That point would come in another nine months when our wonderful roommate announced some great news. Our beloved plug-n-play had become a bit more like “plug-n-pay.” We figured at some we should maybe look into alternatives. With the three of us splitting the costs (rather than two), it didn’t quite feel like the punch in the gut it should have, but it was still pretty damn shocking. Luke informed me that we were now paying $200 a month for this service. Upon its expiration, the new cost of the cable/internet package jumped high enough that Luke couldn’t just tell me the number. Three months later, our wonderful cable/internet deal expired. Nine months later, the other roommate (who we were closer with) hated Sacramento and moved back in with us. The one roommate got our account all set up before they both moved away. It would be like “plug-n-play” - the term people use when all you have to do is plug something in and it works perfectly without any hassle.
We wouldn’t have to buy any new equipment or sign up for multiple services. On the other hand, our roommate could just transfer all the DiaboliCorp equipment into our name. On the one hand, streaming would still be slightly cheaper, but only because cable charges all those weird taxes and fees.
But are all devices equal? Does streaming a movie and scrolling through Facebook count as the same? And what does ‘Mbps’ even stand for? “Mostly Buying Porn Services?” If 300 works for eight devices, then I think it would work for us.Īfter crunching the numbers, the cable deal and the streaming model were neck and neck. Is 300 Mbps good? DiaboliCorp’s website said it would work for eight devices at a time. The internet part was a little more confusing. As long as we had channels that provided shows about people competitively cooking, choosing or remodeling houses, or political pundits shouting at each other, then we would be set. Since Luke and I hadn’t done this in so many years, our knowledge of this stuff was kind of feeble.įiguring out if this cable package would work for us was the easy part.
As it turned out, they did, and their blackest of Friday deals was a cable/internet package of 125 channels plus 300 Mbps internet for only $80. Out of curiosity, I wondered if DiaboliCorp had any black Friday deals going on. So, you could imagine how fun it was to research the different options like Roku, Firestick, Chromecast, etc.
Even trying to figure out how to write that last paragraph in under 100 words wore me out. But all the moving parts seemed overwhelming and exhausting to deal with. It sounded like a decent idea in theory as my cheap heart does love saving money. Except they had to use an antenna for local television.
According to them, it was just like having cable. They bought that Roku thingie and signed up for Sling television. That way we could save some money by only streaming our television. My sister suggested that we skip the cable and only do internet. As much as it sucked for us, it at least happened during the holiday season, which meant we could possibly get a Black Friday deal for a new cable/internet setup. Then our renters announced that they’d be moving to Sacramento. We got this glorious benefit because one of our basement renters/roommates worked for the giant conglomerate cable company that served our area, DiaboliCorp Cable, and this was one of the benefits that we all got to reap. Our internet blazed while our television blared, and we didn’t have to pay a single dime. For a solid five years, we had the most luxurious and exquisite cable/internet package money could buy all for free. A huge part of the problem is how a lot of problems start.