Cut Cable, Use A Digital Antenna, and Save Thousands!

We finally eliminated cable earlier this year. Cutting the cable cord wasn’t hard due to the fact that we have a digital antenna. And, guess what? We haven’t missed it one bit. According to NPD Group (a market research company), the average monthly cable bill in 2015 is expected to be $123. By the year…

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Last Updated: January 27, 2025

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

Cutting The Cable Cord By Getting A Digital AntennaWe finally eliminated cable earlier this year. Cutting the cable cord wasn’t hard due to the fact that we have a digital antenna.

And, guess what?

We haven’t missed it one bit.

According to NPD Group (a market research company), the average monthly cable bill in 2015 is expected to be $123. By the year 2020, the average cable bill is expected to be around $200 a month.

That’s A LOT of money!

In fact, that’s $1,476 for 2015 alone. By 2020, the average annual cable bill would then be $2,400.

Who wants to spend that much money on TV?

I know I don’t!

Related posts:

I know there are some out there who prefer to have cable because they watch sports, but I doubt that is the norm. I believe many have cable just because it’s an expense that most people have and are “used to.”

However, that money could be used for something else. Perhaps a vacation, retiring a little bit earlier, paying off debt, and so on.

One of the main ways I recommend cutting the cable cord (and making it a bit easier) is by purchasing a digital antenna.

Related money saving tip: You can also ditch cable and get Hulu instead. It’s as low as $5.99 and a great way to save loads of money each month on cable.

 

Cutting the cable cord is easy with a digital antenna.

When you think of TV antennas, you probably think of the classic rabbit ears that are big and ugly. You probably also think about how the picture is never perfect and how channels can get blurry and almost completely fade away.

Well, these days antennas are no longer like that and this makes cutting the cable cord much easier. Digital antennas are sleek looking and allow you to watch your favorite TV shows with no problem at all.

Digital antennas are also cheap. They start at around $29.99 on the Antennas Direct website and go up from there. There is no monthly cost to use a digital antenna, so you can still receive many of your favorite local TV channels (that’s all I ever watched anyways!) and never have to pay money again.

Just think about it – around $30 for a digital antenna and be set for a really long time, or spend thousands of dollars on cable that you probably don’t get full use out of?

Seems like a clear winner to me!

Related: 16 Alternatives To Cable TV That WILL Save You Money

 

Our digital antenna.

We recently got a digital antenna (you can go to this website and find many great digital antennas – this is an affiliate link, but I didn’t find out I could be an affiliate until after I was already using their digital antenna. I truly enjoy this product and recommend it!) and it has been working well for us.

We have the ClearStream™ Micron Indoor Multi-Directional Digital TV Antenna.

It’s an indoor one that sits behind our TV, there is no ugliness that goes along with it, and you can’t even see it.

The digital antenna gives us around 14 channels and they are all of great quality. I’ve even heard of others getting 50 or 60 channels. The antenna we bought was around $60 and it will allow us to save hundreds of dollars a year for years to come, so it was a great deal.

Do you have cable? Why or why not?


Filed under:

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Author: Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Hey! I’m Michelle Schroeder-Gardner and I am the founder of Making Sense of Cents. I’m passionate about all things personal finance, side hustles, making extra money, and online businesses. I have been featured in major publications such as Forbes, CNBC, Time, and Business Insider. Learn more here.

Like this article?

Join the Conversation

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. Kelly

    We had to cut cable due to the expense. My fiance did a little go ogling and watched some you tube videos and put a few ideas together and made this antenna from wire hangers in a zip zag patern all the way down a 3ft maybe 4ft board and back fed the whole house somehow with it got 40 channels! Way more then the 13 channels with the $60 antenna we tried first! It works perfect and clear and FREE

  2. Diana Mota

    I looked into quitting cable, but the Internet, which I would want and is currently is part of a package, would by itself be almost as much as the package is currently.

  3. Angela

    I do have cable because I am retired and I watch Hallmark and other stations you cant get on regular t.v., plus I have the Internet and home phone on my plan. I do plan on getting just the basics though.

  4. JYDB

    I understand about the cost of cable but what I don’t understand is how to get rid of cable if it also includes your internet access. My cable company will charge me $75 for my fast internet connection and only an additional $15 for the cable TV with HBO. I don’t know how to get rid of that since all 5 of us use the internet. Please let me know of your recommendations.

    Thanks!

    1. Not all cable companies do this. You may want to look around and see if you have other options.

  5. VANESSA

    how do you suggest cutting cable if you want to keep home phone and internet? Tried to get rid of cable but Comcast was then charging just as much with home phone and internet

    1. Do you need a home phone? Also, are there other internet options in your area?

  6. Ron Hill

    After reading some of the comments here, I’ve decided to do some research about the internet cause that’s the only reason we have stuck with cable.
    Thanks

  7. Renee Lindsay

    I have tried cutting cable before but I definitely need wifi, when comparing cost it never seems to be that cost effective to just pay for Wifi so I always just get the bundle. Any advice?

Older Comments
1 8 9 10