A recent survey at /r/Cordcutters, on reddit, showed over 70% of cord cutters now pay less than $30 a month for their video entertainment content. Since they canceled cable, 44% of those cord cutters pay less than $20 a month for all their video entertainment! (The caveat, of course, is that this does not account for the amount spent on a broadband connection, which can range significantly depending on your preferred speeds and is used for more than just streaming video entertainment purposes. For this reason, the survey questions and responses compare pre- and post-cord cutting costs solely to the cost of pay TV subscriptions for a more apples-to-apples view.)
80% of the people surveyed said they canceled cable because of the cost. Only 17% said they canceled cable because of lack of use, while another 3% said they canceled cable because of the commercials.
The same survey showed approximately 70% of the cord cutters had been paying over $70 a month for cable TV alone, while 41% of those cord cutters were paying over $101 a month. That means 70% of cord cutters are saving at least $70 every month, or $840 a year.
Personally, our cable bill was about $130 per month (after taxes and fees). Since we cut the cord we are saving a total of $1,320 per year.
A different survey recently suggested the average cord cutter saves about $1,000 a year. So, the question is, “What could you do with an extra $1,000 every year?” If you are 30 years old when you cut the cord, and you live until you are 60, that amounts to $30,000 extra for you to vacation with, or even to buy a car!
There is only a small set up cost to become a cord cutter. You buy an antenna ($39.99 for the Mohu Leaf) and a Roku ($84.99 on Amazon), and that’s it. It is a one-time cost; once you buy them you own it. There is no monthly fee for an antenna or a Roku. My parents receive about 30 free channels over the air with the antenna I installed. This is better than the 21 cable channels for which they were paying $24.99 monthly.
Roku has a ton of free content on their channels that you never have to pay for. In addition, Netflix and Hulu are only $8 a month, and an Amazon Prime membership is $99 a year. (Amazon Prime includes free movies, free TV shows, free books, free music, and 2-day free shipping on a huge selection of items you can purchase through Amazon.com).
So if you are thinking of cutting the cord, but are not sure, ask yourself, “What could I do with an additional $30,000 in my life?”
Luke Bouma is the owner of CordCutterNews.com and is a dedicated cord cutter. Cord Cutter News gives you some of the best reviews and news about cutting the cord. You can find them on Twitter @CordCuttersNews or on their Facebook Page.
