With my monthly streaming bill creeping higher and higher with all these price hikes, I finally said: "Enough is enough." The days of streaming as a cheaper alternative to cable are long gone. All those streaming subscriptions add up quickly, especially when my favorite movies and shows are scattered across a growing number of platforms with intrusive ads that make me want to rip my hair out.
The good news is that you don’t have to cancel everything to lower your monthly bill — though a regular audit of which streaming services you actually use is the best place to start. That's the first step in how I cut my monthly streaming bill down to under $20 a month. After going over everything I was subscribed to (including a few I'd forgotten I'd ever signed up for), I realized I was paying over $70 a month for services I only used once in a blue moon.
There are plenty of ways to save on your monthly streaming bill, from cycling between services depending on release schedules to exploring free or lower-cost streaming alternatives. Below, I’ve outlined the best strategies I've found for cutting costs without sacrificing the shows and movies I want to watch every day.
1. Audit and axe
Once I rounded up everything I was paying for in one place, it became a lot easier to figure out which of the best streaming services I needed to keep and those I needed to ditch. I laid out all my subscriptions in a Google Sheet along with the movies and shows I primarily used them for, like Prime Video for "Fallout" or HBO Max for "The Last of Us." I reckoned that until a new season drops, I could do without.
Now, I have a strict rule to keep my monthly streaming bill under control: If I haven't watched a single exclusive in the last month, the platform gets the axe. That way, I'm only paying for what I actually watch.
2. Subscription cycling
Remembering to add and drop subscriptions each month can be tedious, but it's worth the time and effort to save a few bucks. Here's how it works: I pick one service like Netflix for a month, binge the latest movies and shows I want to watch like "Lord of the Flies" or "Remarkably Bright Creatures," and then cancel it once I'm done.
It helps to set a calendar reminder a couple of days before the billing cycle, because anything that isn't in my calendar is a gamble whether I'll remember it. Then, the next month, I sign up for another platform with new releases I want to watch. That way, I always have something new to watch, but my bill stays under $20.
3. Leverage free streaming services
I tell just about anyone who will listen to check out free streaming services before adding more subscriptions to their monthly bill. FAST platforms like Tubi, Pluto TV, the Roku Channel have built impressive libraries over the years with thousands of movies and shows, not to mention hundreds of live channels that look and feel like cable. Sure, you'll have to sit through some ads, but you'd have to do that anyway unless you're shelling out for premium tiers.
With over 200,000 movies and TV shows, Tubi is my top choice. Its library of movies includes recently released blockbusters and Hollywood classics from the likes of Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM. You also don't have to sign up for an account to use it, though you'll need one for access to features like parental controls and viewing history. Pluto TV is also an excellent option for live TV streaming, with plenty of live channels you can tune into like MTV, BET, CNN, Fox Sports and more.
