According to Barclays, we now spend an average of £175 a year on film and TV streaming.
Streaming Costs
According to Bango, 13% of Brits now spend the equivalent of 60 full days a year watching content through streaming, the equivalent of spending 182 work days watching streaming services. This habit doesn’t come for free… Barclays found that in February, consumers were spending an average of £175 a year on film and TV streaming. However, Barclays also found that in April, 31% believe they are now getting less value for money from their digital content and subscriptions, leading to 32% of these people cancelling a subscription, and 16% pausing or suspending payments.
Cancel or Pause
To keep track of what subscriptions you’re actually paying for, you should regularly review them and keep an eye on all of your outgoings on your bank statements.
You should cancel whatever subscriptions you don’t use very often, no longer think are worth the money, or can no longer reasonably afford.
If you’re not wanting to commit to cancelling a subscription just yet, you can look to pause it instead, meaning you temporarily put a stop to your payments and service access. If you find you get on just fine without it, you can then cancel it entirely!
Downgrade
Sometimes, you might be able to save money on your streaming without even giving up access to a streaming platform. Streaming platforms tend to have different plans available, and going for a downgraded plan, such as one with adverts, could save you money every month.
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Consider whether you need to have access to all of the film and TV subscriptions you currently have all at the same time. For example, rather than paying for Amazon Prime and Netflix at the same time, you could pay for Netflix for 3 months, then Amazon Prime for 3 months, and so on.
Before doing this, it’s important to check whether there are any sneaky exit fees involved, to ensure you can cancel your subscription without a penalty.
Look for Deals
Look out for any special discounts or deals, making the most of free trials before you have to pay. Keep an eye out in particular for special deals when you buy a new device (such as a TV or mobile) as you may get offered a bundle deal.
When doing this, make sure you put in your calendar when the trial date ends, with a reminder before this, to ensure you don’t end up forgetting to cancel and get roped into paying when the free trial is over.
Share Your Subscriptions
Sharing your subscriptions (where legal and allowed by your streaming provider) with other members of your household can save you a monthly sum.
Spotify for example offers a Premium Duo plan for couples or a Premium Family Plan for families, rather than each member of the same household having to have their own subscription.
Pay Annually
Some streaming services allow you to pay for a year upfront at a cheaper price than if you pay monthly.
However, you should bear in mind that this will lock you in for a year, so only do this if it’s a streaming provider that you get a lot of use out of, and won’t want to cancel a few months down the line.
You can compare the cost of different streaming services with Yahoo or MoneySuperMarket.