hey what's up it's michael welcome to the channel and avoid just one of the mistakes i'm about to
show you and here's how much money you could have in your account over time twelve thousand dollars
in today's video the nine cord cutting mistakes you want to avoid let's get started number one
being too loyal when some people cut cable they create a bundle of streaming services that works
for them but then they never take advantage of the flexibility that streaming provides and
cable does not this is the number one mistake that cord cutters make after canceling cable
i've talked about it before for decades cable and satellite services they have kept people trapped
because there was a lack of competition and if you broke a contract you probably remember paying an
early termination fee that is not how streaming works most services they have no contracts or
long-term commitments so you can cancel whenever you want to but just like most big companies
streaming providers do not typically reward their loyal customers with lower fees so you
can take advantage of that flexibility to cancel at any time and stop and start your subscriptions
to save money and number two not buying a streaming device if you have a smart tv from
a major manufacturer like samsung or lg this is an lg right behind me you will have some
streaming apps pre-installed but you get access to a lot more apps with a streaming media player
that's like a roku or one of its competitors roku amazon fire tv and chromecast with google tv
offer access to a wider selection of streaming apps and interfaces that are simple to navigate
personally i like roku devices for first time streamers for that reason they're just so easy to
use but if you only use one or two streaming apps and they are available on your smart tv you may be
able to get by without a streaming media player for a while everyone else though get a streaming
device and use your tv's interface only as a backup number three spending too much on equipment
so i just recommended that you get a streaming media player but that doesn't mean you've got
to spend a fortune on one roku has several budget-friendly models for 25 to 50 roku express
roku express 4k plus and roku streaming stick plus amazon fire tv stick and tv stick lite are in the
same price range and then there is chromecast with google tv 50 bucks there are no subscription or
activation fees with these devices they're just a one-time cost now for about 50 bucks or less
you can get a streaming media player that supports fast streaming in hd and some voice control
features if you want to stock up check around the holidays because sometimes they are half price and
that way you can get a new streaming device for all the tvs in your house number four forgetting
to exit your apps and this is something a lot of you wish i would talk about more i know some
people have data caps on their high speed internet plans and others do not so if you have a data cap
and forget to exit out of your apps they could continue to run and use data in the background
for a few hours so just like you turn off a light switch when you leave a room remember to exit out
of your streaming apps and turn off the tv when it is not in use that way it is less likely you're
going to have to pay for going over a data limit and number five letting your internet bill creep
up all streaming services require a high-speed internet connection and if you pay for internet
from a cable company or a big phone company you've probably experienced at least one rate hike in the
past when i pulled my youtube community about half of people said they pay 50 dollars to 75 a month
for internet service so if you're paying more than that it's time to do some comparison shopping if
you get internet service from the cable company see if there is another option where you live you
can call up your existing provider and ask for the retention department explain to them that
you are shopping for a better deal on internet and present the offer from the competition i've used
the strategy year after year to keep my internet bill on the low end of that 50 to 75 dollar a
month price range but there are some newer options too from wireless companies t-mobile and verizon
they have expanded their affordable 5g home internet services to more and more cities in 2021
you will need to see if your area is qualified so i'll put links down below for you to check that
out number six following the crowd the best thing about all these services is that you can watch on
your own terms so if you aren't able to catch the show of the moment right away just wait a little
while until it's convenient for your lifestyle and your budget to save money on streaming you've got
to plan your binge watching pick a maximum of two or three pay streaming services and make a list of
the shows or movies you want to watch or add shows to your services watch list and when you have run
out of stuff to stream cancel the service and try another one my rule of thumb is that if i can't
remember using a particular service to stream three things from the past month i pause or
cancel the subscription i also created a free tool to help you get the most out of your subscriptions
the michael saves streaming tv spending tracker you'll find a link to that down below number
seven skipping what you get for free you may be able to lower your monthly streaming bill by
dropping a pay service in favor of one that is free or just free to you for example the big
three cell phone providers offer free streaming tv perks with their most expensive unlimited plans
there is prime video along with an amazon prime membership xfinity customers get peacock premium
and there are free trials of live and on-demand streaming services some of those on-demand trials
are up to 30 days and there are some services that are just free to everyone all the time three
examples are pluto tv the roku channel and my new favorite nbc's peacock which does have a free tier
and has been ramping up its content lately yes you're gonna have to put up with ads
but typically about half the ads of broadcast tv and while we're talking about broadcast tv no need
to pay for those channels if you've got an indoor antenna one-time cost of about 40 or less moving
on to number eight ignoring the deals i have mentioned deals a few times throughout this video
here are the ones you absolutely do not want to miss out on first annual plan discounts this
can save you usually between 15 to 20 percent when you pay for a year of a service in advance
just make sure it is a service that you are actually going to get use out of
also black friday sales you will find great deals around the black friday holiday shopping
season on both devices and services devices up to half off finally extended free trials these
pop up a few times out of the year sometimes week-long free trials for on-demand services
will go all the way up to 30 days and some live tv streaming services like youtube tv could give
you two weeks free instead of just one and i'm staying on top of the deals for you i post them
on the community tab of my youtube channel another reason to subscribe to michael saves and number
nine not putting your savings to good use this is something i've wanted to share for a long time
a few months back i compared the cost of cable tv and live tv streaming using a real cable bill
streaming was 74 dollars a month cheaper or 888 in a year your savings may vary but let's go
with that 888 a year figure do you know what you would do with all that money if you're not sure
that's the mistake i'm talking about if you are cutting the cord to save money be intentional with
your savings pay down debt fund another budget category or invest it and you'd be surprised
how that 74 dollars a month or 888 a year adds up over time take a look if you take that 74 dollar
monthly savings and invest it every month for 10 years it'll grow to 12 414 dollars and 57 cents
and that is assuming a 7 annual rate of return so cutting the cord can actually help fund your
retirement put the savings to work in a 401k or a roth ira with a provider like vanguard or fidelity
that doesn't charge really high fees i'll drop a link below to that calculator i just showed on the
screen that way you can enter your own numbers and see how your cord cutting savings can grow over
time when you invest it and thanks for watching today's video give it a like if you got something
out of it and i'll see you back here soon for more ways to save on streaming tv take care