How to dramatically cut your streaming bills instantly by changing three habits – I reckon you’ll save hundreds a year

YOUR streaming bills keep going up – but they don’t need to.

I’ve got three easy tricks to bring them down, just in time for those cosy winter movie nights.

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You might find yourself saving hundreds a year.

STREAMING BILL TRICK #1 – FREE TV

The first one might feel a bit odd at first (because you’ll be breaking daily habits) but it’s the simplest way to save money.

Instead of just relying on premium paid-for apps, try some free ones instead.

There are loads of no-cost TV apps out there that are totally legal – so you don’t have to worry about being done for piracy.

Instead they’re funded by showing you ads.

But that might not be a massive pain, given cheap tiers of services like Netflix, Amazon Video, and even Disney+ show you ads already.

And many of these apps have enormous libraries with thousands (or even tens of thousands) of movies and TV episodes.

Often they’ll also feature sizeable rosters of free live TV channels too, streaming around the clock.

Here are some of the more popular free TV apps worth trying:

• Tubi
• Amazon Freevee
• Pluto
• Plex TV
• Sling Freestream (US)
• The Roku Channel

THE ROKU CHANNEL EXPLAINED – FREE TV FOR YOU!

Here’s what you need to know

The Roku Channel is a streaming app that’s available on a range of devices.

It offers more than 400 live TV channels.

And it promises over 80,000 movies and TV shows on an on-demand basis.

Roku says that the app is available on:

• Roku streaming devices
• Compatible Samsung Smart TVs
• Compatible Amazon Fire TV devices
• TheRokuChannel.com website
• Roku mobile apps (iOS and Android)

Roku notes that the app is only available in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It’s also available in Mexico, but only on Roku devices.

They’re popular apps that should be available on most smart TVs or streaming devices you’re likely to be using.

STREAMING BILL TRICK #2 – STREAM CYCLE

Secondly, please don’t think that you need to totally give up on premium TV to save money.

But it’s worth asking: do you need all of these services at once?

Try cycling through your plans – or “stream swapping – to save a bit of money.

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So cancel everything, and then keep Netflix for one month.

Watch all of the content that you need to get through on Netflix, then cancel it and switch to Disney+.

Then watch what you want on there, and move on to a third service, and then a fourth after that.

After those four months, switch back to Netflix and enjoy all of the new content.

You can then keep cycling through these three or four services indefinitely.

It means you don’t miss out on any content, and you’re only paying for one service each month – rather than multiple.

STREAMING BILL TRICK #3 – PLAN PLANNING

Thirdly, check if you’re actually getting what you’re paying for.

Take Netflix, for example.

NETFLIX PRICES AND PERKS – HOW MUCH ARE YOU PAYING?

Here’s what you need to know…

Netflix Standard with Ads

Price: £4.99 / $6.99

• Ad-supported, all but a few movies and TV shows available, unlimited mobile games
• Watch on 2 supported devices at a time
• Watch in 1080p (Full HD)
• Download on 2 supported devices at a time

Netflix Standard

Price: £10.99 / $15.49

• Unlimited ad-free movies, TV shows, and mobile games
• Watch on 2 supported devices at a time
• Watch in 1080p (Full HD)
• Download on 2 supported devices at a time
• Option to add 1 extra member who doesn’t live with you

Netflix Premium

Price: £17.99 / $22.99

• Unlimited ad-free movies, TV shows, and mobile games
• Watch on 4 supported devices at a time
• Watch in 4K (Ultra HD) + HDR
• Download on 6 supported devices at a time
• Option to add up to 2 extra members who don’t live with you
• Netflix spatial audio

The top Netflix plan is Premium, which costs £17.99 in the UK and $22.99 in the US.

And its biggest perk is the ability for you to watch 4K Ultra HD content – of which Netflix has plenty.

However, you need to make sure that you’re genuinely seeing a 4K picture.

If you don’t have a 4K TV, you won’t get a 4K picture even if you’re paying for a 4K Netflix plan.

Let’s say you do have a 4K TV: if you’re using an Amazon Fire Stick and you bought the cheapest model that doesn’t support 4K, you won’t get a 4K picture either.

And if you’re only streaming on a smartphone, you almost certainly don’t need a 4K plan.

Consider dropping your subscription down a tier or two to save some cash.

The Sun recently revealed how you could save as much as £84 in the Uk or $90 in the US over a year just by dropping from Premium to Standard.

DON’T THROW YOUR MONEY AWAY

Here’s the advice from The Sun’s tech expert Sean Keach…

TV is great – and worth paying for.

But don’t let yourself be crushed by the weight of ever-growing streaming bills.

Take a look at all of the services you’re paying for.

Add them up and see how much you’re forking out over the course of a year.

Chances are, it’s way more than you’d like.

And it won’t stop there: those bills will keep on climbing as services continue to raise their prices in the coming months and years.

It might just be a wake-up call to cut those streaming bills with some of these simple tricks.

The beauty of it is: if you don’t like your news high-savings life, you can always switch back to the old way in an instant.

But by trying out a new way of streaming, you just might find yourself saving some cash and not missing relying on loads of premium services.

You’ve got nothing to lose by trying it out – and everything to gain.

And if you’re willing to watch ads, you’ll be able to save even more with the cheapest Netflix plan.

The Sun calculated that dropping to the entry-level ads plan would let you keep an extra £156 or $192 each year.