How I Get Over a Dozen Streaming Services for Just $3 a Month

Besides living out of a car to avoid paying astronomical rent costs, I also have other ways to save money. One way is by not paying for streaming services or paying as little as possible. I currently have over a dozen streaming services and pay just $3 monthly for them.

Ten of the services I have are freebies: Tubi, Pluto TV, Crackle, FreeVee, Roku Channel, Vudu, Xumo, Peacock, and Plex. I recently added Sling’s new FreeStream service. I don’t watch any of them very often, but I have them available if I find something interesting or want to re-watch an old movie or show.

YouTube has hundreds of free movies and millions of free music clips. It also has news, documentaries, vlogs, podcasts, and instructional videos. It’s the only service I watch regularly. I follow several content creators, especially folks documenting their lives living out of their vehicles. It provided helpful information regarding my preparations for living out of a car.

I currently have subscriptions to four paid streaming services. I have the Disney+ with Hulu bundle, which costs $9.99 per month. However, I get a $7 rebate monthly through my American Express card for twelve months, so my cost is only $2.99. The rebate is valid for a couple more months at that cost, and then I’ll cancel it.

I signed up for this deal last year so I could binge-watch The Orville, re-watch the three seasons of the 1999 TV show Roswell, and catch up on a bunch of Star Wars movies and shows I haven’t seen. I enjoyed watching The Orville and Roswell. But when it came to Star Wars, I just wasn’t interested. I enjoyed the original trilogy as a teenager and young adult and enjoyed watching it again. I also tried to re-watch the more recent 1999–2005 trilogy. I just couldn’t. I was going to catch up on the latest movies and a couple of series shows like The Mandalorian. But I think I’m just tired of Star Wars. Why watch this stuff when I can be outside immersed in nature, where I am blissfully happy? I discovered I don’t care much about Star Wars anymore.

I also recently signed up for a monthly Paramount+ with Showtime bundle for $11.99. Once again, my American Express card offers a monthly rebate of $11.99 for three months. I’m getting Paramount+ and Showtime free for 90 days, which is a pretty good deal. Once the rebate period ends, I’ll cancel this service, too.

I grew up enjoying the original Star Trek series as a kid, and it continued as a young adult with Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. I also watched Enterprise but wasn’t particularly interested in the series. I haven’t watched new shows like Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks, and Strange New Worlds. I plan to use my free three months to catch up on those programs. I can also revisit old episodes I enjoyed decades ago.

If a streaming service offers a show I’m interested in, I’ll sign up for a month, binge-watch the program, and cancel. I did this at the beginning of the year when I signed up for Discovery+ for $4.99 to watch the series How the Universe Works. Then I canceled it.

I also have Amazon Prime, which includes their streaming service. But that is a bundled service with a few extra bells and whistles. Prime includes free two-day shipping, free same-day deliveries, free Amazon music, gaming, and reading. Prime members also get an additional 10% off purchases on sales items at Whole Foods and 5% back on all purchases via their Prime Visa card, including 5% back on the Prime subscription fee.

I’m debating whether to keep the service for next year. The annual fee keeps increasing, currently $139 ($11.58/month). I take advantage of the extra bonuses and lean towards continuing the service. I do watch some of the shows and movies they offer on occasion. They recently made the mini-series and four seasons of Battlestar Galactica available for free viewing. I may revisit that while it is available.

Streaming services keep getting more expensive, and I don’t watch enough to make the cost worth it. I’ll stick primarily with the free services I can access on my laptop, phone, and tablet. If I want to watch an old episode of The Twilight Zone, I can open the Pluto TV app, and I’m all set. They’re usually more entertaining than most recent movies and TV shows.

Otherwise, I’m usually outdoors in nature, and I’m never disappointed when I spend hours upon hours in the forest. The same cannot be said about spending hours in front of a screen. Priorities.

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I have lived in my car since August 2023. You can follow my adventures on Facebook and Instagram