A lot of weighty movies are coming out this fall in the run up to the Oscar’s.
Via Shutterstock.
We finally canceled our Netflix subscription after hanging on 14 months after Netflix raised their prices 60 percent. (When that happened, our bill shot up from $10 a month to $16 a month for streaming and movies in the mail, so we opted for streaming only at $8 a month).
Now we get more movies and TV shows that we want to watch for less. A lot less. Here’s how.
Wait! Before we get into the nitty gritty numbers, our Netflix subscription was costing us $8 a month, or $96 a year. We both found the movie selection to be increasingly limited, and so my husband ended up watching reruns of Star Trek and Family Guy, while I tried to pry him from the set. Blah!
1. We are splitting an Amazon Prime membership with friends. You can have up to FOUR DIFFERENT HOUSEHOLDS on an Amazon Prime membership, which costs $79 a year. Now for $20 a year we get free 2-day shipping on almost everything we purchase from Amazon, plus free access to thousands of movies and TV shows, like Downton Abby and Fringe. UPDATE: It turns out that when you split an Amazon Prime membership, the only benefits that are shared are the 2-day shipping. We are bummed.
Monthly cost: $1.66
2. We are hitting up Redbox with lots of free movie coupons. Holla! (When asked which is better, Redbox or Netflix, most people said Netflix. But that was before the Netflix price increase and movie selection decrease. Apparently, they’ve lost a few important contracts with movie studios.)
Monthly cost: $0-$2
3. We are watching Hulu Plus using a friend’s log in info. He offered to share it with us at no cost!
Monthly cost: Free! Or $8 a month if you don’t have awesome friends.
4. We are checking out movies for free from the library. I take Lucy to the library each week for a free class where we sing songs, so it’s easy for me to pick up a movie. Last week we watched Revolutionary Road with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, and Rabbit Hole with Nicole Kidman. Both were depressing, but very moving stories.
Monthly cost: Free! The late fee is $1 per day after one week. Ouch!
5. Here are five more alternatives to Netflix that you may want to consider!
Now our total cost to watch great movies and TV is less than $4 per month!!!
What are you doing to save on the cost of TV and movies?
October 5, 2012 9:46 am
Hey BargainBabe,
Can you gives us more info about signing up 4 families on one Amazon Prime account. I have 3 sibilings….
Thanks!
Susan
October 10, 2012 9:51 am
@Suzieq As it turns out, when you split an Amazon Prime membership, the only benefit that is split is the 2-day shipping. Only the original member gets to watch all the movies. I’m so bummed, because the first time I logged in after we split the membership, I had access to all the streaming movies. Not sure what happened.
If you do split the Amazon Prime membership, you just add three additional people by their email address. Then they get an email from Amazon asking them to confirm. Each added person will need the name and DOB of the original member. You can split it among family members or coworkers.
Let me know if you have more questions!
October 5, 2012 12:14 pm
Let me preface this by saying I don’t work for any company like NetFlix, Amazon, etc. I’ve been looking for alternatives to cable. I currently have a NetFlix account for both streaming and mailed DVDs.
From what I understand, if you split the Amazon Prime account, only the main person gets the benefit of streaming movies.
With NetFlix, you can share the streaming account with other people. You can also stream on laptops, tablets and smartphones (iPhones and Androids). On the downside, they can be slow getting DVDs and streamed content. They still don’t have Season 4 of Sons of Anarchy.
October 5, 2012 5:27 pm
I never understand why people choose Netflix streaming(no selection) over DVDS ( huge selection). What good is the convenience of streaming if you can’t see new release movies or television shows?
October 6, 2012 4:38 pm
I DVR TV programs I want to watch in the future (short or long-term), and dropped Netflix a couple of years ago, mainly because they were billing in excess of the $8 monthly choice I had. Since I couldn’t figure out the extra charges by analyzing the statement, and couldn’t get a satisfactory response from the company, I cancelled it. Haven’t really missed it at all. I do enjoy a couple of “cheapie” matinees on Wednesday at the Laemmle Theatres ($4.50 for seniors) each month (to enjoy with friends). I have satellite (a lower cost option this time around), so keep my costs to a manageable minimum.
October 8, 2012 8:40 pm
There are SO many different ways that you can save money on tv and media. Checking out movies from the library is a great way to do it. You can also stream a lot of shows online now.