So last year I went through a major battle with myself on the idea of cutting cable out of my life. I figured…could I live with it? Or will it drive me nuts to miss it?  The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I hardly really watch TV and when I do…I don’t really pay that much attention to it.

So as of Jan 1st of 2013 I made it a resolution to cut it completely and live without it. Surprisingly it’s a lot easier than some would think (unless of course your life is driven by sitting on the couch and watching handfuls of channels every day…which I hope wouldn’t be your case as it would be beyond unhealthy).

I live in a metropolitan area so it was a battle to find a good antenna to maximize the amount of channels I got. I tried one after another after another until I finally found the perfect one. It didn’t just get me 30….not 40…but 72 channels over the air (OTA) for free. I bought this amplified antenna (Only $56!!…for now) and easily installed it on the back corner of the roof running the coax into the attic where it plugged in and then fed the house’s main coax feed. Now ALL of the TV’s in the house are getting every single channel in town (and a few from out-of-town)…including the few channels that 99% of the antennas won’t receive for some reason here.

Next I got Netflix to take care of any other need I had for watching series, movies or simply having background noise when I am working on things.

Most of the TV’s are smart TV’s so with a connection to Netflix I have access to all that media on every single TV throughout the house. So as long as Netflix keeps their prices where they are…this is an amazing escape from cable.

For TV’s without Netflix or where I might need more content, I can always get a Roku box which would be a one time fee to buy the box and can then have unlimited access to all sorts of online tv and movies as well as other things such as games (ie Angry Birds).

SO there you have it! A SUPER cheap alternative to TV! I now have 72 free channels (of course that number changes depending where you live and what channels/stations are around you) plus access to a lifetime of movies and tv for a price that is a fraction of what cable costs (and no DVR needed). Plus  if I got the Roku….I’m just swimming in entertainment for dollars a month.

Now if you REALLY wanted to go crazy, you could take the money you save and buy yourself a super cool TV to watch all the great stuff on. For example…Sharp makes a 70″ (inch) LED screen……SEVENTY INCHES!!!!…with 3D, Wi-Fi and apps (ie….NETFLIX)….and you can get it right now for just $1600!!!

Enjoy!!

Side note: I have been asked before on which TV’s had the best app market and selection. Most of the TVs and blu-ray players have similar app selections and are usually kind of limited. I have found that Samung TVs and blu-ray players have the best selection as they truly have a marketplace filled with all sorts of apps. The key thing to look for is in the reviews. Take a look at which TV’s Samsung has and within you price range (or blu-ray players) and then compare the reviews. They key thing to look for is speed. Just like any other brand of TVs, some have slow moving menus and some are really quick. When you are playing with downloading and using apps, you want a fast moving menu experience else it will become a headache over time.

The two links (Samung TVs and blu-ray players) in the previous paragraph lead you right to amazon with a narrowed search showing you just the wifi/app enabled tvs and blu-ray players thus weeding out most of the other junk so you don’t have to.