The Ultimate Decision

After all that I blogged about a few weeks ago,  I've decided I'm keeping YouTube TV. I found some free channels on Sling and while they worked well with my high speed data at the beginning of the month, after my high speed was used up (it's still "Unlimited" but my speed is slowed after 15 GB) Sling was buffering constantly. YouTube TV is the only live TV service I've tried that doesn't buffer after I use my high speed data. While I could save a few bucks by watching only on my tablet and switching out plans depending on the channels I need, having all the channels I need in one plan with an unlimited DVR and the ability to watch on the big screen without buffering is worth the extra money. So what now?

My plan was to make February 1st my big change over date as I will get quarterly stock dividend. I pay for Amazon Prime on the yearly plan with my tax refund in order to avoid monthly fees, and I wanted to do the same with another streaming service. If I keep YouTube TV, I will not need Hulu. As much as I'm sure I would enjoy other things on Hulu, I have so much I already watch, I'm not sure I would watch Hulu enough to make a yearly plan worthwhile. The same is true Disney+. I know I would enjoy "The Mandolorian" and other shows, but would I have the time to watch? The other possibility is ESPN+.

I've always questioned whether I would watch it enough. USC Upstate men's and women's basketball games are on ESPN+ and the occasional baseball games, but they often conflict with Gamecock events on the regular ESPN family of networks. There's just not enough to justify subscribing.

The Disney bundle is only available monthly and is going up to $13.99/month. Netflix is a similar story, just too much to watch and not enough time to watch. But there's one streaming service I definitely watch regularly in WWE Network. 

My sisters bought me 6 months (two 3 month gift cards) of WWE Network for my birthday. While Best Buy has 6 month gift cards, it would involve a paper card and envelope to mail it. While that would be easier to keep track of, Walmart has email delivery of 3 month cards, which I what my sisters got me (although printed out). So my plan is to either buy 2-three month email gift cards on Walmart.com or one 6 month card from Best Buy. My current gift card won't expire until the middle of March if my math is right and 6 months would take me through my birthday in August and into September where I might get more gift cards.