2024 Simplicity: Further Cutting Service Subscriptions
Posted on January 22, 2024 by Aywren
One of my goals for 2024 was to work towards simplifying and cutting back on service subscriptions. I already started that by cutting PC Game Pass (and of course, right after I do that, they add games I want to try).
The Question of Amazon Prime
Over this past weekend, I analyzed some of my other service subscriptions. At first, my aim was to see if I could get rid of Amazon Prime. I actually use Amazon Prime quite a bit, and that’s a problem in and of itself. It’s so easy and convenient to use that I tend to over-shop for things that I could get cheaper in other places.
Lately, I’ve been looking at other sources for online shopping. For things that aren’t as dire, I’ve gone to Ebay, and for used books, I’ve started using AbeBooks instead – both which offer items I was considering at Amazon for a cheaper price. Sure, I don’t get the Prime shipping speed, but lately, Prime shipping has hardly been the 2-day shipping it used to promise.
That was one of the things annoying me most. Ever since the holidays, it feels like 2-day shipping had turned into a full week shipping, and even then, they may not make it on time. My main reason for having Prime is the shipping, so I started to consider alternatives.
However, as I was looking through all the perks that Amazon Prime offers – including Prime Music, Videos, and Games – I began to compare those offerings with other subscriptions that I use.
Spotify
Many years back, when Prime Music Unlimited was much cheaper for a Prime member, I used to subscribe to that. The main reason was that, at the time, if you didn’t have Unlimited, the music library that came with base Prime was hugely lacking. The only way to get the expanded library was to subscribe to Unlimited. Eventually, they jacked the price of Unlimited up, so I canceled it a few years back.
For a while, I didn’t subscribe to anything. Sometimes I used free Spotify, but the ads they play really, really annoy me, so that turned me off from that service. Last year, on a whim, I tried out a three-month free trial of Spotify Premium, which I came to enjoy. So, when time came to pay for the sub in December, I kept the sub open for a couple months at the cost of $11.87 ($10.99 + tax).
When I took a closer look at Amazon Prime Music (which I’m already paying for with my Prime account), I realized that they’d changed the way the library was structured for base members a while back. You now have access to the entire library, though they do some weird thing about keeping songs on shuffle. The shuffle thing doesn’t bother me, though, because most of what I use a music service for is to listen to playlists I create on shuffle anyhow.
Seeing that the library offerings of Prime Music and Spotify are about the same (I have the same playlists on both services, so I can compare), I quickly came to wonder why I would pay $142.44 a year for Spotify when I’m getting the exact same music with Amazon Prime account, and for less.
Netflix
I have been a consistent Netflix user since back in the DVD days. That’s just the way it’s always been.
I don’t watch a whole lot of movies or shows as the desire for TV watching is something that comes and goes for me. I don’t even pay for cable of any sort in my household anymore. If I want to watch something, it’s either YouTube, Netflix, or Amazon Prime.
Now, I’m aware that Prime Video is going to be adding advertising to the streaming service at the end of the month, which I’m not happy about. I generally refuse to pay for a video streaming service that also includes ads, even at a discount price. I feel that if I’m paying money, there should not be ads interrupting what I watch or listen to, period. But there’s not much I can do about this move – I will not pay the additional $2 or whatever for ad-free Prime Video.
Still, for some reason, I completely missed the fact that I’ve been paying $16.73 for my standard Netflix account every month for a while now. For some reason, I thought I was on a $14.99 plan, but seems the price was jacked up, and I just haven’t been paying attention (which is what they want you to do).
I do not watch $200.76 worth of Netflix every year! I had no idea I was paying that much.
Especially when I already have Prime Video. Sure, there’s more in my Netflix backlog than I can generally find on Prime. But, as I said, I don’t watch very much as it is… so there’s honestly no point in staying subscribed to Netflix at that cost unless there’s something I absolutely MUST watch (which is pretty rare).
Again, Prime Video is included in the price of my Prime membership for far less per year. Yeah, ads will suck, but I’ll be saving money by not double dipping.
The Outcome
I’m still grouchy at Amazon Prime for their lack of 2-day shipping on things, and the fact that Prime is far more expensive at $139 a year than when it was when I first subscribed to it. But the truth is, I do use the service quite a bit for shipping alone.
In looking to shed myself of Prime, I realized I was paying twice for the same sort of service they already offer me by also subbing to Spotify and Netflix. In cancelling those two, and keeping only Prime, I’ll save $343.20 a year.
Instead of getting rid of Prime, for now, I’ve decided to keep it and utilize it more in ways I didn’t before. If I ever want to go back to Spotify or Netflix, they’ll be there. (I am very tempted to resub to Game Pass for a month to try out Palworld and the new Turnip Boy game, however…)
Do you shop and hop around for your online subscription services? Or do you just stick with what you already have? Do you avoid them all together?