well if you already use Apple products.
• Your Smart TV — FREE if you already own one that supports the apps you want.

We already had devices that could stream when we cut cable, so we didn’t have to buy much of anything.

Step 3 — Choose Your Streaming Services

Here is probably my biggest money-saving tip: do NOT subscribe to everything at once.

Streaming services add up ridiculously fast. Pick the ones you’re actually watching and cancel or pause the others. You can rotate services throughout the year instead of paying for six of them every single month.

And yes, streaming has changed. When we started, paying for a streaming service generally meant no commercials. Now many services have cheaper ad-supported plans and charge more if you want to watch without ads.

• Amazon Prime Video — included with a Prime membership, although some content costs extra.
• Netflix — large selection of movies, series and original programming.
• Hulu — lots of television and original programming with several plan options.
• Disney+ — Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and more.
• Peacock — NBCUniversal shows, movies and sports.
• Tubi — tons of free movies and TV supported by ads.
• Pluto TV — free ad-supported live channels and on-demand content.
• YouTube — an enormous amount of free content without paying for YouTube TV.

💡 SwagGrabber Tip: Before paying for another streaming subscription, check the free services first. Between free streaming apps and an antenna, you may be surprised by how much you can watch without another monthly bill.

Step 4 — Handle the Sports Problem

This is the big one. Sports are one of the main reasons people hesitate to cancel cable.

We are huge FSU fans, so this definitely matters in our house. The trick is figuring out which teams and games you actually watch before deciding what service you need.

• HD antenna — useful for games carried by local broadcast networks.
• Sports streaming services — depending on the sport or conference you follow, you may need a separate sports service or package.
• Live TV streaming — services such as YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV can replace many traditional cable channels, but they are considerably more expensive than basic streaming.
• Subscribe during the season — if you only need a service for football season, cancel it when the season ends.
• Go out for the occasional big game — sometimes we’d rather watch somewhere else than pay for another service all year.

This is where you need to do the math. If you subscribe to an expensive live-TV streaming package plus five other services year-round, you can quickly wipe out much of the savings from cutting cable.

Step 5 — What About the Home Phone?

We dropped our traditional home phone when we dropped cable.

If your home phone is part of a cable bundle, look at how much you’re actually paying for it and whether you still need it. For many households, cell phones have completely replaced the landline.

If you do want a separate household number, look at internet-based phone options rather than automatically keeping an expensive cable bundle just for the phone.

What About Shows You Can Only Get on One Service?

We’ve run into this plenty of times. There will always be that ONE show you really want to watch that’s exclusive to a service you don’t have.

Our solution is simple: we don’t automatically add another permanent subscription.

We’ll wait until the full season is available, subscribe for a month, watch what we want and cancel. In some cases, we’ll just buy a season outright if that makes more sense.

You can buy TV shows and seasons through Amazon and other digital stores without adding another recurring monthly bill.

Our Monthly Entertainment Budget

Our exact subscriptions change because we don’t keep everything year-round, but a typical month looks something like this:

Compare that with the $250 a month we were paying for cable, phone and internet. Even allowing for streaming services and occasional purchases, the difference adds up fast.

And remember: you don’t have to spend what we spend. If you already pay for internet anyway and stick mainly with an antenna and free streaming services, your additional entertainment cost can be very low.

Your Cord Cutting Shopping List

You probably don’t need everything on this list. Start with what you already own and only buy what solves an actual problem.

• HD Antenna — one-time purchase for free over-the-air channels.
• Amazon Fire TV Stick — only if your TV doesn’t already have the streaming apps you need.
• HDMI Cable — handy for connecting a computer or other compatible device to your TV.
• Antenna DVR — optional if you want to record over-the-air television.

Before You Cancel Cable

Don’t cancel first and figure everything out afterward. Spend a week paying attention to what your household actually watches.

1. Write down the channels and shows you actually use.
2. See which local channels you can receive with an antenna.
3. Check whether your TV already has the streaming apps you need.
4. Choose one or two paid services — not all of them.
5. Figure out your sports situation.
6. Add up the real monthly cost.
7. Then call and cancel cable.

The goal isn’t to replace a $250 cable package with $200 worth of streaming subscriptions. The goal is to pay only for what you actually watch.

We cut the cord 20 years ago and have never wanted cable back. The technology has changed a LOT since then, but the basic strategy hasn’t: keep the internet, use the free stuff first, and don’t pay every month for things you aren’t watching.

Questions about cutting cable? Leave them in the comments — after 20 years without cable, we’ve probably run into most of the problems you’re worried about!

Looking for more ways to cut monthly bills? Check out my Money Hacks section and my post on free ways to reduce your water bill!