I Added a Streaming Service to My Personal Lineup When I Already Pay for 3. Here's Why That Was Actually a Smart Move

Prior to December 2023, my family subscribed to three different streaming services. And I was pretty convinced that those three were enough.

But over my kids' winter break at the tail end of 2023, one of my daughters mentioned a movie her friend had suggested she watch. The problem? It was playing on Peacock, a service we didn't have.

We decided to sign up that month to give my daughter access to the movie, which all of my kids watched together and enjoyed. But rather than drop the service like we originally planned, we've held onto it since. And that's a decision that's paid off well financially.

When you can stay busy at a minimal cost

The cost of a regular Peacock subscription is $5.99 a month or $59.99 a year plus tax. If you want your content ad-free (which I do), you'll need to pay an extra $6 per month or $60 per year plus tax.

Since we weren't sure we'd want to keep Peacock beyond the one-month mark, we signed up to pay monthly. Soon, we'll probably convert our subscription to a yearly membership to save a little money. But so far, the roughly $12 per month we've been paying has been more than worth it.

Over my kids' winter break, my family watched not just the one, but several movies on the service. Meanwhile, the cost of a single adult movie theater ticket where I live is about $12. So the way I see it, replacing one family movie theater outing with a Peacock movie already paid for several months of the service.

My family tends to be a bit less busy during the winter than the remainder of the year, largely due to outdoor sports being on hold due to the cold. So it's a time when we may be more apt to spend money on indoor entertainment outside the home to stay occupied.

This winter, we hunkered down for many weekends and enjoyed different shows on Peacock. One Sunday, we opted to stay in for a Psych marathon (it's a show about a pretend psychic who works with the police) instead of going bowling. The bowling outing would've cost over $100, and my kids were more than happy to ditch that plan when I suggested that we instead curl up on the couch with some Psych and popcorn.

Don't kick yourself for spending money on streaming services

You may be inclined to give yourself a hard time if you're subscribed to multiple streaming services. But in reality, these services can do the trick of providing many hours of entertainment at a pretty low cost.

Of course, it doesn't make sense to pay for a streaming service you don't actually use. But if you have a few already and decide to add another to your lineup, don't automatically assume that's a poor choice.

Let's say you decide to sign up for Peacock at about $12 per month, and you watch three hours of it a week. Well, you're paying $1 an hour to stay busy. Where else can you spend that little?

All told, I don't regret getting Peacock. If anything, I may cancel one of the other streaming services we were subscribed to and keep Peacock around for a while. Or, maybe I won't. Either way, I can justify the cost of these services easily, so I'm not really going to pressure myself to part with them.