6 ways I save money on TV streaming without losing the shows I love

Streaming providers, like your neighborhood fitness emporium, count on their members signing up and then putting their monthly payments on autopilot. Maybe you come back, maybe you completely forget that you have a paid subscription to Starz or Paramount+. If you don’t go through your credit card statements with the eye of an IRS auditor, you’ll never notice those monthly extractions.

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The solution? Make a list, and check it regularly. Track the services you subscribe to, so you know exactly what you’re paying for.  If you want another incentive to maintain that list, consider also jotting down the series and events you watch or plan to watch on each service.

This is the sort of job that spreadsheets were made for. I use Excel, with my files stored in OneDrive so that I can view them online or in the desktop app. If you live in Google’s cloud, feel free to use Google Sheets. You could also use your favorite note-taking app, on a PC or mobile device.

If you’re not using a service, cancel it — or, if there’s an option to suspend, put your subscription on hold, with no charge. The cancellation/suspension usually takes effect at the end of the current billing period, so this strategy works best if you hit that button a few days before your credit card is charged.

The important thing is to make that list and then remember to check it at least once a month.

Streaming services know that people are increasingly watching their content on phones and tablets, which means they’re eager to cut promotional deals with mobile providers. You can save money by taking advantage of those deals.

Streaming services love to rope in credit card companies as partners. That makes sense, because you’re probably going to use a credit card to pay for that service, and the card issuer chips off a little piece of each transaction as part of the deal.

If you have a top-of-the-line American Express Platinum card, one of your benefits is a $20 monthly Digital Entertainment Credit, which you can apply to Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, or a bundle containing all three services. Peacock is also on the list of eligible video services.

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You might be able to find similar deals from other cards, but the more likely option is an inflated cash-back option for streaming services, with some cards giving between 3% and 6% of the total bill as a rebate, sometimes for just a few months. It’s always worth checking.

Some streaming services offer an incentive to convert your monthly subscription to a prepaid annual deal. Others offer special deals, often around Black Friday. It pays to be on the lookout for those deals, especially if you want to avoid an upcoming price increase.

Sometimes a service doesn’t have a selection of content that’s compelling enough to justify a long-term subscription. So, what do you do when that service has a series or two you’re dying to watch? That sums up how I feel about Starz every time another season of Outlander rolls around.

The simple solution: Once every episode of your must-watch series is available, sign up for a monthly subscription, binge the series before your month is up, and then cancel. If you’ve never subscribed to that service, you might even be eligible for a free trial. (And if you are a previous subscriber, using an alternate email address can often get you a new trial for free. Just be sure to keep track of which email addresses you’ve used for each trial.)

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Here’s a tip to avoid accidentally paying for a second month because you forgot to cancel. After you’ve paid for and activated your monthly subscription, go to the service dashboard and cancel. You won’t get a refund; instead, you’ll get a notice that you can continue watching until your month is up. Just be sure you watch that final episode before the clock runs out. Calendar and/or Alexa reminders can help you with that. 

The surest way to cut your streaming bill, of course, is to replace paid services with those that cost nothing at all.

After all, not everything is “appointment TV,” where you’re so eager to tune in to the latest from a favorite series that you set a reminder to be on your couch, remote in hand, when the episode drops. Sometimes you’re just looking for a distraction, and something corny, campy or nostalgic is just the ticket.

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For those nights, try exploring the free apps and services that are probably already on your streaming device. You can watch the adventures of Jed Clampett and kin in The Beverly Hillbillies on the Roku Channel. You get classic Dr. Who and Mystery Science Theater 3000 on Pluto TV, and Tubi TV has a huge video library drawn from the vaults of Lionsgate, MGM, Paramount Pictures, and Starz Digital.

This roundup from ZDNET’s Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols can get you started: “The 7 best free video streaming services.”