(CNN) – Jonathan Strickland cut ties with his cable company a year ago, yet he continues to watch all his favorite TV shows. He has saved nearly $700 over the last year and, most importantly, he tasted the thrill of telling his cable provider to shove it. “We were having poor service, channels were getting cut back and the prices were going up,” said Strickland, a senior writer for HowStuffWorks. Although cable companies often lure new customers with special rates, he said it seemed “the longer you were staying with them, the more you were getting punished.”
