We’ve been cable free for almost 2.5 years now. Check out 5 tips for making unplugging easy!
Disclaimer: This post is in collaboration with Best Buy. All opinions are my own.
As a child of the 90s, television was everything. After school, I’d watch Saved By The Bell…TGIF was never missed. I am a self-proclaimed pop culture addict–my years of TV watching could someday win us thousands on a game show. When Ricky suggested we go cable free a few years ago, I wasn’t sure. Umm, I love my TV!
After doing some calculations, though, I realized just how much money we were throwing out the window…plus paying for Netflix, Hulu and other streaming apps on top of it. So in February of 2016, we said buh-bye to our expensive package.
Our first investment was a Chromecast. An affordable way to stream all of our favorite apps on the TV? Yes, please! On the Chromecast, you can watch movies, live TV, shows, YouTube (which has awesome movies added now!) and photos from your smartphone.¹
Installation is a breeze–just plug Chromecast into the HDMI port on your TV and to power and stream your favorite entertainment right from your phone with just a tap. Watch shows, listen to playlists, and more. And while streaming, you can still use your phone as you normally do.
The Chromecast also works with any streaming app you love. Enjoy TV shows, movies, videos, songs, games, sports and more from over 2000 apps like Netflix, YouTube, YouTube TV, and HBO NOW. Find more at g.co/chromecast/¹
Now, you can also start streaming with just your voice! Just say what you want to watch from compatible apps and control your TV hands-free, with Chromecast and Google Home working seamlessly together.²
“Ok Google, play Stranger Things from Netflix on my living room TV.” ¹
Other info about the Chromecast:
- Upgrade your TV for less: expand your home entertainment without buying a new TV. It’s so affordable you can get one for every TV in the house.
- High-speed wireless connectivity: built-in 802.11ac Wi-Fi connects to the Internet through your wireless home network.
- Compatible with your existing HDTV: easily connects to high-definition televisions with HDMI connectivity.
5 Tips for Cutting The Cable Cord
Once you have a way to stream TV, here are some tips for cutting the cord.
- Take advantage of free trials of streaming apps. Everyone loves their favorite streaming apps for different reasons. Hulu is great for watching current TV shows, Netflix has amazing original content, etc. If you’re not sure which ones you’d like to use, do a free trial to see what best suits you! Just don’t forget to cancel apps you no longer use.
- You can watch live sports still!! On of the biggest deterrents of cutting the cord for most families is watching sports. We’ve been able to watch 80% of our favorite games streaming. I won’t go as far as saying ALL games are available, but streaming sports has really improved over the past 2 years. Try SlingTV, especially!
- Save that extra cash! Once you no longer have a cable bill, save the money you’ve saved for something special. Consider a fun road trip or special night.
- Use your Chromecast for other streaming fun! We like to make photo albums to share with grandparents when they come over. Also, easily stream your favorite playlists for a party or just making dinner. I like to also listen to my favorite podcasts!
- Don’t dread it, embrace going cable free! Once I got over the initial shock, I actually love being cable free. Now when we’re in a hotel, just flipping and flipping through the channels, I realize how much junk really is on cable. Plus endless commercials! I’ve found so many original shows on Hulu and Netflix that I might not have noticed before.
Have you gone cable free? Any tips?!
¹ Subscriptions are required to view some content.
² Google Home, Chromecast, and compatible content required to cast to a TV using Google Home.
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