Cutting Down on Expenses: How to Maintain Affordable Online Entertainment Budgets

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Like death and taxes, streaming service price hikes have become an inevitable part of life. With this in mind, it’s wise to find ways to keep your subscription spending under control. I’ve found some ways to cut back on streaming services and actually save money by cutting the cord from cable.

Download Free Streaming Apps

Jordan Gloor / How-To Geek

There was a time period when free streaming apps had clunky interfaces that were mostly littered with bargain-bin movies and annoying ads. Each time I come back to some of the free streaming services like Amazon Freevee and Tubi , however, I’m impressed at just how far they’ve come.

You’ll find major Hollywood blockbusters from studios like Disney, Warner Bros, and Paramount that you can watch for free without having to pay a cent. In fact, I’ve noticed a pretty significant overlap between some of the paid services and their free counterparts.

Pluto TV has some of the most popular movies from Paramount+, like (at the time of publication) the first four Indiana Jones films, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Rocketman. Tubi has not only big shows from Fox (their parent company) but also, surprisingly, a sizable chunk of shows that were previously on Max , like Lovecraft Country and Batwoman. At the time of publication, several Prime Video shows are also available to watch on Amazon Freevee “for a limited time.”

You’ll also find a growing selection of live local news and even some live sports that are popping up on these free apps, too. One has to wonder, why pay for so many streaming services when you can watch all of this for free?

The trade-off with all of the free streaming services I’ve mentioned so far, though, is sitting through advertising. It varies by app, but I find that the amount of advertising for most of the major free streaming services is generally tolerable, especially with my current go-to app, Tubi.

Don’t want to sit through ads? Rest assured, there are some ways to watch free movies and shows with no advertising. That brings me to what I consider to be one of the best-kept secrets in streaming.

Stream Free Movies With a Library Card

Two apps allow you to stream free movies and shows with no ads whatsoever, all thanks to a system of public libraries and universities. The first is called Kanopy. This free streaming service offers classic films, indie favorites, and documentaries. If you’re a fan of A24, you’ll find a wide selection of their movies through Kanopy alongside classes from The Great Courses.

To access Kanopy, you’ll need to log in with an account from a participating library or university. You can check to see if your library participates with Kanopy .

Once you’ve logged in, you’ll get a certain number of tickets per month that you can exchange for movies. This allowance varies by library but resets at the start of every month. Kids content doesn’t require tickets.

The second app that allows you to stream free movies without ads is called Hoopla. They have a similar setup where you log in with a library account. A neat thing about Hoopla is they also offer audiobooks, comic books, and music that you can “borrow” through their app. Similar to Kanopy’s tickets, you get an allowance of borrows that resets each month, depending on your library.

Hoopla also offers BingePasses, which are week-long periods to access additional streaming services like CuriosityStream and Hallmark Movies Now. You can easily see if your library participates with Hoopla .

Rotate Streaming Services

Another way I keep my streaming service bills in check is by rotating my streaming services. Seriously, you don’t need to sign up for everything at once.

When there’s a new movie or TV show I want to watch that requires a new streaming service, I go ahead and cancel something I’m currently subscribed to. Some streaming services, like Hulu, also give you the option to pause your subscription and automatically resume at a later date.

For sports fans, this is particularly useful as you can subscribe to a live TV streaming service during a sports season and then cancel during the off-season. That’s something you wouldn’t be able to do with a cable service that has a long-term contract.

Take Advantage of Streaming Deals

Almost every major streaming service offers promotional discounts at least once a year. The best time to look out for deals is Black Friday, but Prime Day, the start of the NFL season, and National Streaming Day (May 20th) are good times to look for deals, too. For the past few years, I’ve signed up for streaming services like Peacock and Hulu on Black Friday and have gotten some really steep savings.

Typically, streaming deals will be offered to new customers only, but if you’re a current customer, there are some workarounds. For example, if you try to cancel your current subscription, you might be offered promotional pricing as a retention offer (I’ve gotten deals this way with Max and STARZ).

You can also try canceling your subscription and then signing up for a new account with a different email address and payment information.

Here are some other types of discounts to be aware of:

Student discounts: If you’re a college student, you can get discounts from services including Paramount+, Peacock, Hulu, and Amazon Prime.
Cellular providers: Customers for companies like Verizon and T-Mobile can get discounts (or even free memberships) on streaming services like The Disney Bundle and Apple TV+.
Annual plans: Some streaming services offer discounts if pay for an entire year upfront instead of getting billed monthly.

Streaming Service Bundles

Disney

A growing number of streaming services offer “bundle” options. This consolidates multiple services into one bill that is also lower in cost than if you were to purchase the services separately. I’ve gotten bundles through my cell phone provider, Verizon, which has helped me cut back on expenses.

Here are some of the most popular bundles at the time of publication in July 2024:

The Disney Bundle: Disney’s streaming services (Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+) are offered in various bundle combinations. Later this year, they also plan to offer a bundle with Disney+, Hulu, and Max.
StreamSaver Bundle: Xfinity Internet customers can get a bundle that includes Apple TV+, Netflix (ad supported), and Peacock (ad supported) for $15/month.
Verizon Bundles: Verizon customers can get various streaming deals, including a bundle with Netflix and Max for $10/month (both are the ad-supported plans).

Watch Free Local Channels With an Antenna

Corbin Davenport / How-To Geek

Despite a switch to a digital signal, this is something that hasn’t changed since the dawn of television. You can still plug an antenna into a TV and watch local channels for free . The rollout of NextGen TV also means you can get nifty new features like the ability to pause and rewind certain over-the-air channels .

With an antenna, I get dozens of local channels like CBS, FOX, ABC, and NBC, all without paying anything. For comparison, the cheapest live TV streaming service to include the big four broadcasters is YouTube TV, which costs $73 a month. Plus, with an over-the-air DVR like the ones from Tablo and AirTV. I’ve been able to record shows and cast them on other devices.

Refer Friends and Get Bill Credits

If you subscribe to certain live TV services like YouTube TV or Fubo, you can save some money by referring friends and family. If you share your referral code with someone else and they enter it when checking out, you’ll both get a bill credit. So it’s a win-win! I’ve gotten some huge discounts on YouTube TV this way.

So yes, streaming has gotten more expensive (and its price continues to go up!), but with these tips, you can cut back on those dreaded bills just like I did.

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Cutting Down on Expenses: How to Maintain Affordable Online Entertainment Budgets