Friday, October 29, 2010

Paying For TV- A Thing Of The Past?

For decades in the USA we have been paying for our TV shows via a monthly subscription with our local cable or satellite provider. Nowadays you can even view some TV shows via your cell phone- for a price! Regardless of how much competition there may be, on the low end, packages start around $30, but add fees for remote(s), box(es), and premium channels; before taxes, the average household is actually spending between $65 and $100 a month. That is a pretty penny for entertainment in your own house! Especially, when you are struggling as is to make that mortgage or rent payment. Thankfully, it is the 21st century and we have more options, FREE options! Chances are your internet subscription is lower than your cable bill. There is no reason you should be paying over $20 a month if any at all. If your neighbors are kind enough to have an unsecured connection, and your computer is only a few years old, you can tap into there wireless connection.
My top choices for free (and download free) internet TV are....
  1. hulu.com::Ever since we had to cancel cable at our house, hulu.com is all we watch. It allows us to not only catch up with today's new shows, but those from the past like The A-Team and Who's The Boss. Great memories!  
  2. crackle.com Somewhat alike hulu.com, but with a larger library of movies. Also, each of there selections are supposed to be ironic (i.e. make you crackle).
  3. wwitv.com The beauty about wwitv.com (which stands for World Wide Internet TV) is the opportunity of watching live streaming TV not only across the USA but throughout the world! Say you grew up overseas or relocated from New York City to Kansas due to work, but miss your local station that you grew up with- you may be able to find it right online! Some of the options are prerecorded shows, but I like to stick to LIVE streaming video.
  4. youtube.com Okay, so millions of users have been using youtube to share family videos or perhaps get there "5 minutes" (did you know that is how Justin Bieber was discovered??), but it is also a great place to catch up with some of your TV shows and movies. The downfall- with a maximum video length of 10 minutes, most shows will have to be watched in more than one clip.
So set aside the money you had been giving away to the cable company, and put it instead towards paying off those credit cards, starting (or adding) a rainy day fund, or simply put towards your retirement!

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