Speaking of cord cutting, LB’s been using this sneaky little route to financial, um, equilibrium, for years. Well, the last few months anyway. We’re happy to pass it on to you:
by Jared Newman
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: There are too many subscription services—so many, in fact, that you might even forget that they’re silently siphoning away your funds.
There are a lot of ways to deal with this problem, from maintaining and auditing a subscription list, to setting cancellation reminders. But here’s a better idea: Unless you’re certain about keeping a streaming video subscription for the long haul, just cancel it immediately after signing up.
Not everyone realizes this, but once you’ve paid for a month of HBO Now, CBS All Access, or pretty much any other streaming TV service, you are entitled to that full month even after you’ve cancelled. These companies don’t do prorated refunds, which is unfortunate if you forget to cancel a free trial, but it’s great for avoiding automatic renewal in the first place. With so many new services offering their own exclusive shows, subscribing in one-month increments is a great way to keep your monthly TV bill in check.
There is one caveat to this trick: If you sign up for a video service through a streaming TV device such as Roku, Fire TV, or Apple TV, chances are you won’t be able to cancel through that same device. Most streaming video providers only let you cancel service through their websites, so you’ll need to keep a phone or computer handy to prevent having your subscription renewed automatically….