Just in the interest of full disclosure, since I'm acting all high and mighty about subscription pricing, the TextExpander teapot tempest had me wonder, "How much am I mindlessly shelling out each month?"

It's not too bad, but it's more than I would've guessed. That said, I'm being pretty fair here. I'm pretending the only reason I have Amazon Prime is for the shows, but that's not exactly true [at all].

And I buy my iTunes "dollars" at a discount by getting gift cards on sale. And I'm including some stuff I didn't subscribe to the last year, but think are likely enough to add. Though, admittedly, I could fall onto the Netflix and/or Sling wagons for an extra month during the year.

I think the most important thing, and what I rarely hear others say they're doing, is that I only subscribe when there's something we know we want to watch. So the monthly prices are all over the place.

Below the reasons for each service is a "calendar" of when I'm subscribed.

Service
 Reason
Netflix Daredevil, House of Cards, Kimmy Schmidt
iTunes Store The Americans, Better Call Saul
Sling Monday Night Football (team specific), NCAA tournament (team specific), NBA Playoffs
HBO Game of Thrones
Showtime Homeland, Ray Donovan, The Affair
Amazon Prime Shipping, but also Prime Video and Prime Music Streaming
MLB.tv Nationals games usually one month out of the year
At Bat Premium Radio broadcasts + free game of the day

Month Services Prices Monthly Total w/ Yearly Yearly Services Monthly Price
Jan n/a $0.00 $0.00 $11.59 Amazon Prime $8.25
Feb Netflix $8.00 $18.00 $29.59 iTunes orders:
The Americans
Better Call Saul		 $23* yr
$17* yr
$40/yr, or $3.34 a month.
Mar Netflix, Sling* $8 + $20 $28.00 $39.59
Apr At Bat, Sling $3 + $20 $23.00 $34.59
May At Bat, HBO, Sling $3 + $15 + $20 $38.00 $49.59 One-time purchases
Jun At Bat, HBO $3 + $15 $18.00 $29.59 ChannelMaster DVR+ $175.00
Jul At Bat $3-$25 $25.00 $36.59 Winegard HD8200U Antenna $140.00
Aug At Bat/MLB.tv* $3.00 $3.00 $14.59 Old hard drive for DVR+ "$0"
Sep At Bat $3.00 $3.00 $14.59

Oct Sling* $20.00 $20.00 $31.59

Nov n/a $0.00 $0.00 $11.59

Dec Showtime $9 $9.00 $20.59

Yearly Total

$185.00 $324.08


*Notes:
  • Sling in March is dependent on which teams are in the tournament. (Didn't subscribe this year, for instance.)
  • MLB.tv in July is just a guess. I usually only watch a month or so of games, and it floats which I pick, usually right after the All-Star Break.
  • Sling in October is contingent on "my" team being on Monday Night Football. Usually only happens once or twice a year. Once last season, eg.
  • iTunes prices are actually lower, since I buy when gift cards are on sale.

So about $27 a month. Sheesh. I mean, much cheaper than Dish's $50 a month, which wouldn't carry many of these shows at that tier, but still significant. Danged sports, robbing me blind.
Oh, come on. You love html tables with borders, circa 1996.

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