Anyone else getting subscription exhausted?

[mrfeh]

Don't have a subscription mess to clean up, because we've always been diligent about not getting them.

We only have one: Netflix, which we use more than enough to make it worth the price.

 

[JoeWras]

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 ?

No season 6 right now on Netflix. Unknown whether it will appear there ever, and if it does, when it will appear.

Streaming rights in are flux. The rights owners are becoming picky. AMC took back free viewing of "Mad Men" to their AMC+ service. You can still find it on services with ads, or pay to buy streaming rights elsewhere. More of this will be happening.

Netflix has been losing rights to various shows and properties. They have been churning out what we used to call "TV Movies" back in the day, except now we get swearing and sex! Still TV grade.

Result? Loss in subscribers and 35% drop in their stock price.

Another result? We end up subscribing to more services to see our favorites... the topic of this thread.

 

[athena53]

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.

BF got a used car and it came with a free trial of Sirius. That was a couple of years ago. He still has it.

This year I decided to subscribe to a site where I'd been a "freeloader" and chose JoeSentMe.com, which was sending me weekly e-mails all along with travel/frequent flyer news but I could see only the headlines and summaries. I just paid $50 for a year of full content now that I'm doing longer trips again. I also feel a bit guilty about how much benefit I get from the exercise video series I use almost daily. It's ad-supported but I really should subscribe.

 

[JoeWras]

The one subscription I'm keeping is XM. It is my pleasure in life. I use it for music, NHL sports, and an occasional listen to CNBC (since I don't have cable).

YMMV. It isn't for everyone.

(I did negotiate a good rate. This has actually gotten easier to do.)

 

[frank]

I would be interested in knowing how some of you get hulu, and other streamiing services for 99 cents a month for a year. that something I never heard of. let me know how you did it. thanks

 

[REWahoo]

frank, for the past several years hulu has offered the $0.99 deal on Black Friday.

 

[Mulligan]

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

I dont want to cancel, but I have to go through the yearly phone gauntlet to reduce the cost back to about $5 a month. Im too hooked on it in the car to let it go, and we stream with it too inside.
Netflix is a goner forever after last part of Ozark is seen.
I do love the Paramount app. That is well worth the $10 bucks for me.

 

[foxcreek9]

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

This will tell you


https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/subscribe#blackout-restrictions

 

[JoeWras]

frank, for the past several years hulu has offered the $0.99 deal on Black Friday.

DW gets it one year, I get it next year, and we flip back and forth. The offer is only good for one year and you are supposed to renew at full price. Solve this by flipping between the two of us.

 

[pb4uski]

I dont want to cancel, but I have to go through the yearly phone gauntlet to reduce the cost back to about $5 a month. Im too hooked on it in the car to let it go, and we stream with it too inside. ....

I'm currently paying $8 with taxes under their introductory offer for another 10 months... $5 sounds better... maybe I'll call them and tell them I want the "Mulligan" deal.

 

[JoeWras]

I'm currently paying $8 with taxes under their introductory offer for another 10 months... $5 sounds better... maybe I'll call them and tell them I want the "Mulligan" deal.

I was able to get the Mulligan deal online by pressing the "Cancel" button. The robo page came back with hat in hand offering me a Mulligan.

 

[Midpack]

I’ve been subscription averse all along. But they’re becoming harder and harder to avoid, so we add them reluctantly. We have internet and a mobile plan, no realistic way to do without, and we consider them utilities nowadays.

We have Hulu+Live (includes Disney+ & ESPN+) and Apple TV+ along with HBOMax (free with ATT Fiber), but we don’t have Netflix, Amazon Prime or any other on demand streaming service - never have. We have a Microsoft 365 subscription, but I hope to wean DW off that eventually - several workable “free” alternatives IMO. No magazines, no newspapers for decades.

 

[easysurfer]

I keep subscriptions to a minimum. Amazon Prime is a keeper for me as I like the splurge of shipping and do use Prime Video now and then.

In the news lately is Neflix getting dropped like a rock by many. Makes me wonder if Netflix is becoming the next Blockbuster.

Speaking of subscriptions, there's the thought that if Elon Musk buys out Twitter, he may make Twitter a subscription model. Doesn't impact me though as I don't do Twitter.

 

[Mulligan]

I was able to get the Mulligan deal online by pressing the "Cancel" button. The robo page came back with hat in hand offering me a Mulligan.

Joe and PB, ya that was how I got it..But I think its actually $5.99, so I should have said $6. But nothing is ever that easy even though I did it just like you did Joe.
See it hit me I actually had two accounts now being I got a new car and was on 3 months free. And I knew where that was going in 3 months…Double paying as I could tell the system was showing 2 accounts now…So I eventually had to get on the phone and consolidate it, and actually got back on 3 free months before moving back into pay mode.

 

[W2R]

Speaking of subscriptions, there's the thought that if Elon Musk buys out Twitter, he may make Twitter a subscription model. Doesn't impact me though as I don't do Twitter.

I have a twitter account, but have only tweeted once and that was years and years ago. So, I suppose it doesn't impact me either but I like the idea that I *could* tweet if I wanted to! I hope he doesn't do that. Obviously I would never subscribe.

 

[mickj]

I'm keeping Amazon Prime for the shipping. I don't even know if it saves me all that much, but it makes me happy (for whatever reasons?) so I regard the Prime fee as a discretionary "fun money". Fast and free delivery floats my boat.

I have never paid for any of the other Amazon Prime things people are mentioning. Too cheap/stingy/frugal/tight or whatever.

I did cancel my Consumer Reports subscription a while back. And, I cancelled my Nintendo Online subscription. I don't think I have any others except for my anti-virus software.

As for credit cards, I only have one (the one from Amazon). It doesn't have a fee and its rewards applied to my Amazon purchases make them seem cheaper too.

Sorry if someone has already posted this, you can get consumer reports through Apple news plus, along with many other Magazines. Only really makes sense if you bought into the Apple ecosystem. I get it essentially free through my Apple One subscription.

 

[ElizabethT]

We've never paid for Amazon Prime because it's so easy to make the $25 free shipping limit. Printer cartridges are our go-to if we need to up the order amount, but maybe only once every dozen orders is this needed? So I confess I remain confused by why people feel they need it just for the free shipping.

Otherwise, we have Norton Anti-Virus at $99 annually, and Netflix, free currently via TMobile, and that's it.

I loathe with a passion any reoccurring expense that is not under my direct control. It's like voluntary indentured servitude - once they have your permission to keep charging, they have no incentive to help you disengage.*

*Exception made for those entities that make Cancelling as simple as Subscribing. And I do research this ahead of time to be sure. I will NEVER again be held hostage when trying to cancel such as a certain large newspaper did to me some 11 years ago.

 

[easysurfer]

... So I confess I remain confused by why people feel they need it just for the free shipping.
.

For me, I like the freedom to order even small amounts and have free shipping. I guess kind of like an all you can eat buffet or back in the days when unlimited free calling on a landline was a big thing.

Now I do draw a limit on the Prime Videos. Unless I really really want to watch a video that isn't freely included, I may buy once or twice a year. Otherwise, I wait until hopefully the video is free (Prime or one of the free streams like Tubi) or buy with free Amazon digital credits on shipping.

 

[brett]

So far this year we have cut $100. month on internet service renegotiation and media subscriptions.

It may not seem like a lot but it adds up over a few years

 

[old medic]

The only monthly auto pay we have is my ACA policy... Only subscription is Amazon Prime and paid for the year, before the hike, with my Amazon card and got 5% back.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

My ONLY subscription is for my VPN, (In My Opinion the Most Important One) not really a subscription as I buy 3 years at a time. Amazon orders (When I cannot find cheaper elsewhere) arrive in 2 days without prime. Walmart orders are as fast as Amazon with no club memberships. ABSOLUTELY NO CLOUD subs, as working in the business for the last 10 years of my career, when they came into play, and knowing their weaknesses, do NOT want any of my personal data on them. Too many other very simple ways for a smart person to backup their data.

We use Google Calendar and Contacts on my phone and DW's tablet as we do not care who sees or hacks that.

We do have the least costly Xfinity lineup as it is good for us and we are kinda locked into their HS internet anyways.

We also have the Monthly 55+ T-Mobile 2 line grandfathered $60 deal that we cherish.

We manage just fine.

 

[ivinsfan]

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.

A LONG blackout period, they waited almost 2 years to stream season 5.

 

[GenXguy]

We've never paid for Amazon Prime because it's so easy to make the $25 free shipping limit.

Same here. I just can't see giving Amazon an extra wad of cash every year when I always get free shipping anyway.

 

[OldShooter]

BF got a used car and it came with a free trial of Sirius. That was a couple of years ago. He still has it. ...

Both DW's and my cars came with 6-month free trials. We didn't even bother to activate simply based on a policy of avoiding subscriptions of any kind. Sirius sends us promotional letters periodically but they are easy to identify from the envelopes so they go directly into the garbage. Public radio, vanilla and HD, is plenty good enough for us.

 

[pacergal]

We have been adding instead of subtracting
Grandkids like certain shows when they are here!

Xfinity comes with Peacock and showtime.
Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Disney+, Discovery+, Netflix
Apple News, local online newspaper