How to save $1,000 or more in 2024 — without canceling your subscription
Netflix, Disney+, Spotify, Hulu, and other digital subscriptions are starting to feel like essential necessities in our daily lives. Other subscriptions, such as meal kits, fitness apps, and gym memberships, can help you live a healthier, happier, and richer lifestyle. However, all these subscriptions come with a cost to your personal finances. If you’re looking to save more money in 2024, subscription costs could take up a big chunk of your monthly bill.
Has your subscription fee become more expensive than you thought? On the one hand, that might not be a problem. If you like your subscription and have used it all, you may not want to cancel. But if you want to save more money in 2024, reducing your subscription fees could be an easy way to do it.
Let’s take a look at some ways you can keep your favorite subscriptions and boost your bank account in 2024.
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1. Renegotiate your largest monthly bill
You don’t have to sit idly by when your home Internet Service Provider (ISP), cell phone carrier, or other hefty monthly bill raises your prices. You can negotiate your bill.
For example, if a gym starts offering lower prices to new customers, you can ask the gym to offer the same prices. If your cell phone service rates have increased, you can request a discount or ask to speak to our customer retention team. Many companies would rather keep you as a customer than lose you to a lower-priced competitor.
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You may not always get what you want when you ask for a price break, but it never hurts to try. Sometimes you just need to grease the squeaky wheel. Call us to request a better deal. Your biggest recurring bill could become a little cheaper.
How much can you save? I currently pay $142 a month for home internet. Let’s say I ask my ISP for a discount and they give me a 10% price reduction. This will save you $14.20 per month. $170 per year.
2. Switch to cheaper cell phone service
Depending on how you use your smartphone, cell phone service charges may be too high. Many people want a cell phone plan that offers unlimited mobile data. This is the most expensive part of most cell phone plans.
But how often are you actually using mobile data? If you work from home and use free public Wi-Fi at a coffee shop or mall, you may not be using nearly as much cellular data as you’re paying for. Check your phone’s data usage. For example, there are 8 days left in your billing cycle and you have only used 375MB of data on your phone. Why pay for unlimited data? I need to buy a cheap cell phone plan.
Cell phone data is no longer a precious and scarce resource. Your cell phone bill will be cheaper! It may be time to reduce your monthly data allotment or switch to a new carrier. For example, Mint Mobile (as of January 21, 2024) is offering unlimited data for $15 per month for the first three months ($30 per month thereafter).
How much can you save? My cell service currently costs $75 a month. You can save $45 per month by switching to Mint Mobile unlimited data. $540 per year.
3. Don’t cancel. Cancel subscriptions you don’t use often.
Some subscriptions offer great value, so you might want to keep using them, but you don’t want to pay full price or get the most premium option. Sometimes, lowering the price while maintaining your subscription can save you a lot of money.
For example, if you are a Peloton customer, you can switch from Peloton App+ ($24.00 per month) to Peloton App One ($12.99 per month). By subscribing to the HelloFresh meal kit, you can switch from 3 meals per week for two people ($70.93 per box) to 2 meals per week for two people ($56.95 per box).
How much can you save? If you took both of these actions to downsize your Peloton and Hello Fresh subscriptions, you would save a total of about $67 per month. $804 per year.
4. Change your streaming service to ad-supported
Everyone loves streaming video and music subscriptions, but these services have gradually increased in price over the past few years. Add all of your streaming services together and you could end up paying more than your cable TV!
If you subscribe to Netflix, Disney+, Max, and Spotify, you can save money by switching from a premium or ad-free plan to an ad-supported plan:
- Netflix: Switch from Premium with Ads to Standard and save money $16 per month
- Disney+: Switch from Disney+ Premium to Disney+ Basic (with ads) and save. $6 per month.
- maximum: Switch from Ultimate Ad Free to With Ads and save $10 per month.
- Spotify: Switch from Spotify Premium Individual to Spotify Free and Save $10.99 per month.
Based on prices shown as of January 21, 2024, you would save $46.99 per month by switching to commercial inclusion for all four streaming services. $564 per year.
gist: If you can move your money as shown in this article, you can make extra money after a year. Your $2,078 savings account! Not everyone has the same options. Maybe your ISP doesn’t offer a discount, or maybe you’re not in an area where you can get cheap cell service. But most people have more control over their monthly bills than you think.
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