By Devin Polaski, Digital Content Manager at MyInsuranceExpert.com

We are in a “Balance-Sheet Recession.” Most Americans are attempting to pay off liabilities and accrue savings. This means individuals and families are taking a step back and carefully examining their budgets. Each cost must be examined, and certain expenses simply need to be reduced or even eliminated.

Each Wednesday I’m not going to simply help you save money. I’m going to expose you to new products, services, and venues that not only cost less, but offer you a far-greater value than services most of us have been used to for decades. Which brings me to today’s advice…

DITCH YOUR CABLE OR SATELLITE BILL!

I consider myself quite the technology and new-media buff, so when I’m wired into a modern technology service I make it my personal duty to inspire others to do the same.

I encourage you to read this whole blog post, but know this; I WILL ANSWER ANY QUESTION YOU ASK! Looking to ditch your cable or satellite bill? Not sure if your gadget can get Netflix on it? Not sure whether you should buy an Apple TV or go with Roku? Just write me in the comments or email me at dpolaski@myinsuranceexpert.com, and I will answer any questions you have about it.

Why pay more for a low-value service like cable?

So there’s a lot of talk these days about Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV, the new Xbox Live Dashboard, and other internet TV resources. Adopters of this technology gloat of its superiority to cable TV, but there are many people who are used to cable and unaware or even uninterested of the new technology and possibilities. I’ll help you sort through the noise.

Ask yourself this; are you tightening your belt? Financial woes got you down? Many of us have it hard, but I find it difficult to sympathize with those who complain about it but haven’t cancelled their $60-$100+ cable or satellite bill. But I do understand that TV is one of the few “luxuries” we can partake in. It’s not realistic to take regular vacations, go out to eat every weekend, or buy luxury items like pools and hot tubs. But cable and satellite TV are becoming obsolete. I’ll bet you that most of your favorite TV shows are available online in some fashion; either for free, or with a small cost. I’ll also bet that you own some piece of technology, or have enough money to purchase an inexpensive gadget that will enable this new world of non-linear entertainment.

I’ll use myself as an example. I like to watch Mad Men, LOST, the Office, and the Colbert Report. Every single episode of the first two shows are available on Netflix, and I can access any episode at any time on any one of my media devices. As for the Office and the Colbert Report, I can watch the episode from the night before on their websites at any time. And some of these shows are both on Netflix and their website, like the Office.

But everyone’s situation is different, so you find my situation disagreeable. Firstly, you may say, “I don’t want to watch my TV shows on my computer.” That’s very understandable; it’s not my preferred method either. So to that I say this, do you own one or more of the following items?
-Laptop (with HDMI port)
-HDTV
-Nintendo Wii
-Android Phone or Android Tablet
-Xbox 360
-Blu-Ray player
-iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch
-Playstation 3
-Apple TV
-Roku Box

If you answered yes to any of the following, congratulations: you can watch Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Streaming, and many other internet TV services on them! And this is by no means a complete list. Did you know that more people watch Netflix from their Xbox’s, Wii’s, and PS3′s than anything else? And let’s say you don’t want to have to shell out the money for one of these game consoles. What sounds more expensive, spending as little as $99 for an Xbox 360, or spending $75 every single month?

So let’s say you have a device that can play an internet TV service like Netflix. Well, Netflix has two pricing plans, but the one I use is for “Instant Streaming Only,” and costs me $7.99. With this plan, I get access to thousands of movies and TV show episodes, and can stream them to any of my media devices at any time. There’s no limit to how many I watch.

Let’s say I wake up in the morning and start watching a movie on my laptop and get halfway through it. Later I’m a at a coffee shop with my iPad, and watch another 15 minutes of that same movie. Then later that night I sit down in front of the TV, fire up my PlayStation 3, and finish that movie. See where I’m going with this? Netflix is with me everywhere on all my devices. It also remembers where you left off with each thing you watch.

I can go on for hours about all the different possibilities and services. I can explain that you can control your Apple TV with your iPad or iPhone/iPod Touch, or that Amazon can stream a lot of movies and TV shows that Netflix doesn’t have access to. I can get you excited that Netflix is going to start having original programming made just for Netflix, and how this will become the future of entertainment.

But what I really want to know is this: what do you want to do with all of this? Let’s say you own a Nintendo Wii and want to get into Netflix; I can tell you how to get it done. Want my expert opinion on Apple TV vs Roku? I can do that too. Comment below or email me. I’ll be your personal technology assistant for the day!

It’s time you took charge of your entertainment bills and save money. You’ll end up gaining a new service that’s many times better than the cable and satellite TV experience in cost, content, quality, and overall value.