A while back I was comparing internet prices to see if I could find a better deal. While looking around, I noticed that we could “save money” with AT&T when you get a bundle. Just out of curiosity, I looked at some of their packages. (Part of me thought, “Hey if it’s not crazy, maybe we could consider cable...”) Do you know how expensive cable is?! It’s crazy!
Seriously. It’s a lot. Maybe it’s just because I am so stinkin’ cheap... or maybe because we don’t have a whole lot of disposable income. But, I am not willing to pay that much money to watch TV! Especially when I can get it all for free!!!
So, I thought I’d share how we do TV.... Maybe it can help some of you out there save some money!
Seriously. It’s a lot. Maybe it’s just because I am so stinkin’ cheap... or maybe because we don’t have a whole lot of disposable income. But, I am not willing to pay that much money to watch TV! Especially when I can get it all for free!!!
So, I thought I’d share how we do TV.... Maybe it can help some of you out there save some money!
1. Rabbit Ears...
Plain old-fashioned rabbit ears... 'Nuff said.
2. Watch TV on the computer... on the TV.
We have an old desktop computer hooked up to our TV, with the TV acting as the monitor. This way, we can watch Hulu (or any other TV/movie service) on our TV for free! Hulu is an awesome website. You can sign up for an account, and add your favorite shows to your queue so that when there are new episodes online, it will alert you! I love Hulu because you can watch your current, new shows “On Demand.” The only downside? There are still commercials and you have to be patient enough to watch your show the day after it airs on TV. (Or, if it is on Fox, 7 days later!) The commercials aren't long, though, and I usually just open another tab and flip through Facebook or Pinterest until they are over. Hulu is completely free to sign up, unless you want to pay for Hulu Plus which gives access to more older shows and allows you to watch Hulu on your iDevices, XBox, etc. I’m not willing to pay for Hulu Plus, since it doesn’t really get you all that much. You still have to watch commercials, you can watch most shows on your iDevice through different apps, and most full seasons of shows are on Netflix. There has only been one or two times that I found something on Hulu Plus that I could not get on Netflix. So, to me, it isn’t worth the $8 a month... (I also watch Hulu on my laptop anywhere I want to around the house!)
We also have an app on the computer and our iPhones called Splashtop Streamer that turns our phones into a "remote" for the computer. So, we can still sit on the couch and control it from there. (Or, you can just get a wireless keyboard and mouse and keep them by your couch...)
3. Apple TV:
I love our Apple TV!!! It only costs about $100, and it is super awesome! We are able to listen to our iTunes music, watch our digital movies (We are converting to digital instead of buying DVDs...), and Netflix all on our Apple TV. (There are also quite a few other little apps on there that I haven’t used yet...) And, we have a bunch of our pictures that act as a screensaver, so when I am listening to music our pictures scroll through on the TV. It’s fun to look at them and reminisce!) Also, we can project the screen of our iPhones or iPads through the Apple TV... The kids love to play Angry Birds and throw it up on the TV! They just think that is the coolest thing ever! (They also find it funny when we FaceTime with people to see them on the TV!) Sometimes if our internet connection is acting up then it will skip a little when projecting movies or shows, but most of the time it works great. I do wish that they would open up Apple TV to developers so that you could download more apps to it! That would make it even better... maybe someday.
Plain old-fashioned rabbit ears... 'Nuff said.
2. Watch TV on the computer... on the TV.
We have an old desktop computer hooked up to our TV, with the TV acting as the monitor. This way, we can watch Hulu (or any other TV/movie service) on our TV for free! Hulu is an awesome website. You can sign up for an account, and add your favorite shows to your queue so that when there are new episodes online, it will alert you! I love Hulu because you can watch your current, new shows “On Demand.” The only downside? There are still commercials and you have to be patient enough to watch your show the day after it airs on TV. (Or, if it is on Fox, 7 days later!) The commercials aren't long, though, and I usually just open another tab and flip through Facebook or Pinterest until they are over. Hulu is completely free to sign up, unless you want to pay for Hulu Plus which gives access to more older shows and allows you to watch Hulu on your iDevices, XBox, etc. I’m not willing to pay for Hulu Plus, since it doesn’t really get you all that much. You still have to watch commercials, you can watch most shows on your iDevice through different apps, and most full seasons of shows are on Netflix. There has only been one or two times that I found something on Hulu Plus that I could not get on Netflix. So, to me, it isn’t worth the $8 a month... (I also watch Hulu on my laptop anywhere I want to around the house!)
We also have an app on the computer and our iPhones called Splashtop Streamer that turns our phones into a "remote" for the computer. So, we can still sit on the couch and control it from there. (Or, you can just get a wireless keyboard and mouse and keep them by your couch...)
3. Apple TV:
I love our Apple TV!!! It only costs about $100, and it is super awesome! We are able to listen to our iTunes music, watch our digital movies (We are converting to digital instead of buying DVDs...), and Netflix all on our Apple TV. (There are also quite a few other little apps on there that I haven’t used yet...) And, we have a bunch of our pictures that act as a screensaver, so when I am listening to music our pictures scroll through on the TV. It’s fun to look at them and reminisce!) Also, we can project the screen of our iPhones or iPads through the Apple TV... The kids love to play Angry Birds and throw it up on the TV! They just think that is the coolest thing ever! (They also find it funny when we FaceTime with people to see them on the TV!) Sometimes if our internet connection is acting up then it will skip a little when projecting movies or shows, but most of the time it works great. I do wish that they would open up Apple TV to developers so that you could download more apps to it! That would make it even better... maybe someday.
4. iPad Apps:
Again, I’m not willing to pay for Hulu Plus just to do something that I can do for free! When I want to watch TV shows on my iPad or iPhone, I just open up the app from the channel that the show is on! NBC, ABC, The CW, PBS, The History Channel, A&E (This is how I watch Duck Dynasty, Jack!), and several other channels have their own apps and you can watch shows for FREE! Even shows that are on cable! So far, the only TV show that we haven’t been able to watch is The Bible... I was a little disappointed about that one. But, other than that, I watch all kinds of cable shows on my iPad for free! (Or, I throw it up on to the TV screen through the Apple TV and watch it on there!)
5. Netflix:
We love love love Netflix! We find all kinds of stuff for the kids to watch on there, and a lot of TV shows and movies for us too! We can watch it through the computer, the Apple TV, the XBox, the iPhones, and iPads. Pretty much everyone knows about Netflix, so I don’t really need to elaborate here...
6. The Library!
Did y’all know that the library has a TON of whole TV seasons and movies that you can check out for FREE?! My husband and I love to watch whole seasons of popular shows when they are all said and done. When we get really into it, we don’t want to have to wait for it week after week. We can just keep watching! Sometimes, this gets to be a bit of a problem... Like when we watched Lost because at the end of every episode, we were going, “WHAT”S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT???!” and we’d watch another one and another and another, until it was 3 a.m. and we were completely exhausted. Then, we’d have work and school the next day and were totally useless, and then we would want to do the same thing again that night... Not good. :/
7. Amazon Prime:
We don’t have it, but Amazon Prime is kind of like Netflix. It is a cool thing to consider, because with an Amazon Prime membership you also get free shipping on all of your purchases through Amazon! Pretty cool...
Again, I’m not willing to pay for Hulu Plus just to do something that I can do for free! When I want to watch TV shows on my iPad or iPhone, I just open up the app from the channel that the show is on! NBC, ABC, The CW, PBS, The History Channel, A&E (This is how I watch Duck Dynasty, Jack!), and several other channels have their own apps and you can watch shows for FREE! Even shows that are on cable! So far, the only TV show that we haven’t been able to watch is The Bible... I was a little disappointed about that one. But, other than that, I watch all kinds of cable shows on my iPad for free! (Or, I throw it up on to the TV screen through the Apple TV and watch it on there!)
5. Netflix:
We love love love Netflix! We find all kinds of stuff for the kids to watch on there, and a lot of TV shows and movies for us too! We can watch it through the computer, the Apple TV, the XBox, the iPhones, and iPads. Pretty much everyone knows about Netflix, so I don’t really need to elaborate here...
6. The Library!
Did y’all know that the library has a TON of whole TV seasons and movies that you can check out for FREE?! My husband and I love to watch whole seasons of popular shows when they are all said and done. When we get really into it, we don’t want to have to wait for it week after week. We can just keep watching! Sometimes, this gets to be a bit of a problem... Like when we watched Lost because at the end of every episode, we were going, “WHAT”S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT???!” and we’d watch another one and another and another, until it was 3 a.m. and we were completely exhausted. Then, we’d have work and school the next day and were totally useless, and then we would want to do the same thing again that night... Not good. :/
7. Amazon Prime:
We don’t have it, but Amazon Prime is kind of like Netflix. It is a cool thing to consider, because with an Amazon Prime membership you also get free shipping on all of your purchases through Amazon! Pretty cool...
What about you? Do you have cable? If not, what creative ways have you found to watch TV?