I cut my yearly streaming costs by half with a few simple tricks

I will admit it that before the economy tightened, I used to spend a lot on streaming services. Not only did I have nearly every mainstream-focused option under the sun, but I also had several niche services like CrunchyRoll.

When I first cut the cord in the early days of Netflix, I saved a lot of money. At the time, I was paying at least $100 or so a month for cable service. In contrast, Netflix with DVDs and free streaming back then cost around $10.

Fast-forward to around 2000 or so, and I was once again paying well over $100 a month just to watch some shows and movies. It felt excessive. This inspired me to take a closer look at what we were actually watching and whether we needed all these services. This opened the door to a spreadsheet and calendar system, as well as a few other optimizations that ultimately allowed me to cut my streaming bill nearly in half.

The very first thing I did was create a tracking spreadsheet, and I even pulled the whole family into the discussion. I wrote down every major show we cared about, what services I was subscribing to, and how much I was paying in total. Since many of our favorite shows are comfort shows we often rewatch, we also included info on whether the show was concluded or ongoing. I also added estimated or official windows for when the show would return and when a season would likely wrap up.

As for the rest? It varied. While we watched Netflix a decent amount some months, other months, there just wasn’t enough new to justify the cost.  Then there was HBO Max, which turned out we typically only watched like one show a year, and so it was easy enough to cancel with a plan to renew if/when any new shows came out that appealed to us. Likewise, we found we used Paramount and Peacock a lot during the major TV season, but less so in off-seasons, including the summer.

Once we had a better roadmap for the next 6-12 months, I added stop/start days for all the services we didn’t want to keep all year round. Over time, my kids also got in the habit of paying attention and telling me if there was something new they wanted to watch outside of that window that would require us to keep the service longer.

While organizing my services into seasonal start and stop scheduling was a major cash saver, it wasn’t the only move I made. I also learned to take advantage of seasonal sales for both streaming services and digital content. For example, I was able to get a year of Peacock for just $20 last year. Even though we don’t always use it consistently year-round, it was still cheaper this way.

I would also pay attention to digital sales on some of our comfort shows and would even hunt for second-hand DVDs to save extra cash. Over the course of a few years, we amassed a decent selection that made it even easier to pause some of our favorite streaming services for longer during off-seasons. As a Verizon user (at least for the near future), I also took advantage of discounts on streaming service add-ons.

I’ll be the first to admit that this system and approach might not be for everyone. Managing it requires regular commitment, for one. I usually have reminders to check the spreadsheet and update it about once every 3-4 months, which usually takes an hour or so. Canceling or pausing is also fairly easy, as nearly every streaming services keep data long enough that you shouldn’t lose any viewing history or other preferences.

I will also be the first to admit I don’t always get it all right. We might miss a show or put the wrong date down, which has resulted in me renewing a service too soon on rare occasions. Still, despite the effort required, I feel it’s worth the hassle for the savings.

As for how much we’ve saved? It’s hard to lock down the exact amount since streaming prices aren’t static. Still,  I calculated the costs of keeping yearly memberships running for just Netflix, Max, Disney Plus/Hulu, Paramount, Peacock, Apple TV Plus, and Amazon Prime, and the total hit over $1,000, or even more if we are talking ad-free tiers. That’s not even factoring in other services I used to have like Crunchyroll.

In contrast, I typically spend around $500-$600 a year now. That’s much easier to swallow.

Does anyone else use a system like this? Any other tips? Let us know in the comments.