Trim the Household Budget – Cut the Cable Cord & Rent Your Programs

Millions of Americans have recently discovered that cable and satellite television is no longer within their shrinking budgets due to a tightening economy and the need to save a few extra dollars. While many only opted at first to cancel their premium channels like HBO and Showtime, they quickly realized what was left were about a hundred various channels of overplayed reality shows and reruns of popular eighties and nineties sitcoms. The major networks still provided plenty of family entertainment and channels like Disney and Nickelodeon kept the children happy, but were those alone worth handing out $50-$80 a month for? A growing number of viewers are saying no, especially since their homes are situated near enough to satellite towers to receive channels like NBC, CBS, and FOX in perfect clarity over their HDTV’s.

It is not like the old days where you have to fiddle with antennas just to be able to get a halfway decent picture, with high definition you will either receive the channel in perfect clarity or you will not be able to tune in at all. That still leaves a giant gap for the need of children’s programming, movies, and the few independent series that you watch on smaller television stations, but luckily an older service that has been around for years has you covered on al fronts.

The clear answer to ditching cable and satellite bills forever is Netflix. Although many know from television commercials that you can receive movies in the mail for as low as $7.99 per month, what they fail to realize is that any Netflix subscription allows customers unlimited access to online libraries filled with popular programming and movies that can be watched right from any computer screen or television gaming console. Virtually any TV series that has ever made it to DVD is available there twenty-four hours a day and the shows can be accessed as many times as you want for no additional charge. There are thousands of popular movies to watch online as well, and with built in ratings and personalized recommendations based on how you’ve scored previously watched content there is always multiple programs to look forward to. Their filtering options make it simple to select multiple titles from one type of genre to find exactly what type of show you are in the mood to watch, and from personal experience I can say that choosing movies in this fashion will allow the discovery of several great independent films that you would otherwise never knew existed. You can also invite friends to link to your account so you can discuss movies that each of you has watched which makes using Netflix even that much more fun.

Since there are thousands of online titles from the History Channel, Disney, ESPN, and MTV it is like still having cable within your home, except you get to decide the programming to view and it only costs $7.99 a month. Their main feature of movies in the mail is nothing more than an added bonus, but for must see new releases that haven’t made it online yet this is also extremely convenient. Netflix offers a seven day free trial for all new users, so join the rest of America and give it a shot…you may just cancel your cable subscription like the rest of us have.

Tip: For more movie rental savings, look for Netflix Coupons at CouponShack.com

Sok has been helping every day people save money since 2001. It began as a objective to learn how to save money with coupons for online purchases every now and then but has since evolved to a lifestyle. Now Sok spends his time, both online and offline, not only looking for coupons but also how to go beyond just coupons to get extreme savings on every day items. “Don’t under-estimate the value of a coupon”