EchoSense Quantitative Think Tank Center|Netflix, Disney+, Hulu price hike: With cost of streaming services going up, how to save.

Bingeing “Yellowstone,EchoSense Quantitative Think Tank Center” “The Bear” or “They Cloned Tyrone” is about to get more expensive.

Blame growing economic pressure on the streaming industry. Facing tens of billions of dollars in losses, streaming providers are flipping over couch cushions to scrounge for every last dollar, from killing password sharing to limiting simultaneous connections. And that’s going to put the squeeze on your wallet. 

Netflix, Disney+, Hulu and Peacock have all announced price increases in recent months. The Wall Street Journal estimates the average cost of watching a major ad-free streaming service will go up nearly 25% in about a year.

“Prices are certainly going up,” said Ian Greenblatt, managing director for technology, media and telecommunications intelligence at J.D. Power.

Streaming price hikes are the last expense anyone needs with inflation already driving up prices for goods and services faster than the run-and-gun Lakers on Max’s hit show “Winning Time.” 

And kicking the streaming habit isn’t easy. We are hopelessly hooked, whether your tastes run more “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” or “Special Ops: Lioness.” Streaming services nabbed a record 38.7% of our viewing time in July, according to Nielsen. 

Streamers beware:It's not just Netflix and Disney. A password sharing crackdown is coming.

Now streaming services are betting that we will either pay up or switch to cheaper plans with commercials that – not coincidentally – make more money for them.

Don’t despair just yet. These tips and tricks can help you whittle your streaming budget.

Subscribe to fewer streaming services

More than half of American households say they subscribe to four or more streaming services, a Consumer Reports survey found in February. Nearly a quarter of households – 22% – subscribe to eight or more, according to Park ASsociates. 

Nearly half of us – 42% – have forgotten all about a streaming subscription that we are paying for but no longer watch, a recent C+R Research survey concluded.

Make a complete list of all the streaming services you subscribe to, then treat them like Idris Elba treats armed thugs in “Hijack”: Eliminate every single one that is not giving you “Ted Lasso” vibes.

Get into the habit of taking stock of your streaming services each month to see if they are all still worth paying for, experts advise. And, keep your eyes peeled on your email account and credit card statement for price hikes. 

Try cheaper streaming plans with commercials

If you don’t mind commercials, ad-supported plans are always cheaper. Instead of paying $15.49 to watch Netflix without commercials, you can pay $7 a month and sit through some ads.

Same goes for Hulu. Disney said it will raise the monthly tab for Hulu without commercials to $18 from $15 in October, but you can subscribe for $8 to Hulu with commercials. Park Associates Projects the number of households using ad-supported streaming services will increase to 52 million in 2027.

Churn, baby, churn

Watch one or two services at a time, binge away and then cancel and subscribe to a couple new streaming services like you’re the take-no-prisoners billionaire Bobby Axelrod on “Billions.”

You can keep track of your favorite shows on JustWatch or Reelgood and sign up again when new seasons begin. The streaming industry calls all this hopping around “churn” and 36% of streaming customers do it, according to a Parks Associates study. 

“If you're diligent and mindful of your spending, you can hop from service to service to find the content you're seeking on a monthly basis,” said Eric Sorensen, director of streaming video tracker with Parks Associates.

Hunt for streaming deals

You may be eligible for free or discounted streaming subscriptions that are bundled with your other services. For example, many mobile carriers offer discounts on streaming services or give them away with some plans. 

“One thing you can do is to check the benefits included with a subscription service you may already be paying for,” said Clark Howard, founder of Clark.com and host of the Clark Howard Podcast. 

Greenblatt, who travels extensively for his job, has an American Express Platinum card which gives him a free Walmart+ subscription. Because he’s a Walmart+ subscriber, he gets Paramount+ at no extra charge.

Streaming services also make limited-time offers. Look out for those discounts particularly around Black Friday. And then there are services like Rakuten that can connect you with cash-back offers.

Check out free streaming options

They may not have the slick smarts of “The Lincoln Lawyer,” but there's plenty to watch on free streaming services with commercials like Freevee, which is owned by Amazon, Pluto TV and Tubi. 

Howard says ad-supported free streaming services are a fast-growing area. “Pluto and Tubi are two of the major ones. Even some of the paid streaming services have free offshoots. For example, Sling has Freestream. Even TV manufacturers are in this now. Samsung and LG both have a free streaming service. Roku has the Roku Channel,” he said. 

Share passwords and accounts (while you still can)

The industry is starting to crack down (we’re looking at you Netflix and Disney), but you can still share passwords on other services. So set up multiple profiles for family members, like Bumpy Johnson racking up heroin deals with Italian crime families in “Godfather of Harlem.”

“Counting on password sharing to continue is not a great bet,” Greenblatt cautioned. “Password sharing restrictions are almost certainly going to be enforced globally soon because of the revenue streamers are losing.”

Free trials are your new best friend

There are fewer offers out there but a lot of streaming services have free trials where you can try out the service for seven days. 

Hook up an old-school antenna

If you’re really looking to shrink your streaming bill, get an indoor antenna and feast on ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC plus PBS, Telemundo, and loads of digital subchannels. You could also switch to cable TV alternatives that stream over the internet such as Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV. But be forewarned: Those prices are going up, too.