Netflix just raised their prices again... there goes my budget!

[miralys]

Still contemplating what to do. Will likely drop the DVD option, but not thrilled about their streaming collection sometimes either. Still cheaper than cable and our county library doesn't carry DVDs.

 

[hopemax]

The OP did say $6 would break the budget. ....if that amount hurts a family's finances, then things like high speed internet probably out to be looked at as well.

Let me give you an example, say you frequent a cash only food stand outside your office. You know what you order costs $3. You don't like to carry cash so you only have $3 with you. One morning you take your $3 and find out that the guy raised his price and so the new price is $3.05. That morning, no food for you. It doesn't matter that it's only "5 cents more," you don't have enough money. You could have plenty of money in a bank account but at that moment, you don't have enough.

My budget works a bit like that, in that after accounting for Housing, food, retirement savings, vacation savings, FSA, and all the other things that are higher priority items that the "entertainment" wallet is only filled with what's left. If what I want costs more than what is there, either the money has to come from somewhere else or there isn't enough money to get it. It doesn't matter if the deficit is a penny, a dollar or $100, it's not enough. It doesn't mean there isn't adequate money in the total budget. But I'm not going to start taking money from a higher priority wallet to put in the entertainment wallet.

This, "It's only $____ more" mentality, is where I think a lot of people get into money troubles. The money has to come from somewhere, otherwise you go in a deficit situation. People find themselves spending $3 more on one thing, $5 on another, $10 on another, and have not made any decreases in other areas. And then wonder why at the end of the month they're $100 in the red. Just like water, we'd all notice the gusher in the front yard, but the slow unnoticeable leak can add up to a lot of gallons in the monthly bill. So as it is with money.

 

[hannahdrewmom]

We'll join the ranks of people dropping netflix. I was ok with it for $8 a month but no way for $16.... I might as well get basic cable at that point. And we're cancelling..... hulu plus has been in my sites for a while... guess we'll give that a try.

The thing I find most interesting is if you watch stocks at all their stocks went through the rough the other day. So you can't tell me they are hurting and NEED to raise it. I understand if you want to do it someplace, or for new customers, or to do it in steps over a couple years.... but to double it overnight is just crappy customer service. It won't break our budget and I guess that is what they are hoping most say. But it ticks me off!

 

[DawnM]

BOTH.

I am not currently working. I stay home with the kids. The nearest decent library is 12 miles each way. The others are further, in fact, I think the next closest is 18 miles each way. I have been to that one too before and there wasn't much there either.

You can check them out for (I think) one week at a time. I haven't checked any out lately because I haven't found ANY I liked. There were maybe 2 shelves of DVDs and that was it.

Most of them are things like Time Life series on War or BBC documentaries.

This is the largest city in NC so I would expect better.

Dawn

Dawn...are you saying your library doesn't let you check them out like mine, or that it doesn't have a lot of movies? I have friends who have library cards near work because their local library doesn't have much, so you might want to look at libraries in nearby cities that you go through often to see if they're better. We drive past the city library just a couple blocks from home to go to the county library near where my kids have weekly classes because it has a much better selection.

 

[college_student]

So are they now going to offer new releases and all their other movies in their system streaming? Right now, anytime I want to watch a specific movie title (not browse around for a movie), it's hardly ever available to stream. It's just on DVD. Why would I pay for just streaming if the movies I want to watch aren't available to stream?

 

[GinnyEmma]

Per the quality of the Netflux discs, we have been very lucky. Maybe 3 or 4 problems over the course of several years.

 

[NYEmomma]

NYE...if you don't watch a move in 12 days (4 days check out x 2 renewals), then doesn't Netflix end up being quite expensive for you, since if I understand Netflix you don't get another movie until your return the one you have....no late fees or fines, but you could keep it for an entire month and it be the only one you have but you still pay the same fee and the people who watch it the night they receive it, return it the next day and have another one in 2 days or whatever...so they can watch a dozen movies a month for the same fee? That's what I love about the library, if I don't end up getting to watch it all I'm out is the effort of carrying it home and back, lol.

We only do the 1 DVD at a time plan, so it was only $2 more a month or something like that on top of the streaming. At that rate, it made sense for us. Sometimes we'd watch a movie within 4-5 days of getting it, more often than not, it's a good 2 weeks or so before we get around it.

$7.99 per month for us to watch 2 DVD isn't worth it... hence why we're going to cancel that & just keep streaming.

 

[VirataMama4]

We've had Netflix for about a year and the quality of the DVDs/Blu-Rays has really gone down hill in the past 6 months for us... We have had to return 6-7 movies because they were unwatchable. The latest was the newest Narnia on Sunday night and we couldn't watch the last 30 minutes of it. Very disappointing.

 

[DawnM]

I did get an email this evening announcing the changes.

Dawn

 

[Plumeria9]

I'm going to have to think about it. Most of Netflix streaming is duplicated for us thru Amazon with our Amazon Prime and we use Amazon Prime extensively for the free two day shipping. I've considered dropping Netflix a few times anyway because I'm not sure we need both.

And yeah, if somebody is dying for a movie rental there's always Redbox. I think it just might be time to pay as we go rather than committing to a plan. It's not like they won't take us back if we change our minds later.

What do you think about Amazon's instant video streaming? When it first came out I was tempted to jump ship, now I'm really tempted because I had a 3 month trial of the prime membership and it was great to get that 2 day free shipping w/ any purchase, and now it includes the video streaming. Tell me about it, thanks so much!!!

 

[Plumeria9]

We've had Netflix for about a year and the quality of the DVDs/Blu-Rays has really gone down hill in the past 6 months for us... We have had to return 6-7 movies because they were unwatchable. The latest was the newest Narnia on Sunday night and we couldn't watch the last 30 minutes of it. Very disappointing.

Yeah that has happened to us 3 times. The last time it happened last week I called them up and asked for an additional disc to be sent out since it seems to happen so much. The guy was more than happy to do so, and said that whenever that happens (messed up disc) give them a call and they can send out another disc. So I was happy w/ Netflix for a week and now this. Bogus!

 

[Plumeria9]

I will probably drop the disc service and just utilize the Redbox. We have several in my immediate area now and hopefully there will be no new surprises w/ that service. Also check out Amazon's video streaming which includes the prime membership, $79/yr which includes free 2 day shipping on any Amazon.com as the seller items! Now I need a Roku..

 

[java]

I will probably drop the disc service and just utilize the Redbox. We have several in my immediate area now and hopefully there will be no new surprises w/ that service. Also check out Amazon's video streaming which includes the prime membership, $79/yr which includes free 2 day shipping on any Amazon.com as the seller items! Now I need a Roku..

ooh I'll have to check that out!

Right now if I drop Blue Ray and go to one disc at a time my plan will actually cost less. Keeping blue and 1 at a time same price as my current 2 at a time. *(which we never watch anyway)

Plus noticing that they are adding more to instant- 3 in my dvd list are on there now. what to do what to do......

 

[LuvSulley]

I think I'm going to drop the DVD portion and just keep stream. I would have to watch at least 7 DVDs a month to make it worth it and I haven't been finding much to watch lately. Has anyone tried Blockbuster online? Their cheapest plan is more expensive but I didn't know you can rent game and/or movies.

 

[ellone]

I will probably drop the disc service and just utilize the Redbox. We have several in my immediate area now and hopefully there will be no new surprises w/ that service. Also check out Amazon's video streaming which includes the prime membership, $79/yr which includes free 2 day shipping on any Amazon.com as the seller items! Now I need a Roku..

Also be on the lookout for Amazon's instant video special. One movie is on special everyday for either 1.99 or .99 - they usually have 3 on sale on the weekends. We don't watch many movies so this usually works out best for us. We find 1 or 2 movies we like to see during the month this way.

 

[kimmyann]

We just have the one movie at a time & streaming. I pay $9.98 w/out tax now & with the increase it will be $15.98. Adds up to a $73.00 increase over a year. Nevermind, I'll just use Redbox or Blockbuster express. We don't watch enough movies to justify the cost, plus we have quite a few free movie channels through our cable provider.

 

[Pooh2]

We are considering canceling altogether as well and look into alternatives.

 

[karinbelle]

We exclusively stream our Netflix with our Roku box. We will keep the service (we did not opt for the DVD option).

As a replacement for our DirecTV, it is a money saver.

We would go to Redbox if we can't find anything on streaming (but we always find something...)

We also have HuluPlus, but use it rarely. I am considering dropping it as we do not get our money worth out of the subscription.

For those of you thinking of Amazon Prime - I'm a member through Amazon Mom, but the free Prime does not include the streaming option. That's an additional $79 per month.

 

[fakereadhed]

I bet with the popularity of streaming, they are trying to phase out DVDs. Lots of people will drop the DVD portion and in a year or so they will say it's not as popular and drop them altogether. Just my guess.

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

We have the one DVD out a time + streaming now and pay $10.79/month. My DH usually gets the DVDs and DD streams episodes of LOST. I never even use it. DH & I discussed it and we don't think it's worth it to pay the $15.98/month so we'll be cancelling. It was a fun little perk but not worth it to us anymore.

We have a RedBox at the Kroger right up the street from us so we'll use that.
And....shhhhh....we were getting DD the boxset of Lost for her b-day anyway.