Don't pay for cable!

Savings: $50-200 a month

One major recurring bill that most families have is cable TV. This can range from $50-$200 a month depending on how many HD and movie channels you have in your package. Having lived in Germany for 3 years, I learned alternate methods to cable since all the local channels were in German, and better yet they are all free. Here is my list of how to get all the same TV shows and movies you used to watch on TV but:
A) With minimal or NO Commercials.
B) On Demand.
C) High Definition.
D) FREE.



What you'll need:

Broadband Internet Access
A Computer (Laptop preferred, almost any will do)
Slingbox (Optional)
That's it!


Method 1: Hulu 











Hulu is ran by TV station ABC. They don't offer every TV show that's on cable, obviously, but they do have a lot of popular shows and movies. eg: Family Guy, Glee, American Dad, Modern Family, and The Simpsons just to name a few. It's pretty straight forward, all you need to do is go to their site, browse for a show you want to watch, and click play! They even host in HD quality. All of this is free and legal and they only have a couple of 15 second commercials.

To take this even further you can also download their desktop application for smoother control and without having to use the web browser. What I have done is set up my laptop underneath my TV and hooked up the HDMI cable from the laptop to the TV (see below). I simply turn on the laptop and TV, grab my wireless mouse and start watching my favorite TV shows right away ON DEMAND for free.

If Hulu doesn't fill your cup with all your daily TV needs, consider these similar alternative websites:
TV Guide 
OVGuide


Method 2: Slingplayer

While not exactly a free method per se, I thought I'd share this with you in case you have the means to do this. Slingplayer uses a Slingbox to stream cable TV from a friend or relative who happens to have cable and a broadband connection they don't mind you mooching off of. The Slingplayer software allows you to control the TV stations as if you were actually at the house that has the TV subscription. It doesnt interfere with the TV that they are watching unless you are hooked up to the same cable box they are using.


Method 3: Torrents

Torrents can be a very effective way to find anything you cannot find through legit websites such as listed above. A torrent is simply a term for a file(weather it be music, movies, tv, word documents) that is shared amongst many peers. I recommend using Torrentz to locate almost any TV show or Movie you can think of. Downloading torrents requires the use of a 3rd party program such as uTorrent or BitTorrent. Once you have one of these 3rd party programs installed, you simply go to a torrent search engine such as listed above, find the torrent you wish to download, and follow the links to an official host (such as The Pirate Bay), and click download and open with your torrent program.

Disclaimer: While downloading torrents is not illegal, downloading certain copyright material is considered illegal in certain countries. 


Those ideas are wonderful but how do I watch this on my 50 inch plasma rather than my 20 inch computer monitor?

I'm thrilled you asked! Because I have the solution:

The Home Theater PC:

The home theater PC (HTPC) is simply a computer that you set next to your TV for the purpose of streaming video to the TV. You can either use a laptop or build/buy a dedicated computer to sit next to your TV. Newegg has a good selection of sleek HTPC cases that disguise your PC to look more fitting in a living room environment rather than  a big bulky machine plopped down next to your TV. You will most likely want a wireless mouse and keyboard rather than stringing cables across the floor. You can connect your PC to your TV via HDMI or S-Video, now days every TV comes with these inputs and more and more laptops are coming standard with HDMI. 

The Bottom Dollar  
So there you have it, you can save a bundle every month if you want to put the effort into it. It may seem daunting at first, so I recommend just using Hulu or TV Guide to get started  as it is the most simple method, just click and go. Once you play around with a HTPC it becomes just as simple as when you had cable, enjoy your $aving$!