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.
Because honestly? If you are still paying a stupid high cable bill in 2026 — you are crazy. Let me show you why.
The Real Numbers — What We Pay Now vs What We Paid Before
| Then | Now |
|---|---|
| Cable + phone + internet — $250/month | Internet only — $70/month |
| Slow speeds, constant issues | Twice as fast, almost zero issues |
| Locked into a contract | No contract |
| $3,000 per year | About $1,320 per year |
We now spend about $110 a month total on all entertainment — internet, streaming services, occasional movie purchases. That is well over half of what we were paying and we watch MORE content than we ever did with cable.
Step 1 — Get a Free Local Channels with an HD Antenna
This is the first thing most people don’t realize — you can get local HD channels completely free with an antenna. CBS, ABC, FOX, NBC and public channels all come in crystal clear with no subscription and no monthly fee. We get 7 channels in our area — larger cities get even more.
A good HD antenna runs under $30 on Amazon and pays for itself in the first hour you would have paid for cable. Add a DVR recording device and you can record your favorite shows just like you did with cable — for free forever after that initial purchase.
Step 2 — Pick Your Streaming Device
You need something to stream shows through. If your TV is not a smart TV you need a streaming device — most run $30-$50 and are worth every penny. We already had an Xbox and Roku so we did not have to buy anything extra. Get one for each TV in your house — makes life much easier than moving things around.
- Amazon Fire Stick — our top pick, easy to use, runs about $30-$50
- Roku Streaming Stick — excellent interface, works with everything
- Google Chromecast — great if you use Google products
- Apple TV — best if you are in the Apple ecosystem
- Smart TV — if your TV is from the last few years it probably already streams. Check before buying anything!
Step 3 — Choose Your Streaming Services
Here is my biggest tip — do NOT subscribe to everything at once. Do one free trial at a time. Watch everything you want on that service then cancel. Move to the next one. . You can rotate through services all year and never pay for more than one or two at a time. The really big difference, is when we started there were no ads with paid services. That is gone. Even paid services have ads now unless you pay more for the ‘ad free’ option. In some cases, it is worth it!
- Amazon Prime Video — included free with your Amazon Prime membership — massive library
- Netflix — the gold standard, huge original content library
- Hulu — best for current season TV shows the day after they air
- Disney+ — essential if you have kids — also has Marvel and Star Wars
- Peacock — has a generous free tier — NBC shows, sports and movies
- Tubi — completely free with ads — surprisingly large library
- Pluto TV — free with ads — over 250 live channels
- YouTube — free — more content than you could ever watch
💡 SwagGrabber Tip: Tubi and Pluto TV are completely free with ads. If you are trying to cut costs as much as possible start with these two plus your antenna and you have more content than you can watch for almost nothing!
Step 4 — Handle the Sports Problem
This is the number one reason people say they cannot cut cable — sports. We are huge FSU fans and not every game is on regular TV. Here is how we handle it:
- HD antenna — gets you most major network games for free — NFL on CBS, FOX and NBC, college football on ABC
- HDMI cable — plug a $5 HDMI cable from your laptop to your TV and stream any game that is online — ESPN usually works this way
- ESPN+ — about $11 a month for exclusive ESPN content and many college games
- Hulu Live or YouTube TV — if sports are non-negotiable these live TV streaming services run $60-$73 a month — still cheaper than cable and no contract
- Go out for the big games — sometimes we just go to a sports bar. Still cheaper than paying for cable every month!
Step 5 — Handle the Phone
We dropped our home phone when we dropped cable. We added a line to our cell package for our son for about $20 a month — he has a phone he can take anywhere and a lifeline if he needs it. We just call it the house phone. If you need a home phone Google Voice gives you a free phone number that rings on your cell — completely free.
What About Shows You Can Only Get on Premium Channels?
We have run into this. There are shows that are exclusive to one service and you just really want to watch them. Here is what we do — be patient. Shows almost always eventually end up on a mainstream streaming service. Or buy the season — we bought a few seasons of a premium show once and even buying every season was still cheaper than paying for cable for a year.
You can buy individual seasons through Amazon — they live in your account forever and download for watching on the go. No disc to lose or scratch.
Our Complete Monthly Entertainment Budget
| Service | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|
| Internet | $70 |
| Amazon Prime (includes video) | ~$15 |
| Netflix | $15-$22 |
| Occasional movie purchase | ~$5-10 |
| Tubi — free with ads | $0 |
| Pluto TV — free with ads | $0 |
| HD Antenna — one time purchase | $0/month after |
| Total | ~$105-$117/month |
Compare that to $250 a month for cable — we are saving over $1,600 a year and watching more content than ever.
Your Cord Cutting Shopping List
- HD Antenna — under $30 — one time purchase
- Amazon Fire Stick 4K — about $30-$50
- HDMI Cable — under $10 — connects laptop to TV for streaming games
- DVR Recorder — optional but great for recording antenna shows
Questions about cutting cable? Leave them in the comments — I have been doing this for over five years and have worked through pretty much every issue imaginable!
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!
