A really good antenna is about 200 and you should be able to get 10-20 channels with it....I have Netflicks and Hulu.....The thing is that most of the shows on those services are pretty old....But you can watch whole seasons....
We have tried going without cable and honestly nobody liked it....
I just accept that I'm going to have to pay a couple hundred bucks for entertainment a month....Cable, internet, phone, xbox live, going to the movies, going to games, sending my kids on trips and other things are just part of living, imo....
I cut corners in other ways. We only eat out about once a month. We haven't bought a new vehicle since 2006. Cancelled the newspaper years ago. I have had the same cellphone (non data) plan for about 5 years. I repair my vehicles and home myself (most of the time). Generally I avoid, at all costs, taking on new debt. But, not having entertainment was really rough on us.