How to Save $1,000 or More in 2024 -- Without Canceling Subscriptions

Netflix, Disney+, Spotify, Hulu, and other digital subscriptions have started to feel like must-have essentials for everyday life. Other subscriptions like meal kits, fitness apps, and gym memberships can help you live a healthier, happier, and more abundant lifestyle. But all these subscriptions come at a cost to your personal finances. If you want to save more money in 2024, your subscription costs could be a big part of your monthly bills.

Have your subscriptions gotten more expensive than you realized? On the one hand, maybe that's not a problem: If you love your subscriptions and you use them all, you might not want to cancel any. But if you want to save more money in 2024, cutting back on subscription costs could be an easy way to do it.

Let's look at a few ways to boost your bank account in 2024, while keeping the subscriptions you love.

1. Renegotiate your biggest monthly bills

When your home internet service provider (ISP), mobile phone carrier, or other big monthly bills raise their prices, you don't have to just sit there and take it. You can negotiate your bills.

For example, if your gym has started to offer a lower price to new customers, you can ask the gym to give you that same price. If your mobile phone service has jacked up its rates, you can ask it to give you a discount, or ask to speak to the customer retention team. Many companies would rather keep you as a customer than lose you to a lower-priced competitor.

You might not always get what you want when you ask for a price break, but it never hurts to try. Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Call to ask for a better deal, and your biggest recurring bills might get a little bit more affordable.

How much you can save: I am currently paying $142 per month for home internet. Let's assume that I ask my ISP for a discount, and they give me a 10% price cut. That would save me $14.20 per month, or about $170 per year.

2. Switch to lower-cost mobile phone service

Depending on how you use your smartphone, you might be overpaying for cellphone service. Many people want a cellphone plan that has unlimited mobile data -- this is the priciest part of most cellphone plans.

But how often are you really using mobile data? If you work from home and use free public wifi at coffee shops or the mall, you might not be using nearly as much cellular data as you're paying for. Check your phone's data usage -- for example, I've only used 375 MB of data on my phone, with eight days left in my billing cycle. Why am I paying for unlimited data? I should get a lower-cost cellphone plan.

Mobile phone data is not a precious, scarce resource anymore. Your cellphone bill should probably be cheaper! It might be time to reduce your monthly data allotment, or switch to a new mobile phone company. For example, Mint Mobile (as of Jan. 21, 2024) is offering unlimited data for $15 per month for the first three months (then $30 per month).

How much you can save: My mobile phone service currently costs $75 per month. If I switched to Mint Mobile unlimited data, I would save $45 per month, or $540 per year.

3. Cut -- don't cancel -- your less-used subscriptions

Some subscriptions provide excellent value, and you want to keep using them, but you don't want to pay full price or get the most premium options. Sometimes you can save significant money by keeping your subscription but cutting the price.

For example, if you are a Peloton customer, you could switch from Peloton App+ ($24.00 per month) to Peloton App One ($12.99 per month). If you subscribe to HelloFresh meal kits, you could switch from three meals per week for two people ($70.93 per box) to two meals per week ($56.95 per box).

How much you can save: If you made both of these moves to downsize your subscriptions to Peloton and Hello Fresh, you could save a total of about $67 per month, or $804 per year.

4. Change streaming services to ad-supported

Everyone loves streaming video and music subscriptions, but these services have been gradually jacking up their prices in the past few years. When you add up all your streaming services, you might be paying more than cable TV used to cost!

If you subscribe to Netflix, Disney+, Max, and Spotify, here's how much you'd save by switching from premium or ad-free plans to ad-supported plans:

• Netflix: Switch from Premium to Standard with ads and save $16 per month
• Disney+: Switch from Disney+ Premium to Disney+ Basic (with ads) and save $6 per month.
• Max: Switch from Ultimate Ad Free to With Ads and save $10 per month.
• Spotify: Switch from Spotify Premium Individual to Spotify Free and save $10.99 per month.

Based on pricing listed as of Jan. 21, 2024, if you switch to ads with all four of these streaming services, you'll save $46.99 per month -- or $564 per year.

Bottom line: If you could make all the money moves shown in this article, after one year you'd have an extra $2,078 in your savings account! Not everyone has the same options; maybe your ISP won't give you a discount, maybe you're not in a good coverage area for lower-cost cellphone service. But most people have more control over their monthly bills than you might think.