After Time Warner’s latest price-hike in it’s never-ending string of price-hikes, I looked at my cable bill and discovered that we were now paying more to watch television than we paid to sail around the Caribbean for a week this past winter. Including drinks made in a coconut and served on the beach, and SCUBA Diving in Roatan and rafting through the jungle in Belize.
Then I discovered that huge chunk of the “bundle” I paid for went to subsidize channels I would never watch and to pay for sports teams that I didn’t care about.
That was the moment I decided to kick Time Warner to the curb.
I canceled television and phone service, walked into their office and dropped the modem and 2 DVRs on the counter and immediately dropped my cable bill from $190/month to $45/month.
Here’s how:
- Bought an Ooma Voice Over IP box (looks like an answering machine) and plugged it into my phones.
- Bought my own Cable Modem.
- Put a TV antenna in the attic.
- Built a DVR out of an old computer. (you can buy commercial over-the-air DVRs if you don’t want to roll your own)
- Bought a Roku box for each TV, signed up for Netflix for $8/month, then added on a bunch of other services available over Roku. Most are free, some are a few dollars.
- Disconnected the cable TV cable from the distribution amplifier in the house and connected the antenna.
- Collected up every bit of Time Warner Equipment, walked into their office on Erie Blvd and dropped it on the counter.
REALLY REALLY IMPORTANT!: Save your receipt when you bring the equipment back. They have been known to come after customers years later for equipment they claim to have never received.
Total cash outlay: About $500. Once.
Total Savings $1,800/year. Every Year. Forever.
Next winter, we’ll be cruising around the Caribbean using the money I didn’t give to Time Warner. And the year after that. and the year after that . . .
PS. Since I wrote this, they’ve had two more price increases.