Disclosure: This post contains links to other websites. I am in no way being compensated for sharing my opinion of the products mentioned in this blog post. Allopinions are my own.
Our Cable Journey
When we moved, we bought our first flat screen tv's and felt we didn't want to waste our large purchase and succumbed to good ole cable again. Of course it wasn't horrible because you get the first year at a heavy discount, but we found ourselves questioning our need for it when that year was up. The kids were watching way too much tv again since Disney Jr plays their favorites 24 hours a day, I was back to DVR'ing weeks worth of screentime for myself and it just wasn't healthy for us. Plus, the cost was going to jump to a level that led us to question if we even watch $80+ worth of tv? At this point, affordability is no longer the issue, but it is a want, and not a need and we did just fine without it before. So, we pulled the plug.
What We Use Now
We still have our antenna, but where we are located now in relation to the major networks around us, it doesn't get a very good signal. We could upgrade our antenna to receive signal from farther away, but the only thing it prevents us from seeing is the news, which doesn't bother us anyway because we see and read all of the headlines online.
We stream Hulu through our Ipad, Roku box, and Nintendo Wii. It is great with a huge assortment of shows that just keeps growing. It costs only $7.99 a month. It has all of the prime time shows I watch, and it is just as good as having a DVR, because I can just turn it on and scroll through all the episodes and select one. For example, I had fallen behind on Grey's Anatomy this season, and in a couple weeks, caught up to the most recent episode! So handy for a mom that doesn't have time to sit down and watch when it broadcasts!
You can try Sling 7 days for free to check it out. Or, if you want to just dive right in like we did, they have a current promotion - if you sign up for 3 months of Sling in advance you can select either: Roku Stick or Amazon Fire Stick for free, or at a $50 discount, a Roku 3 or Amazon Fire TV. We opted for the Roku 3 because it is more versatile than the Amazon Fire TV and has a ethernet port for directly connecting to the internet instead of through wifi. It will also upgrade our tv experience on our second tv since we are currently using our Wii which doesn't stream in HD and the wifi connections pops in and out at times.