Is it time to ditch the cable TV?

You’re probably looking for ways to cut that budget right now – we’re in a recession, you’re worried about your job, and the heavy-duty bailouts are for the banks and sick corporations, not for individuals. Dropping that cable TV bill of $50-$100 per month could go a long way toward shoring up your personal finances.

In today’s world, throttling back on cable TV is not as drastic a decision as it used to be. You’ve got all kinds of alternatives:

1. You can slim down your service, dropping some of the extras or premium content, even going down to true basic cable (broadcast TV and a few extras) for under $15/month. If you live in Joe SuperSaver’s Raleigh area, click on this Time Warner site to see a breakdown of options.

2. If you already have a digital TV, try out one of the new inexpensive digital antennas and see how good your reception is. You may be surprised to find out that you can get most of the local stations (and subchannels) with this small investment. Start by researching the antennaweb.org site – it allows you to input your exact location, list all the broadcast stations in your area, and get recommendations for the type of TV antenna you’ll need to pull in these stations. Click at this HDTv Antenna Labs site for customer reviews of a long list of outdoor and indoor antennas that can work for different signal strengths and broadcast patterns.

3. If you have an older analog TV, get one or two of the government coupons and spring for a set-top box. The new stimulus package siphoned fresh money into the coupon program, so the coupon backlog should start to diminish. Then go out and buy a box, or mail-order one of the better boxes not available locally. Joe SuperSaver bought some of the TiVax STB-T8 boxes (highly rated in Consumer Reports), stuck a paperclip in the RF input, and was pleasantly surprised to get several crystal clear local stations after a quick 10 minute setup and scan procedure. Read this Consumer Reports guide for ratings of all the boxes.

4. If you still have a high-speed broadband connection, you can stream most network TV shows right to your PC and watch them whenever you want.

5. Forget TV and get a NetFlix subscription. Their offers consist of several tiers of movie rental service, all of which include streaming of movies to your PC. You can even get a box to view NetFlix streamed movies on your TV.

6. Get real cheap and rent movies from RedBox, that red vending machine that you’ll see in a number of stores. You can rent movies for a dollar a night, satisfying your craving for couch potato time.

7. Forget being a passive watcher and just crack open a good book. Or engage in conversation with your significant other. Finish the housework. Play with the kids or pets. Get to that repair project. Start a hobby. There’s a whole world out there beyond the tube (or flat screen, in today’s world).

Start saving some money now. They say squirreling away your money is not the best thing to do to get us out of the recession, but in this economy, you have to make the right decision for your family and financial situation.