Have You Cut Your Cable?

I'm almost there, almost. During our recent move I signed up for cable through the cable company. Mainly because it's the path of least resistance and it'll stay on during the next down pour. Now I'm having second thoughts and thinking about cutting the cord.

The questions  are, will I actually save money based on what my wife and I want to watch? And will we be able to watch what we want?

I checked out two or three services and all of a sudden my Facebook feed is flooded from companies that want to sell me streaming TV for seductively low prices. Then I start adding up what we want. HBO for a few of the shows we watch. A&E because "Live PD" is a weekend ritual. And Cooking and DIY for my wife Kathy. The problem is every service still has tiers and fees and each one is different. Except for HBO, HBO is always extra.

It's at this point my eyes glaze over and I give in and just stick with the cable. This time though, I'm going to investigate further. Maybe it's because our budget isn't a theoretical document anymore and I need to cut some costs. Maybe it's because while the cable is ok, the technology they offer is lacking. Maybe it's because I didn't get the moving special for $100. Or maybe it's because when you're filling up the gas tank every week, saving $30 on cable a month is a week's gas money.

Out of what I've investigated so far I like the Hulu service with live TV. We already are paying to stream Hulu so to pop for the live TV package makes sense. Plus pricing things out, as best as I can, I might be able to save at least $30 bucks.

I also looked at Directv Now, a streaming offering from Directv. A buddy of mine has that service and likes it alot. For us, by the time we counted up everything I mentioned that we wanted, I'm not sure the cost savings made a lot sense. Yes it was a little cheaper, but not a tank of gas cheaper.

What I've learned from my experience so far when it comes to cutting the cord: The devil's in the details ... if you can get the details. How much extra is HBO? How much is the tier that has that one channel we watch alot? Some streaming services don't want to give you those details until you've given them your credit card and started your free trial. Frustrating.

Have you cut the cord? What are your reccomendations? Let me know I'll be taking notes.