Last year I finally cut the cord. I got rid of cable! The monthly savings added up to nearly $100! It seemed like ditching cable and sticking to streaming services was the way to go to finally save some money. But the streaming services are now becoming the very problem they were created to solve.

When I got rid of cable, I was paying over $120 a month. But with the cost of high-speed internet service and various streaming services, you can reach that price level and beyond quick! The average internet bill in the U.S. is around $68. Then figure in the price of the top four streaming services, Amazon Video, HBO NOW, Hulu, and Netflix. Subscriptions to those four will cost you nearly another $50 a month! And that doesn't count the new services coming soon from the likes of Disney and Comcast! Suddenly you have a monthly TV bill at or over $100 a month after you got rid of cable because it was too expensive!

The benefit of the streaming services is that you can cancel at any time. No contracts means you can pick up a service and then drop it when you finished a show. I did that with Hulu last year. It also is why so many people share their passwords with friends and family. You pay for Netflix, I'll pay for Amazon and we'll share! But how long before those companies strictly limit the number of devices you can view on?

Right now my monthly subscriptions cost me around $66. Sure that's less than cable, but with Netflix and others raising prices as they offer more content, how long before streaming becomes the 'new' cable?

 

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