3 Warning Signs You Have Too Many Streaming Services

If you're like most Americans, you probably have multiple streaming services. Gone are the days when streaming just meant Netflix, and you could get it for $8 per month.

Now there's Disney+. Max. Peacock. Apple TV+. Paramount+. Whoever comes up with the names for these services, please, enough with the plus signs.

According to The Motley Fool's State of Streaming survey, 10% of Americans don't even know how much they pay for streaming services. Even though these generally don't cost much individually, they can add up if you have too many of them. Here are a few warning signs to watch out for.

1. You're paying for services you're not using

The danger with subscription services is that you keep getting charged until you cancel them. And people don't always cancel services they've stopped using. Sometimes they forget. Or they figure that it will have something else they want to watch in the future.

There's no reason to pay for a streaming service you're not using. Even if you think you'll want to use it again later, a cancellation doesn't need to be forever. You can always resubscribe.

Do the occasional streaming audit to see if you're paying for services you don't need anymore. If you're on the fence about one, consider a temporary cancellation. Cancel it for now to see if you miss it or if you're fine without it.

2. You're experiencing "streaming overload"

Having a lot of options isn't necessarily a good thing. I'm reminded of that every time I go to one of those restaurants with a menu that seemingly never ends. It's nice to have some options, but eventually, you reach a tipping point where it becomes overwhelming.

A 2022 Nielsen report found that about half of streaming users in the United States had reached that point of "streaming overload." There are so many services, and so much content across those services, that it's hard to pick something to watch.

If you often find yourself doing more scrolling than watching, it may be time to take a break from a few streaming services. Pick one or two services with shows you really want to watch and ditch the rest for the time being.

3. Paying the fees is making it harder to reach your financial goals

Paying for several streaming services is fine if you're in a good financial position. If you're not carrying any balances on your credit cards, and you're saving and investing 20% of your income every month, then your streaming costs probably aren't a big deal.

But if you're having trouble reaching your financial goals, then it's worth taking a closer look at how much you spend on streaming. For example, if you're trying to get out of credit card debt, spending $120 per month on streaming wouldn't be the best idea. If you cut those costs in half, you'd have an extra $60 per month to put toward your credit card balances, which would help you pay them down much more quickly.

Streaming services are rarely anyone's biggest monthly expense, but they can end up costing you more money than you realize. If any of those warning signs rang a bell for you, go through your current subscriptions and see which ones you could do without. There could be at least one or two you don't need, and canceling them is an easy way to save money every month.