I’m a TV expert – four tech tips to make your screen habits cheaper

THERE are plenty of ways to save money on your TV habit – if you know how.

Streaming platforms save you from endlessly surfing cable, but the bills can quickly add up.

You could be paying too much for not enough service

From oversubscribing to underutilizing TV apps, here are some of the mistakes viewers make and how to fix them – including a top tip from the experts at Which?.

Subscribing to too many services

When The Office was pulled from Netflix and moved over to NBC’s platform Peacock, fans had no choice but to sign up to get their fix of Michael Scott.

But this doesn’t mean they canceled their Netflix subscription – now many users just have two services and two bills. 

A tip for users that are doubling up on services is to simply look at what you’re watching on each platform.

For example, if you’re using Peacock solely to watch The Office, a cheaper alternative might be to just buy a couple of your favorite episodes from Amazon Prime for $1.99 apiece instead of paying monthly for an additional service.

Tapping into older tech

Most modern televisions are “smart TVs” – meaning they offer a direct connection to the internet.

But many older models don’t have this capability and shelling out funds for a new TV is certainly more expensive than a smart streaming plan.

Laptops, tablets and even your phone can be rigged to connect to nearly every TV via cables inserted into the HDMI port.

You’ll likely need an adapter to connect your laptop to your TV’s HDMI port with a cable. Adapters can be had for under $10 on Amazon.

Connecting your laptop to your television can offer a window for reducing your Netflix bill.

Netflix’s basic plan, the cheapest option at $9.99 a month, only allows for one screen to play content at any given time.

By pairing your laptop with your television, you can stream content on your TV, open a new window and watch something else on your computer at the same time.

It’s a trick to get two screens out of a plan that only allows one. 

Pick up the phone

Which? reported that calling cable providers at the end of a contract can yield considerable savings. 

For those that hate talking on the phone, most companies have developed online chats that allow for messaging between the customer and a representative.

Savings can be as high as $140.

Cutting the cord

Dropping cable has been a keystone of monthly savings since studios began developing in-house streaming services.

You can access tens of thousands of hours’ worth of content on streaming services that don’t require a year-long contract – picking the right streamer for you is the trick.

If you can’t go without live TV for news or sports, Hulu is probably right for you.

In a package deal, you can get Hulu, their live TV package, Disney+ and ESPN+ for $69.99 a month. 

Disney+ has about 8,000 hours worth of content, and you can catch all your live news and sports as part of the bundle.

The sheer volume of content available is enough to make picking a cable service or streaming provider tricky enough.

But there are savings to be had – you just have to look in the right place and make adjustments that work for the streamers in your home.