It's hip to trash cord cutting

Now it's a thing to trash cord cutting.

Okay, this isn't a new thing. I've seen videos from cord cutting enthusiasts telling about articles they've seen that call into question many things that cord cutters cite as reasons for cutting the cord. I hadn't noticed a lot of that. Until recently.

Each day, I take a look at news about cord cutting. I have a variety of places I check, but it always involves a Web search for "cord cutting" and checking the "news" category.

Recently, I saw a few articles similar to what others had mentioned. Why I hadn't seen them before, I don't know. For whatever reason, there they were. One reason may be that I don't usually scroll several pages in. I only hit the first couple of pages or so of my initial search results. The articles could have been there the whole time, but not shown up as high on my search. Well, they're showing up now.

I found many, including the following:

• Does Cord-Cutting Really Save You Money over Cable? Not Always.
• Time to rethink cutting the cord? You may be paying more now for streaming than for cable
• Watching the Olympics has doubled in price for cord-cutters
• I cut the cord, but it's so difficult to watch the Tokyo Olympics without cable

Most of these and other posts calculate things in ways that aren't actual real comparisons. For example, if you already have Netflix, and many cable subscribers do have Netflix, you don't count it as part of your streaming cost unless you also count it as part of your pre-streaming (cable) costs. For example, if you pay $200 for cable and Internet, and another $15 for Netflix, you're paying $215. If you cut the cord and wind up paying $75 for cable and $15 for Netflix, you're paying $90.

What many of those cost comparison articles will do is not county Netflix as an existing cost. But it is an existing cost for many. So, yeah, you count it on both sides. And while Netflix isn't a huge cost, that little bit here, and a little bit there, will add up.

They'll also compare a discount cable price. For example, if you only pay $100 for cable and Internet for the first year, they'll use that comparison rather than the regular price you pay if you stay loyal to your cable company.

Another thing they'll do is insist that you subscribe to enough services to ensure you have the same channels available. While I can see the logic in that -- I have to twist my head sideways, but yeah, if I do that I can see it -- that's not a real world thing. Well, it doesn't need to be.

How often do you watch all the channels you have with your big cable package? Never? Sounds about right. You watch a few channels and that's it. With streaming, you still have to deal with bundles that include channels you don't want, but not nearly as many. Perhaps a $25 Philo package will do rather than a $75 AT&T TV package.

And even then, that assumes you want a live streaming service. Do you? I mean, really do you? Maybe, like me, you'll find that most of the year, a $6 Hulu service will do the job.

Bottom line is, if you're looking to cut the cord, be careful of what agenda might be behind whoever is writing news articles. This is true for news about anything: cord cutting, the economy, the president, any news topic. Agenda drives reporting, and it shouldn't. Be skeptical. That includes being skeptical of what I write, as well as of what anyone else writes. Do your research, figure out what you really want to do.

Your Streaming Life can be enjoyable and cost effective. Don't let anyone manipulate the data to tell you otherwise.