Getting Rid of Cable and my House Phone once and for all

Over the years I have been stuck with hundred of dollars in cable bill, mainly because I'm a movie buff who needs premium channels like Showtime and HBO in addition to my basic cable channels. My cable company has made it an annual exercise to jack up my rates, leaving us with monthly bills in the low hundreds. Another parasite in the wallet has been my local phone company. They charge for everything; call waiting, voice-mail, conference calls, local fees, etc, you name them.

I've have signed up for bundles, discounts, promotions and every conceivable scheme, just to clamp down on these astronomical bills with little effect; the bills just kept growing from month to month. I bundled my cable, house phone, and high-speed Internet into one package, instead of reducing my bills, they were all just rounded up into a convenient single expensive bundle after the promotions expired.

Today I am happy to say that I have finally kicked these guys in the rear and kicked both my telephone company and cable company out of my house while still pretty much enjoying most of the services I once had with these fellas. How did I do it?

The answer is simple; as long as you have a high speed connection in this technological age, you do not need a phone company or even cable!

Lets start with the house phone. I simply replaced my house phone with a magnificent little device know as the Magic Jack. I bought this device at best buy, simply connected it to the USB port on my computer and hooked up my house phone to it. There are no CDs that come with it or no technical computer knowledge involved. This wonderful device allows you to make free calls to USA and Canada for just $19.99 a year!!!. I was doubtful of the claims made by the device manufacture at first, but after having the Magic Jack for 6 months now, I can safely say it is one of the best investments I have ever made. The only drawback with the magic jack is that you should have a fast internet service and your computer should always be on. As my own computer is always on anyway, it suits me well. Another wonderful thing about the Magic Jack is that if you have a relative living in overseas with access to fast internet services, you can actually send a Magic Jack to them and you can call them or they call any number in USA and Canada for free any day and anytime. I am praying that fast internet soon goes to Sierra Leone on a wide scale.

So how did I get rid of my cable service. I got a high definition Roku box which can be bought at www.roku.com The Roku box is a Netflix streaming player. If you connect this box to your TV and sign up for Netflix $7.99 a month service, you can have all of Netflix's extensive movie library stramed live to your TV through the Roku box. These guys have more movies than Starz, HBO and Showtime combined. You can also listen to Pandora radio service free, listen to free International news, Have your facebook pictures and those of your friends streamed directly to your TV and many more services. The Roku box is just $100.00 one time purchase. This by all standards is a good deal. The Roku box is also very easy to set up, just like setting up your video or Blu Ray to work with your TV.

Though I am a technophile (I love new technology), you do not need to know a lot of technology to set up to set up these wonderful gadgets, and they will surely save you money in the short and long term. To day I have a phone service that calls free to USA and Canada and have access to thousands of movies streamed directly to my TV all for less than $14.00 a month, including taxes. What can beat that?

Sheku Sheriff

Brooklyn Park

Minnesota USA