You worked hard for this money — now make it work for you.
Artem Bali via Unsplash
In the last few years, online subscription services such as Netflix and Spotify have exploded in popularity and scope, and more are coming. Apple, for example, announced new offerings today, and Disney is expected to break similar news later this year.
With so much content and choice, deciding how to spend your hard-earned cash can be hard. Want to stretch every dollar to get maximum value? We’re here to offer some advice.
The best ways to spend $50 a month
Spotify
Spotify works on just about every gadget around.
Spotify
If you want access to unlimited music, Spotify ($10 a month) is a good place to start. It offers more than 40 million songs, built-in podcast support, and unlimited listening across various devices (including phones, smart speakers, and computers).
Suppose you’re heavily invested in iPhones, HomePods, or any other kit from the Apple ecosystem. In that case, Apple Music might be a better way to spend that $10, especially if you’ve already got a ton of playlists set up in iTunes.
Both Spotify and Apple Music offer a family package for $15 a month. This allows you to add up to five people to the same account as long as everyone lives at the same address. If you’ve got kids, it’s a no-brainer. Ultimately, we consider Spotify the better buy, as it works with more devices and offers a broader range of features.
With your remaining $35-$40, Netflix is a must-have. The top-end, full-fat, 4K Ultra HD premium package is yours for $16 every month, giving you access to the highest-resolution content, four simultaneous streams, and the ability to download some shows and movies on up to four devices.
Netflix offers a host of classic and contemporary media and has a rapidly growing collection of originals. These include Roma, a drama that won Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Oscars, and the science fiction horror series Stranger Things.
That leaves you with $19-$24 in your budget, which makes an Audible subscription worth considering if you’re looking for something different. For $15 a month, Audible gives you access to audiobooks, special member offers, offline listening, and more.
The best ways to spend $75 a month
Hulu
Hulu is available with or without live TV.
Hulu
If you’ve got a bigger budget, Hulu is a good companion for Netflix. At $12 a month, you won’t have to watch ads, and, like Netflix, you’ll get a nice blend of traditional programming and original content. There’s also the option to add a live TV for $51 a month (though that would put you above the budgets we’ve set out here).
At first glance, another $12 for YouTube Premium might seem excessive, but it’s worth a look if you spend a lot of time on the video-sharing site. Premium removes all advertising on YouTube (a bigger bonus than you might think) and includes a YouTube Music subscription.
In addition to ad-free access to all the video and music YouTube offers, Premium lets you download videos to your devices for offline playback and keep YouTube playing in the background on your phone.
Those of you who love the way YouTube and Google services work might also want to consider YouTube TV at $40 a month, though you’ll have to cut out a couple of the services we’ve already mentioned to be able to afford it.
If you spend more time talking to your Amazon Echo and ordering goods online than watching YouTube, consider an Amazon Prime subscription, which costs $13 monthly. With Prime, you’ll get faster shipping and a host of other extras, most of which are accessible to Amazon Prime Video (boasting titles such as British motoring series, The Grand Tour) and Amazon Prime Music.
The best ways to spend $100 a month
Tidal
Tidal’s big selling point is high-fidelity music.
David Nield
Put $100 a month aside for subscriptions, and you can really build a comprehensive suite of digital services. In addition to everything we’ve already mentioned, consider the high-fidelity music service Tidal, which offers streaming music at lossless quality, plus perks and exclusives, for $20 a month.
On the TV front, a bigger budget lets you pick and choose services from specific providers. For example, you can sign up for HBO Now for $15 without a cable package and stream shows like Game of Thrones and True Detective to multiple devices wherever you are.
If you find yourself with spare cash at the end of the month, it’s a good idea to bump up the online storage you’ve got available. Apple sells cloud storage from $1 a month for 50GB of space, Google storage starts at $2 a month for 100GB, and Dropbox will give you 1TB of space for $10 a month. That means more room for photos, videos, documents, and anything else you need to store.
Dropbox
Dropbox brings your files to all of your devices.
Dropbox
Another service worth subscribing to is a VPN or Virtual Private Network. Its benefits include keeping you safe on public Wi-Fi networks, making it harder for hackers and government agencies to track your browsing habits, and more. Prices vary across services but are typically in the $3-7 a month range, depending on how long you want your commitment to last.
Of course, feel free to mix and match our suggestions to fit your interests and your budget. If you love TV, you can get Hulu’s live TV package and YouTube TV for $91 a month, leaving you a few spare dollars for some cloud storage.
On the other hand, if you want to sample everything that streaming music services offer, you can sign up for individual Spotify and Apple Music plans for a total of $20 a month, then add Tidal for another $20. The up-and-coming Deezer (from $10 a month) and Google’s YouTube Music ($10 a month) are also worth a look, meaning you could spend $60 on music services alone.
