We cut the cord with cable tv several years ago, moving from a mix of DirecTV and Xfinity (depending on who had the better promotion each year) to Hulu Live TV. At the time, Hulu Live TV was a significantly better deal. However, over the years, Hulu has consistently raised prices to the point where it isn’t that different from DirecTV or Xfinity price levels and in October of 2025, we decided to go a different route again.

If you have no interest in streaming solutions for your television, then you should at least call or chat with DirecTV, Xfinity, or whoever your provider is each year to make sure you get a promotion applied rather than just accepting the normal listed price after your initial promotion ends. If you do have an interest in streaming solutions, continue reading below.

The latest Hulu Live TV price increase, in October 2025, raised the price to $89.99 plus tax per month. It did carry around 100 channels and had every channel we could possibly have wanted. But what was the point of relying on a streaming option vs. traditional cable or satellite if they were essentially the same price?

We certainly did not need all 100 channels and were most interested in our local channels (we can’t get an antenna to work in our location which would make them free) and various sports channels such as the Big Ten Network, ESPN, and FS1. After doing a lot of searching, we ended up going with the following:

  • ESPN Unlimited – $299.99 plus tax per year
    • Provides all ESPN channels, live sports on ABC, and all ESPN+ content
  • FOX One – $199.99 plus tax per year
    • Provides BTN, FS1, FS2, live sports on FOX, and several other FOX stations
  • Paramount Plus Premium – $139.99 plus tax per year
    • Provides live CBS and all CBS content
  • Peacock Premium – $109.99 plus tax per year
    • Provides live sports on NBC/Peacock and all NBC content

You can find cheaper plans by paying for a full year up front. The above comes out to about $62.50 per month before tax which is ~$330 cheaper per year than the Hulu Live TV option above, which we have added to our Haggle Fund.

Once our first full year is up in a couple of months, we are going to consider a couple of new options that could save a little bit more money.

  • YouTube TV Sports Plan – $54.99 plus tax per month (for 1 year and then $64.99)
    • Provides all your local stations (NBC, CBS, FOX, ABC) and about any sports channel you could imagine.
  • Going Month to Month on ESPN Unlimited and FOX One – $39.99 plus tax per month
    • There is a combo month to month deal that gives you both services at a slight discount to buying the annual plans of each.
    • Also gives the ability to cancel in months where there is little worth watching (such as the summer months). We estimate we’d keep for 8 out of the 12 months of the year, which could save us another $150-$200 annually.

Television is one of the trickiest areas to save money, but it is possible with a little bit of creativity. It requires determining which channels you can’t live without and then determining where you can get those channels and at what cost. Maybe someday we will be able to pay on a channel-by-channel basis, but we certainly are not there yet!

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