Remember when everybody told us to cut the cord?
Cable was too expensive. Cable had too many channels. Cable had commercials. Cable was yesterday's technology.
So we canceled cable, celebrated our freedom and proudly announced, “I can watch whatever I want!”
Turns out... whatever we want costs $151 a month.
A new report says streaming prices have been climbing at more than three times the rate of inflation since 2022. And suddenly that old cable bill is looking less like the villain and more like a misunderstood friend.
Consider this:
Apple TV launched in 2019 at $4.99 a month. It's now roughly three times that.
Disney+ launched at $6.99 a month without ads. Now you're paying $11.99 for the version WITH ads.
Netflix Premium has jumped 125% since 2013.
And the cheapest tier of Paramount+ is up 80% over the past five years.
Add up all eight major streaming services without ads or bundle commitments and you're looking at about $151 a month.
Four years ago? About $90.
That's a $61-a-month difference.
And here's the kicker: We're still watching commercials.
We cut the cord to escape the cable company, only to recreate the cable package ourselves one $11.99 subscription at a time.
So what's the answer?
Apparently, it's streaming cycling.
The idea is simple. Don't subscribe to everything at once.
Pick one service.
Watch everything you want.
Cancel it.
Move to another service.
Finish your shows there.
Cancel that one.
Move on to the next.
Basically, we're treating streaming subscriptions like gym memberships. Sign up with tremendous optimism, use it for a month, then immediately cancel before they can charge us again.
Streaming cycling is reportedly popular with Gen Z, and honestly, they're onto something.
Because maybe the secret isn't going back to cable.
Maybe it's becoming the world's most aggressive subscription manager.
What's the streaming service you refuse to cancel?
And what's the one you keep paying for even though you haven't watched anything on it in six months?
Because somewhere right now, there's a person paying $15 a month for a streaming service just to watch one show they've already finished.
And that person might be us.
