Anyone else getting subscription exhausted?

[JoeWras]

Better Call Saul comes with my subscription of Xfinity/Comcast.

I don't do cable anymore. I bit on an AMC+ subscription for 1 yr at $24 to finish season 6. We missed 5, hence the reason to view season 5 on Netflix.

 

[Aerides]

Just wait until you try to cancel that one! Better be ready for a long phone call.

I do this annually, and it's far better/shorter than it used to be.

And from actually cancelling DH's, since he uses his car far less than I do, I know quite well that super offers will arrive in my email within 3 days if I ever do cancel outright.

I get an annual sub for about $65. Since I use the app as well when working out, and for music at the pool (the app-only Spa channel is perfect background soothing resort-y), I can't imagine dropping as long as Julie Mason mornings continues.

 

[FIYes]

I’m going in the opposite direction. I’ve always been extremely careful about anything that came with a monthly subscription. For example, I’ve never had cable. No cord cutting for us since we didn’t have the cord to cut!

However, I’ve had Prime for a few years. Usually stop it for a month or two when time to renew and then sign up again. Prime is just handy so I plan to keep it and I do watch the shows on Prime.

I recently signed up for Netflix and enjoyed watching it for two months. I stopped it and will pick it back up in the future. I figure by hopping around I can still keep my costs low.

I’m in a blow the dough phase of life now that I’m older and realize life is short. In the past I would not have even considered a splurge like Netflix.

 

[Aerides]

Better Call Saul comes with my subscription of Xfinity/Comcast.

It does, but you have to stay on top of it. We don't watch much in real time, and we're currently working through Ozark, so we won't pick up on BCS until May at our slow watch rate. The episodes for the current BCS season look like they expire after a month, after which they'll move over to Netflix, but with a black out period.

 

[Sue J]

DH's main addiction is LaCroix, and at $5 a case of 12...eh yeah he probably outruns my DC costs, but I do take advantage of BOGO's and the like.

DH found LaCroix a few years ago. He loves to try all the different flavors but his favorite is the orange, I think. Recently we found 24 packs at Sam's Club ($8.98) and Aldi ($8.49). The 24 packs are some new flavors that he really likes.

He also will try other brands like Polar and Waterloo and generic store brands.

I don't drink these. I have no sense of smell and not much sense of taste. When I've tried these they taste like plain carbonated water to me. I don't want to waste his stash if I can't taste the flavors.

I knew we were "financially comfortable" when he started buying these in bulk and I didn't freak out over how much our grocery costs increased because of his canned water.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

If you’re paying for Apple Music and Cloud storage separately, Apple One might be cheaper or offer you more services for the same price.

In my case, it isn’t. Apple One would be $30 more per year plus I would have to pay even more to get to the storage level I currently have. If I had an interest in Apple TV +, then it would be worth it. But I don’t.

 

[tulak]

In my case, it isn’t. Apple One would be $30 more per year plus I would have to pay even more to get to the storage level I currently have. If I had an interest in Apple TV +, then it would be worth it. But I don’t.

Understand. It’s better for me, even though I don’t use all the services. Mostly because I was able to drop the Spotify family account and gently nudge (force) family members to Apple Music. Even though only one made the transition, the others found another family Spotify account to join.

It’s also a shame they don’t offer a yearly plan for Apple One, especially since you can get it for individual services.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Understand. It’s better for me, even though I don’t use all the services. Mostly because I was able to drop the Spotify family account and gently nudge (force) family members to Apple Music. Even though only one made the transition, the others found another family Spotify account to join.

It’s also a shame they don’t offer a yearly plan for Apple One, especially since you can get it for individual services.

Good point. I'm single, so no need for a family plan. I think that's where it becomes less expensive.

 

[tmm99]

I dropped Netflix early this year due to poor quality content. I resubscribed recently to watch season 5 of Better Call Saul. Will drop again after we're done.

I am restating NETFLIX for a month soon to watch the final season of Ozark and hopefully some other new content...

 

[GalaxyBoy]

This thread has inspired me to add a new page to my financial spreadsheet with a list of the various subscriptions I'm paying for. Several are paid via iTunes since I get a larger CC cash back that way, but it's hard to keep track of what they're for. I used to shake my head at the articles I would come across advising people to periodically review their finances for subscriptions they've lost track of and no longer use, but now I get it.

 

[Sojourner]

I’m going in the opposite direction. I’ve always been extremely careful about anything that came with a monthly subscription.
[...]
I’m in a blow the dough phase of life now that I’m older and realize life is short. In the past I would not have even considered a splurge like Netflix.

This is pretty much how I feel about subscriptions these days. Having things like AMZN Prime, Netflix, HBO Max, plus the cheapest Google One annual subscription (for extra email and photo storage) seems worth it to me. Netflix is pricey at $15/month, but we watch it more than any other streaming service by far. If I were looking to really cut corners and reign in spending, we'd probably cancel Prime and cycle in and out of Netflix (like, two months on, one month off), but I don't think the fairly small amounts of money involved would be worth the hassle. Canceling all the "big three" would save us around $400/year, but we get a LOT of enjoyment out of them relative to the cost.

 

[nobody]

Holy crap I didn't know this before!

Better Call Saul comes with my subscription of
Xfinity/Comcast.

 

[Katsmeow]

I have so many subscriptions although I have dropped a few.

Amazon Prime - use all the time and I use my Prime Visa card for 5% off. If I didn't have prime I would use a credit card that only gives 2% off so I think I pay for Prime just with the extra 3%. We bought TVs at Prime day last year where we got extra discount as Prime members that would paid for Prime just through that.

Adobe Acrobat - I scan in everything and OCR it. My ancient purchased program finally got old enough I got the subscription. I tried alternatives that were less and they didn't have what I wanted. However, when my current subscription ends my scanner came with a free year so I will use that for a year and not have to one.

Apple One Premium - I use enough stuff for this that it saves money.

Google One - This is used for storage online. This about $20 a year

Bit Defender

My password manager

iDrive - online back up - I got this for a cheap initial 2 year rate that is about to expire. I may drop this

Evernote - I use it to store all those PDFs of docs

Carrot Weather - premium feature

Microsoft Office - Got a renewal for less when I bought my tax software for this year

Kindle Unlimited - Saves me tons of money.

NY Times - If you keep calling them you can get it for $1 week. They give it to me for a year then I call to cancel and they do it another year.

Several online reading subscriptions although I have cut down on these since I now have Apple News+ with my Apple One Premium subscription. For example, used to subscribe to Atlantic but now get it with Apple News+. I don't plan to renew my Slate Plus subscription.

HBO - periodically I stop this and resubscribe when I want to watch it

Netflix - Reduced cost since I am with T Mobile. Thinking of downgrading to the least expensive option though.

YouTube TV - Currently paying reduced price for a year that I got through T Mobile

World of Warcraft

FFXIV

Genealogy subscriptions - several of these

Jacquie Lawson e cards

Subscriptions I have dropped in the last few years - Email through GoDaddy, Todoist, Sirius XM, Crunchyroll, You Tube Premium, Lucid, various reading subscriptions -- Many of these I've dropped I subscribed only a particular thing I wanted to watch or read then dropped it. Others I tried for awhile and didn't like enough to continue.

 

[Amethyst]

+1. Especially the Walmart ones, that go on for page after page after...Life is too short to do that much work for free.

No, I'm adding them cautiously. But I'll probably reel it back eventually.

What I am fatigued on is survey and reviews. I stopped doing them, even though I get multiple requests per day. Originally I did it to help and be a good guy. Now I realize I'm just giving these corporations my intellectual property for free.

 

[CatinKS]

Dish Network went over $100 for basic subscription. We enjoy all major sports and Dish dropped Bally Regional so we cannot get our local MLB team. Read on a satellite message board that you can "Pause" and keep your equipment. In fact, since I get my locals over the air, but funnel through my DVR can record the OTA channels. Also, any free channels offer by Dish this month still show up. Dish customer service asked if I was moving to my summer home. lol....Of Course!

Question, will Netflix offer Better Call Saul 6 Season this year? Would I better off waiting until June and watching several episodes or do they not show the current season ?

 

[aja8888]

Really thinking hard about this....

1. Netflix for DW and DD (we pay the two user rate). This may get scuttled.

2. Comcast as DW has some shows she NEEDS to see and we need the Astro's game channel. Stuck with it.

3. Something we pay $5.40 a month for with Apple (DW's iPhone account). I'm all Android so I have no bad habits (LOL).

4. Amazon Prime. Getting discouraged with Amazon as we can get our goods cheaper elsewhere (ex. coffee from orig supplier, my new Rockport shoes were 25% less at ROCKPORT with free shipping). On and on..... we will probably drop Prime next renewal period.

Honestly, I can't think of any other period subscriptions we have.

 

[jollystomper]

I have always tried to minimize subscriptions, based on too many tales back in the day when it was torture to get out of a subscription. I know that improved a lot these days, but still... getting into a lot of subscriptions is not something I want to manage.

Our only paid subscriptions are Xfinity/Comcast, Amazon Prime, and McAfee. We dropped Netflix a couple of months ago, I have ways of seeing the few series I was watching on them if needed . I am fine with the free content provided via Roku, IMDB, Pluto, YouTube, and Hoopla, and our library. Office 2007 or 2010 still meets our (decreasing) needs.

The only surveys I do these days are ones I get "paid" for in certain ways. For example, those that "pay" me in Hilton Honors points, which is useful to us.

 

[Phroig]

This thread inspired me to cancel Pandora and Acorn today. We still have Prime, Netflix, and part of a Disney+/Hulu subscription.

 

[azxracer]

Thinking I'll drop Netflix & Hulu and ESPN+. Undecided on Disney+. I got a great 1 yr rate on Paramount+ & AMC+ Might add Apple+. Our streaming services cost is about 10% of our Recreation spending. That doesn't include Amazon Prime or the cost of the internet.

 

[GenXguy]

I have no subscriptions with recurring payments except for a $30/yr VPN service. I have a lifetime Calm membership that I got for about $40, so nothing more to pay there.

Never had Prime, Sling, Echelon, etc. beyond a trial period. I've got internet service which provides free Peacock. No cable. I've never purchased any streaming content. I got a fitbit recently and will cancel the Premium membership before the 6 month free is over. So yeah, I avoid subscriptions.

 

[Fermion]

My subscription to "Sailboat Docking" is $400 a month. Based on that, these other things are noise

 

[ncbill]

Dish Network went over $100 for basic subscription. We enjoy all major sports and Dish dropped Bally Regional so we cannot get our local MLB team. Read on a satellite message board that you can "Pause" and keep your equipment. In fact, since I get my locals over the air, but funnel through my DVR can record the OTA channels. Also, any free channels offer by Dish this month still show up. Dish customer service asked if I was moving to my summer home. lol....Of Course!

Question, will Netflix offer Better Call Saul 6 Season this year? Would I better off waiting until June and watching several episodes or do they not show the current season ?

Can you subscribe directly to MLB or are your team's games all blacked out in your area?

 

[rk911]

we subscribe to Xfinity cable which includes HBO, Showtime and Starz. and streaming services include NetFlix, Prime, BritBox, Epix, Apple+, Paramount+, HBOMax (no chg) and Peacock (also no chg). a few $ a month for each...BTD!

 

[EastWest Gal]

Just keep an eye on the things to which you subscribe and eliminate those which no longer serve your needs. I subscribed to zoom until I didn’t need it. Two online newspapers, a planet fitness membership, and Patreon support for a podcast.

One subscription we don’t have to pay for is Sirius/XM. 17-18 years ago they offered a lifetime membership for $250. We haven’t paid a cent for it since then: 3 cars+one feed in the house and the app. I hope they fail to notice us forever. ;-). We won that one big time.

 

[rwdflynavy]

We are big in the Amazon ecosystem. We use Amazon Prime all the time, Amazon music is used by several in my family, so we pay for that. I get lots of great content to read with Kindle Unlimited.

We have 2 Sirius/XM subscriptions, I was going to cancel mine and went on the website for a chat session (much better than calling btw). Got a 75% discount for a year and was able to get the same for my wife's subscription.

I also support a couple blogs/news sources that I enjoy and pay for a apple cloud storage.

On the TV front, I just cancelled Netflix again. We'll pick it up in a few months if the content improves. We also pay for Youtube TV, which has increased in price, but still provides us with good value compared to cable tv.