How to cut the cost of streaming and entertainment subscriptions

Streaming subscriptions are one of the most common categories of spending that has quietly grown much larger than people expect. Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime, Apple TV Plus, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Premium, Sky, NOW TV, Audible, a gym app, a meditation app, a news paywall. Each individual cost looks reasonable. Together, many households are spending £80 to £120 per month on subscriptions before they have noticed it happening.

The nature of subscription billing, small recurring amounts taken automatically each month, makes it particularly easy to keep paying for something you have stopped valuing without ever making a conscious decision to continue.

Start with a complete audit

Go through your bank statements for the last three months and list every recurring charge. Include annual subscriptions, which appear less frequently and are easy to miss. Add up the total. Many people are genuinely surprised by the figure. This is the number you are working to reduce, not an approximation.

Apply the 30-day test

For each subscription on your list, ask how many times you used it in the last 30 days. Not whether you might use it, not whether you intend to use it more in future: how many times did you actually use it recently? Any subscription you have not used at all in the last month is a strong candidate for cancellation. The things you genuinely miss after cancellation can always be resubscribed.

Rotate rather than holding everything simultaneously

Streaming services accumulate content in batches. A new series on one platform, then a film release on another. Rather than maintaining subscriptions to four or five services simultaneously, it is often more efficient to hold one or two at a time, watch what you want, cancel, and switch to a different service for the next period. Most streaming platforms have no-contract monthly billing, which makes this straightforward. You save the cost of two or three subscriptions most of the time.

Check whether your bank, broadband or mobile plan includes anything

Several UK banks and mobile providers include streaming services as a benefit of their products. Some current accounts include a Disney Plus subscription. Some mobile plans include Apple TV Plus or Amazon Prime. If you are paying separately for something you are already entitled to through another product, that is an immediate saving with no change in what you have access to.

Consider sharing within household rules

Most streaming services have specific household sharing policies, some more restrictive than others since Netflix and others cracked down on password sharing. Within a single household, multiple users can typically share one account. If your subscription allows a household plan, make sure all members of your household are using the shared account rather than separate ones.