BUSINESS

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Tired of paying too much for TV? You’re not alone — and there are smarter ways to save.

The average American now spends $84 per month on streaming services, according to a recent study by LendingTree’s DepositAccounts. That adds up to more than $1,000 a year! With rising prices from popular platforms like YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV and Sling TV, many households are quietly paying as much (or more) than they did for cable.

The good news: It’s easier than ever to cut your streaming TV bill. Most services are contract-free, which means you can cancel, switch or bundle strategically to lower your monthly cost.

In this guide, I’ll show you how to save money on streaming TV with simple, practical strategies from choosing cheaper bundles to cutting services you don’t need.

Ideas for Saving Money on Your Streaming TV Bill

As Team Clark’s resident streaming TV expert, I spend a lot of time analyzing all corners of the streaming market.

I also hear from readers and listeners who struggle with keeping their streaming bills in check.

I’ve assembled a list of seven ideas to help save money on streaming.

You should be able to see some of the positive impacts of many of these ideas almost immediately!

1. Audit Your Current Streaming Services and Trim the Fat

The quickest and easiest way to shrink your streaming bill is going to require a little research and a little honesty.

Check your streaming devices and credit card statements to see just how many streaming services you’re paying for right now.

According to the Lending Tree study cited earlier, the average streamer has 4.5 subscriptions.

Those can vary from a video streaming service like Netflix or HBO Max, which can cost you in the neighborhood of $10-15 per month, to a live TV streaming service like YouTube TV or DIRECTV, which can cost you $85 per month or more.

Once you’ve found how many subscriptions you have and how much you’re paying for each, ask yourself the following questions:

How much do I watch each of these services?

Would I notice if one of these subscriptions went away?

Would the quality of entertainment my household receives diminish if I canceled one of these?

If you can’t justify a clear reason for keeping a particular service, you should CANCEL it.

You can always resubscribe later!

2. Take a “Rotational” Approach to Streaming Services

One of my favorite tips for people struggling with streaming bills is to simply rotate them instead of paying for all of them at once.

Most streaming services offer month-to-month subscriptions with no strings attached, so you might as well take advantage of this flexibility.

I have an article about using this method with video streaming services to keep your annual streaming bill as close to $100 as possible without missing any of the big new shows out there.

Think of this this way: There’s only so much content you can consume in a month.

Rather than paying for six services at once, focus on your favorite shows with one or two of them in a given month instead.

3. Opt for Ad-Supported Tiers Whenever Possible

Many of the top video streaming services offer consumers this subscription choice: Ad-free or ad-supported.

The proposition is usually pretty straightforward: You can either pay a cheaper amount to watch the content with commercials inserted or you can pay a few bucks more per month to get the content with no interruptions.

Yes, I know that most of them used to be “ad-free.” Yes, I know that watching without commercials is a much better user experience.

But remember, we’re trying to trim our streaming TV bills here.

So, if you switch your streaming services from ad-free to ad-supported, you could save yourself upwards of $3-5 per service per month. That can add up over the course of a year, especially if you have multiple subscriptions in play.

4. Take Advantage of Bundling Options

Did you know that many streaming services work together on bundle pricing that could save you some cash?

Some of the most popular bundle options are with Disney+ and Hulu, which can be combined with HBO Max or ESPN Unlimited. Peacock and Apple TV recently joined forces on a bundle subscription. So did ESPN Unlimited and FOX One.

You may also find that you can get a bundle option from your internet or wireless phone provider, too. For example, T-Mobile bundles Netflix subscriptions with many of its wireless plans.

I have compiled a list of the best streaming TV bundles in 2026.

There are discounts to be had for those of you paying for each of your streaming services as standalone subscriptions.

5. Give Free Streaming TV a Real Chance

Money expert Clark Howard would be pretty upset with me if I didn’t bring this up as a cost-saving option.

Clark loves free streaming TV services as a way to get entertainment without spending a penny. You don’t even have to use a credit card or set up an account. Just download the app and start watching.

I’ve spent a significant amount of time assessing all the free streaming options over the years. Some of our favorites for user experience and content quality are Tubi TV, Pluto TV and The Roku Channel.

I’d start with those three to assess their live FAST channels and on-demand library of TV shows and movies. If you find a few you like, you might be able to use them to replace a paid service. That’s money back in your pocket.

Wondering what kind of TV shows you could find on free services? I recently highlighted some popular TV shows that can be streamed for free.

6. Use an Antenna to Get Your Local Channels

Are you paying for a live TV service like YouTube TV to see your local ABC, NBC, FOX and CBS affiliates?

A one-time purchase of a digital antenna could save you some serious money in the long run.

This is another Clark-approved method for saving money on streaming. He uses an antenna to get his local channels. He often brags that the picture is better and reception is quicker than what his friends receive from their paid services. This is particularly useful for live sports.

You may find that with your locals coming in for free, you could save money on your streaming subscription by downgrading to a less expensive service like Sling or Philo to get the other channels you enjoy.

7. Use the Right Credit Card to Pay Your Streaming Bills

Did you know that your credit card may have a special reward category for streaming spending? Some cards offer up to 6% cash back for purchases made in the streaming category.

But the benefits don’t stop with rewards points or cash back. There are a couple of other ways to leverage your credit cards on streaming purchases: card-specific discount offers and statement credits.

Do you have money-saving ideas for streaming TV that you’d like to share? We’d love to hear them in the Clark.com community.
The post 7 Ideas for Saving Money on Your Streaming TV Bill in 2026 appeared first on Clark Howard.

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Costco has shared that it raises gas prices more slowly than it raises them.Basically, Costco takes a lower margin on gas sales while prices are rising, but makes that up as they fall.Former Costco CFO Richard Galanti defended that practice, discussing the warehouse club’s gas business during its second-quarter 2022 earnings call.“As prices went up or went, even went down a little bit, they didn’t go down as fast as perhaps they could have been, which gives us, in our view, an ability to make a little more and still be the most competitive,” he said.Now, with gas prices rising due to the war in Iran, Costco’s current CFO, Gary Millerchip, shared some key news on the company’s pricing strategy. He also shared how higher gas prices drive member behaviour.ALSO READ: Why Costco’s gas prices won’t rise as fast as traditional gas stationsCostco’s gas drives member visitsShopping at Costco’s warehouses saves members money.Costco’s prices were 21% lower than Walmart’s, which were used as the baseline for a recent Consumer Reports study of grocery prices.Consumer Reports commissioned the research from Strategic Resource Group (SRG), a retail- and grocery-industry market research company in New York.”When SRG compared prices on baskets of commonly purchased items at mainstream grocery chains in six regionally representative cities across the U.S., the difference between the highest- and lowest-priced in each city was more than 33%. And when the comparison included the warehouse clubs like Costco and specialty grocers like Whole Foods, the price differences were even more significant,” the consumer advocate shared.This study highlights Costco’s consistent pricing advantage across the U.S., showing how warehouse clubs maintain lower prices even compared with major discount grocers.More Retail:Costco sees major shift in member behaviorRetail chain shuts all locations as legal changes hit industryLululemon struggles to reverse concerning customer behaviorThat means that anything that entices Costco members to visit its warehouses saves them money.”Generally speaking, we see about half of members who will shop at the gas station will also cross-shop at the warehouse,” Millerchip shared during Costco’s second quarter 2026 earnings call.Economics professor Alan Gin from the University of San Diego believes the motivation for Costco’s aggressive gas price strategy has to do with how Costco makes its money. “The bulk of their profits come from memberships,” he told ABC News. Gin says up to 70% of Costco’s profits come from the $65 or $130 that customers pay for the right to shop at its warehouses. “They can afford to take some losses on the chicken and the hot dogs, and now maybe even the gas, if that gets people to sign up then for these memberships,” Gin said.

Costco tries to be a pricing leader when it comes to gas.Shutterstock

Gas prices are rising”The nation’s average price of gasoline has risen 23.2 cents over the last week and stands at $3.68 per gallon, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 12 million individual price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country,” the gas pricing website reported. Prices have been climbing quickly.”The national average is up 80 cents from a month ago and is 66.1 cents per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel rose 34.0 cents in the last week and stands at $4.951 per gallon,” GasBuddy added.Costco is monitoring the situation.”It is early days to know what the impact longer term might be from events in the Middle East at the moment. But generally speaking, if gas prices start to increase, then we tend to see our value proposition resonate better with members, just because obviously we want to be the pricing authority on gas,” Millerchip shared.He also noted that higher gas prices changes member behaviour.”And so when prices are higher, that will tend to cause members to maybe take the extra mile that it might involve to get to the gas station because of the incremental value they see there. But, obviously, we will have to see what happens with gas prices over the coming months there,” he added.Lower gas prices have been a key part of Costco’s strategy for decades.”Costco, for example, is typically 20 cents a gallon below the market average,” Tom Kloza, the global head of energy analysis at IHS Markit’s Oil Price Information Service told CNN.In times of higher gas prices, consumers seek out savings.“People are seeking out the clubs because of the gas,” Michael Baker, a retail analyst at D.A. Davidson told CNN. “It’s U.S. consumers’ nature to go out of their way for lower gas prices.”Related: Sam’s Club fixes problem that’s a major pain point at Costco

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