Streaming services have made staying at home much more interesting. If you think of them individually, they may seem affordable but when you subscribe to multiple services as so many of us do, the costs add up. With a little effort (and a few commercials) you can save some money on your beloved services with a few simple changes.
Make cuts where you can
You may be subscribed to services you aren’t using or that aren’t worth how infrequently you use them.
- Make a list of the services you are paying for and have an honest convo with the family about how much you use/need each one.
- You might find that some streaming services are only useful for a limited time. For example, if you’re only using one to watch a specific show or sport, mark your calendar to cancel when the season is over. Hulu and YouTube TV also offer the option to pause your subscription, and Sling TV recently introduced options like day and weekend passes.
Bundle Up
Sometimes signing up for a bundle of services will save you money.
- The Disney+ Welcome Bundle includes Hulu, ESPN+, and Disney+ for $29.99/month, which is the cost of ESPN+ alone.
- You can get the Paramount+ and Showtime bundle for $12.99/month. Buying them separately would cost over $15.
Drop live TV services
If you’re subscribed to classic cable or a live TV option like YouTube TV, Sling, or Hulu Plus Live TV, chances are good that many of the shows you like are available on a streaming platform at a lower price point. Live TV services tend to be more expensive:
- Cable fees vary depending on where you live, but we were paying more than $50 a month until we recently cut the cord.
- Sling TV has different packages, but Sling Orange and Sling Blue both cost around $45.99/month.
- YouTube TV is a whopping $82.99/month.
Examples of popular shows available on less expensive platforms:
- The Bear and American Horror Story are available on Huly and Disney+.
- Abbott Elementary is available on Hulu, Disney+, and HBO Max.
- Yellowstone is available on Paramount+.
Pro tip: If you prefer live TV, you can often save some money with an indoor or outdoor antenna, which can give you access to some of the most popular TV shows, sports, and more. Outdoor antennas tend to be more expensive, but if your TV has a built-in tuner, an indoor antenna might suffice.
Put free trials to work
Many major streaming services offer a free trial. (Netflix and Disney+ don’t.)
- Hulu: Typically offers a 30-day free trial for new subscribers.
- Amazon Prime Video: offers a 30-day free trial and you can often get a free trial of ad-free music streaming through Amazon.
- Apple TV+, Paramount+, Fubo, and Philo often offer a 7-day free trial. Apple usually offers 3 months free when you buy an Apple device.
You can also listen to free music for months by rotating between free trials. Here’s info for over a year’s worth of free trial options with some of the top music streaming providers:
- Spotify: Get your first month of Premium free. Or, get 3 months of Spotify Premium free when you sign up withPayPal.
- Apple Music: Get your first 3 months free when you buy an Apple device.
- Amazon Music: New subscribers get 3 months free.
- YouTube Music: YouTube Music often offers a free 30-day trial.
- Pandora Premium – Unlike the free Pandora plan, the premium plan comes with ad-free personalized music, the ability to search and play what you want, and unlimited skips. There are often offers for 60 or 90 days free.
- SiriusXM – You can often get 3 months free when you opt for their Platinum plan.
Pro Tip: Keep track by setting calendar reminders or phone alerts for when your free trials are coming to an end.
With visual entertainment, choose basic level plans
Going “basic” is a good way to save. You’ll have to deal with commercials, but that might be a small price to pay compared with the actual cost of commercial-free premium services.
- Hulu, for example, offers an ad-supported plan at $7.99/month or $79.99/year. Their ad-free plan jumps up to $17.99/month and there is no discounted annual option so you pay $215.88 a year!
- Netflix has three tiers: Standard with Ads ($7.99/month), Standard ($17.99/month), and Premium ($24.99/month), which has 4K resolution, which is a step up in resolution from standard HD streaming, so consider if incredibly crisp images are a priority.
And with music streaming, ads may equate to free!
- If you’re willing to put up with ads and other minor limitations, there are plenty of totally free options to stream music and shows without ever having to provide a credit card:
- YouTube Music has a great selection of music, and unlike other providers, you aren’t limited to a preset playlist. You can listen to any available song you want! The downside, other than ads, is that you can’t navigate away from YouTube or turn your screen off while listening on your phone.
- Listen to music on Spotify for free. Other than ads, the main difference between the free and Premium plans includes the inability to download music for offline listening, you can’t pick and play any song within certain playlists and albums, the audio quality is somewhat degraded, and you can skip only six tracks per hour.
- Pandora is still one of the most popular, algorithm-driven services that will cater music to your tastes in a radio-style format. The free plan includes ads, and there are limitations to how often you skip songs.
Share with family or friends
Before diving into this tip, remember to be cautious as most terms of service don’t allow you to share logins outside of your household. In fact, streaming services reserve the right to terminate or suspend your account if you’re caught. Neflix, in particular, is cracking down on sharing accounts.
- That being said, it’s a fantastic deal if you can share within your household or elsewhere. The plan prices go up with family subscriptions, but you spend less if you’re splitting the cost.
- Example: The Standard with ads Netflix plan is $7.99 per month and can be used on two devices at once. The Premium plan is $24.99 and can be used by four people at once, which, if you split this with four people (under one roof), is cheaper per person than the ads plan.
- Example: The Spotify Premium plan for one person is $11.99/month. Two people can split the Duo account for $16.99/month or $8.49 per person. Or six people can split the Family plan for $19.99/ month or $3.33 per person!
Your credit card may have streaming services perks
Check into the available rewards with your credit cards. Many offer cashback or even include streaming subscriptions for no additional charge.
- The American Express Platinum Card includes up to $20 in monthly statement credits for streaming services like Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN. It also comes with a complimentary Walmart+ membership that includes a Paramount+ subscription.
- The American Blue Cash Preferred Card offers 6 percent cash back on select streaming services, like Netflix, Disney+, and Peacock.
- The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card allows you to earn bonus points on streaming service purchases and bonus points for new subscribers to services like Spotify Premium.
- The U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa Signature® Card gets you 5% cashback on your first $2,000 in combined eligible purchases each quarter on two categories you choose. One of those available categories includes TV, internet, and streaming services.
Your mobile provider may be partnered with streaming services
Depending on your plan, you may have free or discounted access to popular streaming services.
- Some T-Mobile customers get access to Hulu and Paramount+.
- Many Verizon Wireless customers can earn perks towards the Disney Bundle, Netflix, HBO Max, and YouTube Premium.
- Select Cricket Wireless unlimited plans include a free, ad-supported version of HBO Max.
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