Yes, you can save money by cutting the cord
Your experience with internet costs may vary
We get letters!
Recently, we noted that people who ditch cable and cut the cable cord are getting a better TV experience, but they’re not necessarily saving money.
Some of you disagreed with our theory, which is that because the entertainment companies control the experience, they’re jacking up the price of streaming services and the cost of internet to make it all come out as a wash in the end.
Some of you thought it was unfair to include the internet as part of the monthly entertainment bill because we’d be paying it anyway.
“Nearly all consumers already pay for internet service, so that’s not a ‘new’ cost,” wrote Dave Hogan on Twitter.
For me, I pay $110 monthly for cable and internet. If I ditch TV service, per Frontier Communications, my bill goes down to $70.
To pick up the missing entertainment, it’s either $90 for an antenna, or
$40-plus for a cable alternative service such as YouTube TV or PlayStation VUE.
This is why I say it all comes out as a wash.
And I haven’t even gotten into the costs of streaming services including Netflix, Hulu and CBS All Access, which will clearly be costing more money down the line, as entertainment companies charge more for their programming, as they’ve been doing for years to cable operators.
“I disagree that you don’t save money,” wrote Andrew Serrano on Twitter. “Maybe $100/month isn’t much to you, but that’s what I save now per month.
“Got Hulu Live TV, Internet price went up, but still saving.”
And Matt B says: “Using the average price of monthly internet service as a cost in your conclusion that you may not save money is a bit flawed, in my opinion.
“Before I cut the cord, I had cable and internet service. It’s not like the internet service is a new expense for cord cutters.”
Our view: If you have a good $50- to
$60-a-month internet plan and can add an antenna for local channels and maybe a Netflix or a Hulu, you will pay less.
But many of us have TV/internet bundles that raise the price of internet if we drop TV. That’s what happened with me and Frontier, when the company said my $35 monthly internet charge would double to $70 if I ditched cable.
We’re thrilled that many readers are saving money by cutting their cable and hope the trend continues.