…How much money do you spend on your digital subscriptions each month? 

Many people consider paying for a wide range of digital subscriptions to be normal for the time we live in, from streaming your favorite TV shows and movies to listening to all the songs you want with a single click. But here’s the thing: those costs can easily creep up.

A few studies have discovered that more than 1 million video services were interrupted in the first 3 months of 2022, and more than half of them were canceled for financial reasons.

It is believed that there is at least one digital subscription in each household, whether it’s Netflix, Disney+, Spotify, Amazon Prime, or HBO Go. Of course, they are very convenient and you might think that they are affordable (if you have 1 or 2), but trust us, those costs will add up pretty quickly.

If you want to save some money and still be able to enjoy all of your digital subscriptions, here are 7 ways you can do so.

1. Get the most out of the free trials 

There are a lot of services that give you a free trial before you have to actually pay. If you want to select a Netflix plan, for instance, they usually offer a free trial period for 7 days, so you can familiarize yourself with the platform and also look at what they offer.

in addition to that, there are also plenty of music streaming services, such as YouTube Premium, Spotify, Amazon Music Unlimited, Tidal, and Apple Music, that offer a one-month free trial period for new users. So make the best out of this period, so you can further decide if it’s worth the money for a digital subscription or not.

However, make sure to write down the date the trial ends, so that you won’t accidentally pay for the next month.

2. Get the annual option 

If you have a digital subscription you absolutely can’t let go of, you can still save some money and enjoy the benefits at the same time. All you have to do is select the annual plan rather than the monthly one because those are usually more affordable. Disney+, for instance, costs $7.99 per month, or $79.99 per year. If you purchase the annual plan, you’ll actually save $15,89.

…It might not seem like a lot of money at first, but it will surely add up in the long run. 

3. Compare prices

If you have a specific show in mind that you want to watch, do some research to find out which platforms actually provide it, then shop around for the most affordable platform to use.

There is a free app called JustWatch that can help you identify where you can find the movies and television shows you want to watch. Besides that, it can also help you analyze what the best prices on the market are, so it’s easier to choose a streaming platform.

Peaky Blinders, for instance, it’s a show that is available on both BBC iPlayer and Netflix. You can choose the cheapest digital subscription offered by Netflix, which is $9.99 per month, but if you already own a TV license, you can watch it on BBC iPlayer for free.

4. Share your digital subscriptions

Sharing your digital subscriptions with your household is like splitting the bill at a restaurant: you can enjoy everything you want at a reduced cost. Speaking of streaming plans, this is one of the easiest and also quickest ways to save some cash. There are a lot of services that offer plans you can switch to so that you are able to save money without compromising your customized features.

Spotify, for instance, offers a plan called Premium Duo at the cost of $12.99 per month, which is absolutely great for two people in the same household. You’ll save a lot of money if you do this, considering the fact that an individual premium plan costs no less than $9.99 per month.

If you live in a larger household, Spotify’s got all of you covered with their Premium Family plan, which allows up to 6 users to get all the premium benefits they want.

Another platform that allows you to split the cost is Amazon Prime, which offers the possibility to split the cost of 2 separate accounts by sharing their perks with a family member.

5. Circle your monthly digital subscriptions 

Do you really have to pay for all the streaming platforms and TV subscriptions you like at the same time? If you want to save some money and still get all those features you enjoy watching, you can simply alternate between the platforms.

Users have the option to cancel their monthly subscriptions at any time without incurring an additional fee. If you can plan what TV shows and movies you want to watch, it will be easier for you to alternate and save money at the same time.

If you have a digital subscription to both Netflix (standard plan) and Disney+ at a monthly rate, this will cost you a lot of money at the end of the year: $215.76 to be exact. But if you alternated between those 2, you would actually save a lot of money (6 months of Netflix at $9.99 and 6 of Disney+ at $7.99 = $107.88 saved in a year).

6. Downgrade your current plan 

Another simple and quick way to save money on your digital subscriptions is by switching from your current plan to a cheaper one. Netflix, for example, has 3 different plans you can choose from: basic ($9.99 per month), standard ($15.49 per month), and premium ($19.99 per month).

Of course, there are pros and cons to all these plans, but if you’re willing to save money, you should consider getting the basic plan. It will only allow you to stream your favorite shows on one screen at a time, but if you live alone and you don’t give access to your account to anybody else, or if you and your family like to watch movies and shows together, this might be the perfect one for you.

7. Cancel what you no longer use 

If you have many bank accounts and a large number of various bills that are sent from each of them, it might be difficult to keep track of the subscriptions you have signed up for. Two apps that can assist you in getting a complete picture of all your accounts in one location are Money Dashboard and Snoop.

Once you have an overview of your budget it should be simple to identify digital subscriptions you no longer require or use, so that you can cancel them, save money and stay on a budget. In addition to that, there are some banking apps that provide tools that make it simpler to manage expenses.

Starling Bank, for example, offers Bills Manager, which gives you the possibility to set aside money every month for the bills you have to pay, so that there are no surprises. Besides that, these will hold you accountable, so you won’t be tempted to sign up for a lot of digital subscriptions you don’t actually need.

…What do you think about these 7 tips to save money on your digital subscriptions? Did you find them helpful? Tell us in the comments down below!
…If you enjoyed reading this article and you want to know more tips on how to save money and still be able to do all the things you want, check this article out: 9 Things That Are Free at Libraries You Never Knew About!