Want to go crazy? Try signing up for several streaming services

Hasn’t it occurred to any of the streaming services that we can add? AND notice the number of bills showing up in our mail or email?

I love going to the movies. So before I go into the irritation of monthly bills, here’s a shout-out to my nearby single screen theatre showing foreign, documentary, and top drawer small movies. Its schedule can be seen at http://www.newplazacinema.com if you’re in the NYC area. They have a single movie price of $13 for a senior movie (including fees). I use my AMC A-List membership for the larger budget movies that NPC is always my first choice.

Here are the four programs/memberships I pay for. The first two charge automatically to my credit card (no paper). I handle Amazon by crediting my account each month with a set figure that I’ve estimated will cover my normal purchases (avoids nickle and dime records for small purchases). Standard cable is mostly billed with my monthly maintenance fee for my co-op.

(1) AMC’s A-List program. Costs $23.95 for up to three movies a week, including first run movies and IMAX. At this term of year, it’s incredibly easy to fill every one of those slots. An IMAX senior ticket is $22.49 and a regular senior ticket is $13.49 — so the membership pays for itself if I go to two movies a month.

(2) Netflix. A minimum streaming HD plan that automatically includes two screens (no CDs) is $12.95.

(3) Amazon Prime. The annual rate is $119.95 but it’s almost impossible to carve out the portion that attributed to Prime Video or to the free books that aren’t available if you are also a member of Kindle Unlimited. (I buy the latter a year at a time when it’s discounted by 40% on Amazon Prime Day).

(4) Standard cable. The first three items above total $41.90, but I feel I need standard cable also. I live in a co-op that has a terrific monthly rate of $46.87. I keep cable for the Weather Channel, Channel One, PBS, and all the other channels included in the standard package. So the total is $88.77 which is, I gather, a deal.

Other ones I’d like but not if I have to pay:

(1) HBO. I can add this to my free Roku but the free trial is only seven days. After that it’s $14.99. So I wait until whatever series intrigues is finished for the season, then binge during the free trial (as I did all those seasons of “Game of Thrones.” A pain, but no choice.

(2) Showtime. $10.99 after the seven day free trial. I enjoy “Billions” but have nothing else there I want to watch.

(3) Apple TV. $4.99/month after seven days. Is there anything there?

(4) Disney + $6.99 a month or $69.90 a year after a seven day trial. I would very much like to see “Mandalorian” but will wait for my free trial until after the full season is available.

(5) Hulu. I have a family account but there was an incredible $1.99/month sale over Black Friday. They do have award winning shows.