Should You Finally Stop Paying for Cable in 2024?

One of the personal finance goals my husband and I set for 2024 was to try to reduce our spending on things that didn't make sense to pay for. And cable was an easy expense category to target in that regard.

My family has had cable for years, and I can say with all honesty that the only thing I ever really use it for is the sports access. As such, we recently looked into different options to see if cutting the cord was feasible for us. And in the end, we found that there was no way to get me the sports access I want at a lower cost than what we're currently paying.

But just because I don't stand to reap savings due to my viewing needs doesn't mean you won't manage to save money by cutting out cable. So it pays to run the numbers to see what you're looking at.

A move that could pay off

If you're paying for cable for local sports team access, I'll warn you right now that it may be a struggle to find a viable or cost-effective alternative. A lot of the sports packages you'll see outside of a cable plan are designed to black out local games. So if you live in a different part of the country than your favorite sports team, you may have options. Otherwise, good luck.

If you're not so intent on getting sports access, though, then you may find that switching from cable to streaming services saves you a bit of money. How much money, though, is the question.

Allconnect says that the average cable and internet bill in the U.S. is now $118 per month. Of that, the cable portion's average price is around $43 -- not so much more than what you might pay for a few streaming services.

As an added example, in my area, Optimum TV has plans for as low as $40 a month. But that doesn't include taxes and fees, which can drive the cost up. And if you want more channels, you're going to pay more. I can tell you that the cable portion of my bill is basically twice as high -- again, because the company pretty much backs you into a corner if you want sports.

Meanwhile, a standard Netflix plan is $15.49 a month. And the Hulu-Disney Bundle Trio Premium costs $24.99 per month, which includes Disney+ and Hulu ad-free and ESPN+ with ads.

If you're someone who wants some sports access but don't have a team you follow per se, the Hulu-Disney Bundle Trio might work for you. And if you want to add Netflix on top of that for more variety, you may find that you're paying anywhere from a touch less to a lot less than what you're paying for cable, depending on your current package.

What's the right call?

To me, saving somewhere in the ballpark of $40 a month isn't worth giving up access to the sports teams I like and watch frequently. But you may be in a different situation. So take a look at your options and see what makes the most financial sense.

If you're paying for cable to have something to watch but aren't so picky about what that something is, then you may want to switch to a streaming service or two instead and enjoy a lower credit card bill. But if you can afford cable and you like cable, keep paying for cable.

Cord cutting may be a somewhat trendy thing to do these days, but it isn't for everyone. And you shouldn't be made to feel like you're throwing your money away on cable if you see the value in it.

That's the way I justify my decision to keep cable. It doesn't matter that I'm not using 179 of the channels I'm offered. I'm using the few channels that matter to me. That's really all that counts.