Roku Archives

Cable is so Expensive

Now that I’m one of the retired community I’ve been looking for ways to cut my expenses with the least possible impact on my lifestyle. I’m waiting patiently for the real estate world to recover from the Interest increases so that my retirement account will get healthy again. But one of my biggest monthly expenses is cable. I have the Bundle which is supposed to save me money but it just keeps going up. Even worse is that there is nothing on TV . I watch only about 5-6 channels and can probably do the narrations on each program since they are all re-runs. I can’t cut out those unused channels because then I would lose the package with the ones I do watch.

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The phone is part of the package but I get so many spam calls that I shut the ringer off. When I see the message light I check it but other than that it just takes up space on my desk. We all want to remember to get the car warranty updated, right? Everyone uses my cell phone.

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Step 1

Photo credit- Deb Neumann

I started the process a couple of weeks ago when I found a sale on Roku TV’s. For $99 I was able to order a nice TV for the bedroom. I need Forensic Files on when I try to go to sleep. My old TV couldn’t stream so a new TV was needed. That worked out great. The new TV even has an easy to set sleep timer. So far it’s been working great.

Step 2

Now that I’ve figured out the new TV, I took the 2nd step. I upgraded my HULU account to add Live TV. Then I switched back and forth between cable and Streaming to be sure the Live TV matched what was on the cable. It did! I’m going to see if I can handle streaming only for about a week. I don’t see a “guide” on the streaming platform so I’m probably just not familiar with it yet. Anyway, if it goes well I will turn off the cable and phone next week. I will keep the internet.

Step 3

So as I said, If all goes well I’ll be cable and phone free next week. Then I’ll turn in the cable boxes (That’s $20 just for the box rental) My cable company will want their modem back since it’s a phone and internet modem so I think I’ll buy my own internet modem and then the transition will be complete

Techniclor Formerly RCA TC8305C Wireless Gateway 802.11b/g/n GigaPort x 4 Port Router w/ 2-Voice Lines XFINITY/COMCAST

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Almost There

So I’ll let everyone know how it goes. If I decide to finish the final steps it should save me about $100 a month. Hulu is $70 and includes Disney Plus which I’ve been paying extra for. I’m not sure how much internet alone costs but I’m guessing it’s probably around $80 / mo. So that’s $150/ mo. instead of the $250 per mo. I’ve been paying. That kind of savings certainly makes this experiment worthwhile.

I’ve checked the channel list on HULU and all of the channels I watch are there. Just have to figure out how to tell what’s on the schedule, I’m so used to scrolling the channel guide!

A Day or Week in the Retired Life

A friend of mine once told me he had to retire because he had so many doctor appointments it was the only way he had time to keep them all. I’m beginning to see what he meant. It was a celebration when I finally got my insurance straightened out- Medicare parts A & B and an Advantage plan with my old insurance company, Aetna, Now it’s time to reschedule all of the appointments I missed while I was uninsured.

Aetna seems to be afraid that I’m going to croak on them or something. They call me 2-3 times per week to see if I have any questions. They sent a visiting nurse to my home to check on me. And they email me every day! Oh and did I mention the letters? They’ve killed a few trees to stay in touch.

As for appointments I’ve had an annual physical, am scheduled for blood work, scheduled an eye exam and a mammogram. My doctor suggested a follow up with my pulmonary guy, my nephrologist and my hematologist. She tossed in a vascular specialist for good measure so I put my foot down.

Update on the Cable Decision

I got my tax refund so I felt comfortable taking $100 to buy a Roku TV. It was so easy to set up. Just plug it in to an outlet and sign into my streaming accounts. I still have my old TV hooked up to cable but so far I don’t see any reason to keep it up. I have a couple of my shows that will be adding new episodes so I just want to see how quickly the new ones hit the stream. If its a couple of days I won’t even add a live TV option. I’ll just stream what I have.

photo credit- Deb Neumann

Only Murders in the Building

The first day I had the new TV hooked up I checked out the Hulu Original, “Only Murders in the Building” and ended up binge watching all the episodes. So I think this may work out well. I’ll keep you posted.