re: "Cutting the cable cord"........

I've done it, or pretty close to it, Jefferson.

Got a $25 rabbit ears antenna that picks up CBS, PBS, and NBC. Depending on where you live you may get more channels or less channels.

I do Netflix, which is an excellent value IMO.

During football season I do sling, which is sort of a-la-carte cable. Costs $20 a month for the most basic channel package (sports wise that is just ESPN and ESPN2). For an extra $5 you will get ESPNU and SEC Network, and there are other packages you can add on aimed at kids, spanish language channels, HBO, etc.

The best thing about sling is that there is no contract. Just cancel any month and then pick it back up again any time. The drawbacks are no DVR option, and you will need a pretty good internet connection for it to work properly. They let you do a week free trial, I recommend it.

I freeload off my sister's HBOGo account so that has everything on HBO, doesn't cost me anything.

So all told, during football season I'm paying $25 for sling + $8 for Netflix.

Once college football is over I'll only pay for netflix.

We use a roku box to run all of this. Those cost around $70 I think and are pretty easy to use. It essentially "hosts" all of these channels or apps (like netflix, sling, etc.). Those will last you a long time. I think I bought mine in 2011.

Enjoy cutting the cable cord. I've never missed a game I wanted to watch, and I'm pretty sure it's saved me around $3000 since I did it almost three years ago.