Cutting Back

Like many people in the current economy, I am what is known as "under-employed". I'm not unemployed, but I'm not making as much money as I used to with a day job that pays less per hour ... and no vacation time, sick time, holiday pay or medical benefits for six months. That means cutbacks. So where to start?

In my case, I decided to drop the satellite TV.

My contract with my satellite provider expired a couple of months ago, and when I looked at my finances (or lack thereof), I realized that I could no longer afford to pay over $200 a month for television services. Between broadcast television and my large DVD and BluRay collection, I decided we could weather it.

There are a whole lot of options out there for someone who doesn't want to pay a satellite television or cable television provider. First of all, there is the option of broadcast television. Ok, so I don't get to see the cable television shows when they are first broadcast ... which is going to be hard then the new seasons of Doctor Who and The Walking Dead begin.

If I wait for a while, new seasons of my favorite shows usually show up on Netflix and I get an e-mail when they arrive. The Netflix service is $7.99 per month for either streaming television or DVD by mail, and another $7.99 if I choose both options That's quite a savings from that satellite bill. Then there's Hulu.

Hulu.com allows you to watch full episodes of the current season of popular shows via the Web without a subscription fee. These episodes usually come out the day after the original broadcast... which is much more tolerable than waiting six months to a year for the full season to become available on Netflix. HuluPlus is a subscription service that allows this same service to be connected to smart phones, game consoles, and tablets. The price for this service is $7.99. There is also a one-week free trial. Even combined with both Netflix services, this will be cheaper than the cable bill. The only real downside is that I don't know how long current episodes remain on Hulu.

Plus there is always YouTube. Many game consoles and smart phones have YouTube apps. Somebody is usually posting clips of television shows or movies, not to count the large supply of music videos - professional or amateur, official or unofficial - that are on the service. You don't have to have a subscription to view a video, but you will want one if you ever intend to post anything. I've found many a Doctor Who "Children In Need" Christmas special on YouTube.

I was recently told about another video service. Vudu is a free app for smart phones, tablets, PCs and gaming consoles. This service allows you to rent or buy movies and have them streamed to any compatible device. If you have movies on DVD or BluRay in your collection that have an "Ultraviolet" code, you can also add those to your Vudu file. I figure this is worth a shot, so I decided to sign up. The confirmation e-mail said I got several free movies, but I haven't tried to get one yet... I'm thinking about Men In Black 3 and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter as two of those options.

So as you see, there are lots of options for your television viewing pleasure if you decide to drop the cable or satellite television services. The only thing I am really going to miss is the DVR.