2023 has seen record growth in cord cutting, with over two million new cord cutters since the start of 2023. Recently you have likely seen many stories arguing that cord cutting costs more than cable TV or that you won’t be happy with streaming. These arguments are nothing new and the good news is you can save a lot of money with cord cutting in 2023. So how can you save money with cord cutting in 2023? We are going to break down a few common ways to do that.
Tip #1 Rotate Streaming Services
The great thing about cord cutting is you can subscribe to streaming services without a long-term contract. This allows you to easily jump between different streaming services with out the need to pay for them all at once.
For example, the new Outlander season on Starz just took its mid-season break. This is a great time to subscribe to a month of Starz and watch every episode, plus a ton of other content on Starz for a month. Once you have watched everything you want, you can cancel and switch to a new streaming service.
Tip #2 Take Advantage of Free Streaming Services
There are a growing number of free ad-supported streaming services that offer high-quality content. Amazon’s Freevee now streams many of its older Original Programs and Pluto TV often streams older seasons of Paramount+ programs. Take advantage of these services as a great way to expand your library of content without needing to add an extra streaming service.
Tip #3 Don’t Subscribe To a Streaming Service For a Single Show
We all have that show we love, and maybe you can watch it on Peacock or maybe it is on Max, but you may also be able to buy a season pass for the show through places like Amazon. If all you want is a single show consider buying that show by the season through a service like Amazon. This could save you a lot of money vs a $9.99 a month package on many streaming services.
Tip #4 Use An Antenna
Did you know most Americans can watch HD TV for fee with an antenna? I get almost 50 channels where I live in Michigan. Buying an antenna is a one-time cost that can help save a ton of money. Plus, you get all the big networks like ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC in most areas. If all you want is local news there is no need to pay for a live TV streaming service when an antenna can often give you those channels.
Tip #5 Switch to Ad-Supported Plans
Many streaming services now offer ad-supported plans and others are on the way. Disney+ and Netflix both launched new cheaper, ad-supported streaming plans recently. AMC+ has also announced it plans to launch an ad-supported plan this year.
Take advantage of the saving you can get by using the new cheaper ad-supported plans.
How Much Will You Save With Streaming?
Now we have gone over this before, but it is so important so let’s do it again.
So the average cost of cable TV is averaging about $147 a month just for TV. So what is the cost of a bundle of popular streaming services? Let us take a look at the cost of Max, Paramount+, Peacock, and Disney+. Four great cord cutting services that can give you a ton of content but who have all seen price hikes this year.
- Disney+ Starting at $7.99 a month
- Paramount+ Starting at $5.99 a month
- Max Starting at $9.99 a month
- Peacock Starting at $5.99
Total: $29.96
According to a survey with our readers, most cord cutters pay for four or fewer streaming services. Even if you switch all of these to ad-free, they will still cost less than the price of cable TV.
So what about live TV services? Reportedly YouTube TV is the largest live TV streaming service, with over 6 million subscribers. It currently costs $72.99 a month.
So adding YouTube TV to these numbers, your new total is $102.95.
Now what about internet? Internet is not an exclusive cost to cord cutting as most Americans will want internet even if they pay for cable TV. With that said there are new cheaper options like Verizon’s 5G Home Internet starting at just $25 for qualifying customers.
So adding the internet into the cost of all of this, you now have a grand total of $127.95. (Note the cable TV price above does not include the cost of internet.)
So how much can you save with cord cutting in 2023?
If you subscribe to just on-demand services like Disney+, Paramount+, Max, and Peacock, you could save $117.04 per month which will add up to a savings of $1,404.48 over a year.
If you want to add in live TV on top of all of the on-demand services, you will save $44.05 a month, which will add up to a savings of $528.60 over a year.
Do you have a tip you want to suggest? Let us know how you save money with cord cutting.