Ever wonder why your subscription plans feel out of control? With so many streaming services competing to bring anything you could ever want to watch straight to your living room, you would be justified in feeling overwhelmed.
While it's natural for most of us to stick to what we're used to, this can sometimes lead to a feeling known as subscription fatigue, where we get fed up with even our favorite streamers like Netflix or Prime Video.
Luckily, though, there are ways to manage it without cancelling everything or breaking the bank on even more, novel subscriptions.
First Off, What is Subscription Fatigue?
Think of it along the lines of "Superhero Fatigue", when Marvel and DC fans hit a plateau back in 2023 due to an overwhelm of content released in a few short years from both major comic book franchises.
While its origins are similar, subscription fatigue is usually harder to escape.
According to a survey done by Express VPN, content streaming was respondents' most frequently used type of digital subscription and their preferred way of consuming shows and movies, which made it a fixture in their everyday lives and, therefore, much harder to pull away from.
Still, there are a few things you can do to prevent subscription fatigue from taking over – or combating the emotional toll it can take if it sets in.
Cancelling Subscriptions Is Not So Bad
The convenient thing about subscriptions is you can always cancel when you get tired of them (if you remember, before the monthly renewal comes around).
Think you're experiencing subscription fatigue from, for example, Netflix? Cancel it, then reconsider when new content you might be interested in begins popping up again.
The only downside is when you eagerly want to watch something and you start to realize your subscription plan has been put on pause. So it's worth thinking carefully before you hit that unsubscribe button.
These Services Could Help
Juggling more than one subscription plan is not ideal, but most of us do it nowadays. At any rate, this calls for another, different subscription or software to help you organize, keep track of, cancel, and even ensure the security of each subscription.
Luckily, there are services that offer this for free, such as VPNs, Rocket Money, Truebill, and Trim, to mention just a few. The main advantage with these services is being able to keep all your subscriptions in one place, while also helping to budget your time and money in a way that suits you.
If All Else Fails, Choose the Cheaper Bundle Plans
But if you're determined to keep all your subscriptions and manage them yourself, do yourself a favor and choose the cheaper bundle plans
. Along with the emotional fatigue, it can get downright expensive to juggle so many subscriptions – especially if you're taking a break from some of them.
Most streaming platforms nowadays offer two or three different subscription bundle plans to help viewers decide how much of their budget they want to dedicate to streaming and how many screens they plan on using it on – the standard and the premium plan.
Generally, the premium option offers more screens, better screen quality, and an ad-free viewing experience.
However, if consumers are not looking into sharing their account on multiple devices or having HD video quality, then standard might be the better plan for now – and it's usually cheaper.