You're throwing away money on Netflix – I found three common mistakes sending your bill soaring but the fixes are easy
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DON’T let costly TV subscriptions empty your bank account all through 2025.
There are easy ways to trim your TV bills, and the savings can be enormous.
NetflixMake sure you’re getting the best value for money from your Netflix subscription[/caption]
TOTAL PLAN-IC!
One of the easiest mistakes to make is paying for the wrong kind of plan.
This is surprisingly easy to do with Netflix, so you should check your account right away.
The top Netflix subscription is called Premium, and it costs a fairly hefty £17.99 in the UK and $22.99 in the US.
It has several perks, but the main advantage of Premium is that you can watch 4K Ultra HD content.
Netflix has loads of 4K telly and movies on offer, so it sounds like a cracking deal.
The problem is that you might not actually be getting a 4K picture.
For a start, if your TV isn’t 4K then you won’t see an Ultra HD image even if you’re paying for the top Netflix plan.
Instead, you’ll be capped at whatever the maximum resolution of your TV screen is.
Similarly, anyone streaming with a plug-in box needs to make sure that supports 4K too.
For instance, your Amazon Fire Stick or Roku device need to be 4K models – or you won’t see an Ultra HD picture, even with a 4K TV.
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This is an easy mistake to make, especially as the cheapest Amazon and Roku plug-in streamers typically aren’t 4K-friendly.
So that might be cutting you off from the best-quality picture.
Lastly, if you’re mostly watching on smartphones and tablets then you’ll want to check the resolution on those devices.
Most phones and tablets don’t have 4K screens – and it’s less important anyway because the pixels are packed into such a small space.
What is 4K, Ultra HD and UHD?
Here's an easy guide to what 4K means...
4K, Ultra HD and UHD are all different names for the same type of TV screen. 4K refers to the number of pixels on your TV screen – or the “image resolution”
The pixels are the tiny dots of colour that make up the image you see on your telly. A pixellated image is one where the pixels are really obvious, because there aren’t many. But images with lots of pixels – like a 4K movie – generally look sharper and clearer
A true 4K screen has 4096 x 2160 pixels. That means on your TV screen there are 3840 pixels across, and 2160 pixels vertically. That’s roughly 8.3 million pixels on the display in total
4K gets it’s name because it’s got four times the number of pixels as a standard Full HD TV
Full HD (or 1080p) screens have 1920 pixels across, and 1080 pixels going upwards – for around two million pixels in total. So 4K just means your TV has many more pixels on the screen compared to a more common Full HD display
Ultra HD, or UHD, is basically the same as 4K. If you buy a UHD telly in a shop, you’ll be able to watch 4K content on it with no bother
But there is a small difference. Almost every TV you ever buy has an aspect ratio of 16:9. That means for every 16 pixels horizontally, there are 9 vertically
True 4K footage doesn’t quite fit in with that ratio, so you won’t often find TVs with 4096 x 2160 pixels. Instead, to fit with the 16:9 ratio, most 4K TVs will have 3840 x 2160 pixels instead
If it doesn’t make sense, grab a calculator and divide 2160 by 9. Then multiply it by 16, and you’ll get 3840. That’s the aspect ratio working its magic. So when you see an Ultra HD TV, it just means it’s a 4K image with slightly fewer vertical pixels
If you try watching a 4K video on a non-4K TV, the video will still play – but it won’t be in 4K quality. To watch a 4K video in 4K quality, you’ll need to fork out for a 4K TV. Similarly, if you’re watching standard or HD footage on a 4K TV, it won’t magically become 4K quality
Some TVs promise “4K upscaling”, which converts your standard or HD footage to near-4K quality. This works by using software to guess what colours would fill the extra empty pixels missing in HD footage, and then filling them in. This creates a 4K-like effect, but it’s not true 4K
So if you’re not getting the 4K picture you’d hoped for, consider downgrading to Standard – it’s way cheaper at £10.99 in the UK and $15.49 in the US.
You’ll save a whopping £84 in the UK and $90 in the US over the course of a year by switching down.
Standard will still give you multiple-device streaming, downloadable offline content, and Full HD viewing – as well as the same library of content.
IT ALL ADS UP
Choosing to view ads is another clever way to save money on Netflix.
There’s a Standard with Ads plan that dramatically reduces the amount of money you’re paying each month.
It’s very similar to the Standard plan, but with commercials interrupting you content.
If you don’t mind that then it’s an easy way to save.
You’ll still be able to stream and download on two devices simultaneously – and the telly is capped at Full HD.
NETFLIX PRICES AND PERKS – HOW MUCH ARE YOU PAYING?
Here's what you need to know...
Netflix Standard with Ads
Price: £4.99 / $6.99
Ad-supported, all but a few movies and TV shows available, unlimited mobile games
Watch on 2 supported devices at a time
Watch in 1080p (Full HD)
Download on 2 supported devices at a time
Netflix Standard
Price: £10.99 / $15.49
Unlimited ad-free movies, TV shows, and mobile games
Watch on 2 supported devices at a time
Watch in 1080p (Full HD)
Download on 2 supported devices at a time
Option to add 1 extra member who doesn’t live with you
Netflix Premium
Price: £17.99 / $22.99
Unlimited ad-free movies, TV shows, and mobile games
Watch on 4 supported devices at a time
Watch in 4K (Ultra HD) + HDR
Download on 6 supported devices at a time
Option to add up to 2 extra members who don’t live with you
Netflix spatial audio
Picture Credit: Netflix
The big upside is that the monthly fee is just £4.99 in the UK and $6.99 in the US.
That equates to a mammoth saving of £156 or $192 versus a Premium plan.
HOT SWAP
Possibly the best tip is to simply kill your Netflix membership for most of the year.
There are two things to think about here.
Firstly, there are loads of free services offering up ad-supported telly, including apps like:
Tubi
‘Free to Watch’ on Prime Video (formerly Amazon Freevee)
The Roku Channel
Pluto TV
Plex
Combine them all together and you might find yourself being able to bin Netflix.
They even serve up live channels in addition to their vast libraries of on-demand content.
THE ROKU CHANNEL EXPLAINED – FREE TV FOR YOU!
Here's what you need to know
The Roku Channel is a streaming app that’s available on a range of devices.
It offers more than 400 live TV channels.
And it promises over 80,000 movies and TV shows on an on-demand basis.
Roku says that the app is available on:
Roku streaming devices
Compatible Samsung Smart TVs
Compatible Amazon Fire TV devices
TheRokuChannel.com website
Roku mobile apps (iOS and Android)
Roku notes that the app is only available in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It’s also available in Mexico, but only on Roku devices.
Picture Credit: Roku
Secondly, think about the services that you are paying for – and then make a list.
If you have three or four TV apps, only keep an active subscription to one for a month.
Watch all of its tops movies and shows, cancel it, and move on to the next.
Repeat that with a third or fourth subscription, and then by the month after, you can cycle back to the first app.
That way you get to watch all of the top shows for each app in a year – but you’re only paying for each service for a few months.
It’s one of the easiest ways to significantly reduce your TV bills in 2025.
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