UPDATES - We are still living without cable and loving it.

UPDATE 11/04/15:
My family and I cut the cable cord back in 2012. We have never rejoined the cable revolution, but I do have some updates worth sharing.

I wrote this initial blog post back when my family had just cut the cable cord. We were about a year in and loving it.  Well now we are 3 years in, and we are still loving it!! I thought it wasonly fair to update everyone with our current (3 years later if you will) costs to see if we are still saving a bundle, and it turns out that we are despite the rising cost of internet in this region.

In 2014, we invested in the Roku Streaming Stick (paid $40 - now it's cheaper) for our bedroom television, so now we have two! We also invested in two VERY CHEAP  Homeworx Super Thin HDTV Antenna (paid $9/each - now it's $7/each). This allows us to watch prime time television (American Ninja Warrior - my kids love this show) and morning and evening news when we want (like when it's snowing and we desperately want schools to close). We receive all of the prime TV channels (ABC, FOX, PBS, CBS, NBC, etc.) among several others we never knew about (CoziTV, anyone?).

This is what I currently pay per month to enjoy a cable free lifestyle:
Charter Internet - $69/month
Netflix - $9/month
Amazon - $9/month (annual fee of $99)

We are very fortunate that my parents share their cable login with us, so our family has access to these channel apps on the Roku (for free):
Disney Channel
Disney Junior
Disney XD
HBO Go
Showtime Anytime

In addition to these apps, we have lots of other free channel apps on our program list from Netflix and Amazon to Popcorn Flix and Jim Henson's Family TV.

So as time has gone by some costs have risen (mainly, internet), but I still save money each month by not paying for cable channels.

My current monthly spend for television entertainment is $87; this is a savings of $138 per month for us.

An added benefit that I would like to share is when you cut the cord on cable you also save yourself time and energy lost surfing channels and avoiding commercials. Our family is definitely more mindful of the time we spend in front of the television as a result of cutting the cord. Sometimes we decide that we are going to have the TV off for a period, choosing to read books as a family or do crafts. We also spend a lot more time perusing new movies and books at the library rather than searching for the next best thing to watch on TV. We waste less time searching for something intriguing because something has already been recommended for us on the Netflix, or there is a new episode of Homeland that my husband and I just can't wait to watch.

Cutting the cord is more than just cutting cable from your life; it is a lifestyle change and a good one. It leads to more family time and more mindful watching of the televisions. It may also lead to more frequent episodes of binge-watching; I am guilty of this (OITNB, can I get an Amen!?)

Thanks for reading and read on for more information about cutting the cord on cable in my original blog post from June 2014.

ORIGINAL POST:
Many of you have heard our tale of cutting the cord on cable and getting on board with saving money by investing in a Roku. A lot of folks ask me questions and wonder if they could really cut the cord, so to speak.

Well it's very easy, and it was one of the BEST INVESTMENTS that I ever made. I mean, seriously BEST INVESTMENT because not only do I save money each month by not paying for the high cost of cable/satellite, but I also spend more time with my family, and I pay closer attention to what my children are watching.

So I'm going to provide steps to saving money, but first my story:

GG and I were spending more than $200 (almost $300) per month for cable/internet/cell phone with AT&T U-Verse. I thought we were saving money at the time because we had discounts, free movie channels, and it was bundled, so I was truly saving, right? Totally WRONG.

We were in the process of selling our house, and I told my husband that if we ended up buying a house that was larger with (possibly) larger utility bills and such, then we would have to cut something out, so we decide to cut the cord on our cable.

I researched internet services in our new hometown and found that Charter had the best deal for $30/month. I set up time for the installation and purchased a wifi-router since I didn't own one. The one we had came with our U-Verse package, so I paid $8/month to rent our router for like 2-3 years, so about $288 over time, yikes! I bought one for $109 at Walmart, and done. I don't have to pay for another one until this one burns out. I've already saved some money for the future with one investment up front. --> There are less expensive routers out there, but I needed one with a high frequency to emit across our 2700 sq. ft. home. Big house = more power and longer reach wifi frequency = more expensive. Here are some cheaper options and mine: Netgear Rangemax, TP-Link Wireless N300, and Netgear N600 Dual Band Gigabit (that's the one I own).

Next, I cut the cable at our old house, so we had no TV or internet for a couple of days. We went to the library and borrowed some books and movies to tie us over while we moved stuff into our new (to us) home.

The first week that we moved in, I signed us up for Netflix ($9/month), Hulu Plus ($9/month), and Amazon Prime ($99/year) which includes Amazon Instant Video. Each of these services offers a FREE trial-offer time period to see if you even like their services, and well I fell in love RIGHT AWAY with all the tv shows and movies as well as the perk of 2-day shipping from Amazon.

I also invested in our Roku. I chose the Roku 2 XD ($56) because it was the latest model at the time, but I know friends and family who prefer the Roku Streaming Stick ($49), which is kind of the latest and greatest.

On our Roku we are able to stream our paid monthly subscriptions to Netflix (endless movies and TV series), Hulu Plus (mostly prime time TV series), and Amazon Prime (lots and lots of movies and TV series, they just acquired HBO shows, too!) as well as several other awesomely free services.

These are just a sample of the channels I have on my Roku:
-  Pandora - Streaming Pandora stations for free, I love Children's Indie
-  Crackle - Free movies with short advertisements
-  PBS - Free full episodes of shows and mini-series like Call the Midwife...
-  PBS Kids - Free PBS kids full episodes of shows like Sesame Street, Clifford, Arthur...
-  A&E - Free full episodes of shows like Duck Dynasty, Bates Motel
-  Lifetime - Free full episodes of shows and movies like Army Wives, True STori...
-  History Channel - Free full episodes of shows like American Pickers, Mountain Men, Ancient Aliens...

Know someone who pays for cable? Well if they let you borrow their account log-in you can also get these Roku channels for FREE:
-  Disney Channel - Free full episodes of shows and some Disney channel movies
-  Disney Junior - Free full episodes of Sophia the First, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Rolie Polie Olie....
-  Disney XD - Free full episodes of Marvel Avengers, Phineas and Ferb...
-  HBO Go - I love me some GOT, Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, True Blood... not to mention all the awesome new release movies
-  Showtime Anytime - I can't get enough of Nurse Jackie, Homeland, Shameless...

Also, once you have an account with the above mentioned channels, you can stream them on mobile devices as well as iPad, Kindle Fire, and computers.

I found that after we cut the cord to cable, we were saving right away. Our AT&T U-Verse breakdown was about this:

-  $45 - internet
-  $180 - TV
   OR $225 per month
Our TV entertainment now costs us:
-  $30 - Charter internet
-  $9 - Netflix
-  $9 - Hulu Plus
    OR $48 per month, plus $99/year for Amazon
Total breakdown : $57 per month, a savings of about $168 per month, and I will NEVER go back to cable.

THAT IS HUGE SAVINGS!!!!!!

So if you want to cut the cord on cable and save money each month while still enjoying the same awesome shows and movies, you need to follow these steps:

1.  Sign up for the cheapest, best internet in your area ~$30/month (or more depends on your area)
2.  Invest in a wireless router rather than rent from your internet service provider, see links above
2.  Buy a Roku ~$50-60 (one-time purchase per TV)
3.  Sign up for Amazon ($99/year), Netflix ($9/month), Hulu Plus ($9/month)
4.  Enjoy your new TV service and put all the extra money you're saving each month towards your next vacation or rainy-day fund

**My blog post contains affiliate links, so I may be compensated if  you make a purchase after clicking one of my links.

Playroom Pin-spiration.

Well you've all seen the mess that was the playroom. After relocating all toys, furnishings and random stuff (headless Barbie dolls), GG and I decided that it was time to seriously sort through, purge, and reorganize the kid's stuff.

Honestly, I said I would never be that parent; you know the spoiling kind, but oh, it's so easy to overspoil you kids. You don't even know you're doing it. Gifts for holidays, special occasions, and random things bought on clearance or at the Dollar Tree throughout the years REALLY adds up. Then YOU (actually I), have a huge, overwhelming mess on our hands.

Pictures of our playroom show that everything had a place and a space.  It was a functional room for the kids, but it was kind of always an eye sore for me. Not my favorite room in the house. It desperately needed paint on the walls, ceiling, a new light fixture, and oh that carpet, yeah stains ALL over it. It's' an old house; what else can I say?

Since the big mess that fell from the heavens (or the ceiling), we've been granted the money to actually update this space in a big way.

So I did what every other digital woman does... I pinned. I have finally found  a color scheme, a vision for organization, and all the little details in between, that I believe will make this room, my most favorite room in the house. All I need now is a lot of storage options, seating, a place for the TV and DVD player, a new rug, a functional play table and a new home for the kid's play kitchen.

It all started with the inspiration room that I found on Pinterest designed by Jen of I Heart Organizing.  I'm sure you've seen it as well.

Inspiration Room (I Heart Organizing)

I love everything about this space. The storage/seating area is perfect for small rooms like our 11.5' x 11.5' playroom. We have a great hand-me-down Pottery Barn Farmhouse table and chairs. I plan to paint the top with chalkboard paint as well, such a clever idea. The colors of this room really speak to me as well, but I wanted to go with softer shades. I've decided on aqua, yellow, grey with pops of dark teal. Before actually choosing room colors, we first picked out our new flooring. We went the cheap route and got North Perry Pine (vinyl wood plank) from Lumber Liquidators. It was marked down to $0.79/sq ft. I used an additional 20% off coupon and got 2520 sq ft (my house is 2506 sq ft) for $1725 (after discount and taxes). Yeah my husband and I saved a ton by choosing a much more resilient flooring than traditional wood or laminate. AND we got enough of it to cover the ENTIRE house. There will be a lot of weekends of tearing up old carpet, prepping floors, and laying down our new tile, but it will be worth it come next year when all of our flooring is installed.

Floor (Lumber Liquidators), Fan (Amazon), Bins (Walmart)

Our new ceiling fans (bought 5 of these beauties...) will go in all of the bedrooms (including playroom) and the scrap room. Hunter is a wonderful brand, and these were discounted at Amazon to $69.95 each, yes another awesome steal! The grey design bins will go in our new cube storage from Walmart (just like Ikea, just cheaper with great reviews).

 

Soft Mint (Benjamin Moore), Galvanized Bin (Walmart)

 This beautiful paint was the inspiration for the walls in the playroom. I went super cheap though and bought a gallon of "oops" paint at Home Depot. It is Glidden and the name is chipped off, so I can't figure the name. It is very similar to the above color, perhaps more aqua with more blue in it. Still VERY close and for only $9.00 I couldn't pass it up. Also I love the BHG Galvanized bin for taller toys like the Stars Wars light sabers and swords that we have.

Lamp (Target), Toss Pillow (Target)

 Of course no room is complete without a beautiful, cheap lamp ($25), and love decor. I love, love this yellow pillow.

Toss Pillow (Target), Rug (Target)

 And I have plans to sell off our freshly, professionally cleaned green shag rug and replace it with this yellow gem. The Target toss pillow really inspired me to change my color scheme to include only aqua, dark teal, grey, and yellow, so, stinkin' cute.

Playroom Closet, Bookshelf (Walmart, Ikea)

In our playroom, which is a bedroom (technically), we will have storage in our closet similar to this. We have shelving almost identical now, but we plan to move the shelves and make space for the play kitchen to have a home.  Additionally, we plan to buy one of these BHG 8-Cube Organizer (like Ikea, but cheaper alternative), to hold books, bins, TV and lamp.

Floting Shelvesa, Art Supply Storage

Last but not least, we have a cheap bookshelf that I plan to repurpose as art supply storage with plastic shoe boxes and these wonderful hanging galvanized tins (I own all this already), just going to pretty it up a bit. I'm thinking a beautiful dark teal on the white bookshelf. It could use some prettying up.

Well that's the plan. Our room will take a different shape, VERY similar to the inspiration room. The cube storage will come from Walmart and fit perfectly in the space. I have it all measured out.

I can't wait to start slapping paint on the walls. Tonight we are going to texture the ceiling. Once that's done, we'll remove the current light fixture and get to town painting that sucker. I LOVE white ceilings. Makes low (8ft) ceilings like ours seem more open and taller.

On another note, I've been spending a lot of time organizing in my head.... putting toys in their various baskets. I plan to make some pretty little labels to make it easy to keep clean too (just like the inspiration room). I mean we will have 16 storage cubes to fill (the other 4 will hold books) - so this is how I plan to organize them:

1. Cars

2. Large Legos/Duplos

3. Blocks

4. Barbie

5. Little people

6. Disney figurines

7. Dora play set

8. Loving family

9. Action figures

10. Dinosaurs

11. Animals

12. Puzzles

13. Foam blocks

14. Wooden toys

15. Educational toys

16.

 Under the Farmhouse table will be a large bin that holds train stuff.

The bottom floor of the closet will have the kitchen and our 3 tiered rolling cart next to it. I plan to house kitchen food/plates, baby dolls/accessories, and misc. dress up items (keys, wallets, money, cards, jewelry) in those bins. If there is enough room, I'd like to place hooks on the side to hang dress up clothes.

The second shelf in the closet will hold our Little People playsets, doll houses, and small lego bin.

The third shelf in the room will have stuff animals that we refuse to get rid of - all the Disney stuff pretty much. WE love Disney at our house.

The small bookshelf will be repainted and house markers/pencils, crayons, scissors/glue/paintbrushes, and chalk in little hanging pails. Coloring books, drawing pads and paper will be housed in magazine holders, and clear shoe boxes will hold stamps, paints, craft supplies, and art supplies.

That's all folks. Our playroom pin-spiration. I hope you feel just as inspired to organize and update rooms in your house on a thin budget. I plan to post more pictures of the room in progress as well. Just need to get my camera hooked up to the ipad. Forgot to do that today.

Frugal finds at Amazon, Tanga and Target.

So you all know that I am all about saving a buck, and I like to share these savings with my friends and family.

Amazon has daily deals. Most of you see them pop up in my Facebook feed. Today only, certain Fossil handbags, wallets, and other accessories are 50% off. Super cute stuff folks. Not kidding.

Fossil Keyper Travel Tote ($49) - Amazon

Last week my friend introduced me to Tanga. It is a flash steal site similar to Woot!, GroopDealz, and Zulilly. Today was my first experience buying from them. I bought a beautiful Stainless Steel Ring with Brushed Finish and Beveled Edges for $4.99 (reg. price $99.95). Good deal, right? I bought two, just to be on the safe side with sizing. I am SO glad I heard about this site. I am fortunate that my husband has his original wedding band, but this wedding band is just so much more masculine and fits his personality more, so I wanted him to have it. Would you believe we are about to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary? Yep, in just a few short weeks. Love you mister!

Total spent: $8.98 + free shipping

And, last night I hit up our local Target. I heard from a little birdie that they introduced their up to 70% off clearance on toys.  Although our local Target was pretty much cleaned out by 6:00 pm, I found a few steals, and they honored a local promotion of "All Toys Buy One, Get One 40%" - so awesome!! I picked up just a few things.

Barbie style head, Belle swimg doll, Nerf girls gun and goggles, Star Wards puzzle, Superman playset, and 2 dollar section finds.

I didn't pay anything close to regular price.

Total: $21.90

I used my Target debit card to shave off an additional 5% off the already super low prices, and I ended getting all of these splendid future Christmas gifts for $21.90.  Seriously!! STEAL of the century and probably one of the best deals I've received in a long time. Like, seriously. The Superman Playset alone was regularly priced $27.99. Right? These were great finds. And, yes, I had to hunt the kids toys for about an hour to find all of these amazing deals, but my kids were happy, and I was too. I did have to tell Harper that all these toys are for her cousins (little white lie). She'll be so surprised on Christmas morning, and I also have gifts for upcoming birthday parties.

I just wanted to share my wonderfully frugal finds from this week. I've also picked up my couponing again, so hopefully this weekend I'll get a good deal or two on groceries. Of course, I'll share my deals with everyone.

Looking forward to some free fun tonight at our local Barnes & Noble. They are having Olaf story and craft time. This should be so AWESOME. Some folks are worth melting for... like my babies.

Hugs all!! Enjoy the weekend!

Cut the cord on cable and save money, big time.

Many of you have heard our tale of cutting the cord on cable and getting on board with saving money by investing in a Roku. A lot of folks ask me questions and wonder if they could really cut the cord, so to speak.

Well it's very easy, and it was one of the BEST INVESTMENTS that I ever made. I mean, seriously BEST INVESTMENT because not only do I save money each month by not paying for the high cost of cable/satellite, but I also spend more time with my family, and I pay closer attention to what my children are watching.

So I'm going to provide steps to saving money, but first my story:

GG and I were spending more than $200 (almost $300) per month for cable/internet/cell phone with AT&T U-Verse. I thought we were saving money at the time because we had discounts, free movie channels, and it was bundled, so I was truly saving, right? Totally WRONG.

We were in the process of selling our house, and I told my husband that if we ended up buying a house that was larger with (possibly) larger utility bills and such, then we would have to cut something out, so we decide to cut the cord on our cable.

I researched internet services in our new hometown and found that Charter had the best deal for $30/month. I set up time for the installation and purchased a wifi-router since I didn't own one. The one we had came with our U-Verse package, so I paid $8/month to rent our router for like 2-3 years, so about $288 over time, yikes! I bought one for $109 at Walmart, and done. I don't have to pay for another one until this one burns out. I've already saved some money for the future with one investment up front. --> There are less expensive routers out there, but I needed one with a high frequency to emit across our 2700 sq. ft. home. Big house = more power and longer reach wifi frequency = more expensive. Here are some cheaper options and mine: Netgear Rangemax, TP-Link Wireless N300, and Netgear N600 Dual Band Gigabit (that's the one I own).

Next, I cut the cable at our old house, so we had no TV or internet for a couple of days. We went to the library and borrowed some books and movies to tie us over while we moved stuff into our new (to us) home.

The first week that we moved in, I signed us up for Netflix ($9/month), Hulu Plus ($9/month), and Amazon Prime ($99/year) which includes Amazon Instant Video. Each of these services offers a FREE trial-offer time period to see if you even like their services, and well I fell in love RIGHT AWAY with all the tv shows and movies as well as the perk of 2-day shipping from Amazon.

I also invested in our Roku. I chose the Roku 2 XD ($56) because it was the latest model at the time, but I know friends and family who prefer the Roku Streaming Stick ($49), which is kind of the latest and greatest.

On our Roku we are able to stream our paid monthly subscriptions to Netflix (endless movies and TV series), Hulu Plus (mostly prime time TV series), and Amazon Prime (lots and lots of movies and TV series, they just acquired HBO shows, too!) as well as several other awesomely free services.

These are just a sample of the channels I have on my Roku:
-  Pandora - Streaming Pandora stations for free, I love Children's Indie
-  Crackle - Free movies with short advertisements
-  PBS - Free full episodes of shows and mini-series like Call the Midwife...
-  PBS Kids - Free PBS kids full episodes of shows like Sesame Street, Clifford, Arthur...
-  A&E - Free full episodes of shows like Duck Dynasty, Bates Motel
-  Lifetime - Free full episodes of shows and movies like Army Wives, True STori...
-  History Channel - Free full episodes of shows like American Pickers, Mountain Men, Ancient Aliens...

Know someone who pays for cable? Well if they let you borrow their account log-in you can also get these Roku channels for FREE:
-  Disney Channel - Free full episodes of shows and some Disney channel movies
-  Disney Junior - Free full episodes of Sophia the First, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Rolie Polie Olie....
-  Disney XD - Free full episodes of Marvel Avengers, Phineas and Ferb...
-  HBO Go - I love me some GOT, Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, True Blood... not to mention all the awesome new release movies
-  Showtime Anytime - I can't get enough of Nurse Jackie, Homeland, Shameless...

Also, once you have an account with the above mentioned channels, you can stream them on mobile devices as well as iPad, Kindle Fire, and computers.

I found that after we cut the cord to cable, we were saving right away. Our AT&T U-Verse breakdown was about this:

-  $45 - internet
-  $180 - TV
   OR $225 per month
Our TV entertainment now costs us:
-  $30 - Charter internet
-  $9 - Netflix
-  $9 - Hulu Plus
    OR $48 per month, plus $99/year for Amazon
Total breakdown : $57 per month, a savings of about $168 per month, and I will NEVER go back to cable.

THAT IS HUGE SAVINGS!!!!!!

So if you want to cut the cord on cable and save money each month while still enjoying the same awesome shows and movies, you need to follow these steps:

1.  Sign up for the cheapest, best internet in your area ~$30/month (or more depends on your area)
2.  Invest in a wireless router rather than rent from your internet service provider, see links above
2.  Buy a Roku ~$50-60 (one-time purchase per TV)
3.  Sign up for Amazon ($99/year), Netflix ($9/month), Hulu Plus ($9/month)
4.  Enjoy your new TV service and put all the extra money you're saving each month towards your next vacation or rainy-day fund

UPDATE 11/04/15:
My family and I cut the cable cord back in 2012. We have never rejoined the cable revolution, but I do have some updates worth sharing.

In 2014, we invested in the Roku Streaming Stick (paid $40 - now it's cheaper) for our bedroom television, so now we have two! We also invested in two VERY CHEAP  Homeworx Super Thin HDTV Antenna (paid $9/each - now it's $7/each). This allows us to watch prime time television (American Ninja Warrior - my kids love this show) and morning and evening news when we want (like when it's snowing and we desperately want schools to close). We receive all of the prime TV channels (ABC, FOX, PBS, CBS, NBC, etc.) among several others we never knew about (CoziTV, anyone?).

This is what I currently pay per month to enjoy a cable free lifestyle:
Charter Internet - $69/month
Netflix - $9/month
Amazon - $9/month (annual fee of $99)

We are very fortunate that my parents share their cable login with us, so our family has access to these channel apps on the Roku (for free):
Disney Channel
Disney Junior
Disney XD
HBO Go
Showtime Anytime

In addition to these apps, we have lots of other free channel apps on our program list from Netflix and Amazon to Popcorn Flix and Jim Henson's Family TV.

So as time has gone by some costs have risen (mainly, internet), but I still save money each month by not paying for cable channels.

My currently monthly spend for television entertainment is $87; this is a savings of $138 per month for us.

**My blog post contains affiliate links, so I may be compensated if  you make a purchase after clicking one of my links.