If cash is tight, it might be time to cut the cord on cable and satellite services in favor of online options that are free or considerably cheaper.

But be prepared. It’s scary to switch and learn a new behavior.

“It is a big jump,” said Janko Roettgers, a San Francisco-based staff writer for GigaOM, an online technology information site. “It’s a completely new way of doing things and you have to figure those things out, sometimes as you go.”