The problem with the BBC is I suspect that “W1A” was not a work of fiction.
They’ve allowed quality, experience and real talent out the door and replaced a lot of that largely with the focus on ‘fresh’ and ‘diverse’ but now with quality often being somewhere down-ways in the mix…There’s a reason that Gold, Dave etc. not only exist but thrive and why even now Saturday night on BBC 1 shows old episodes of Parky!
I don’t know how old your son is, but does he need four subscriptions? If so he should probably pay for them, by getting a job. And do you really need Netflix, Disney and Paramount? Would one suffice. You’re creating your own problem here.
All we have is Cinema Paradiso, Tidal and a £2.99 Apple storage plan.
Hope you’re paying your TV Licence too…
Nice to hear we’re not the only ones that feel this way. After Netflix raised their subscription last year we decided to cancel it and now only have Prime and Tidal. It took a while but I’ve convinced my two teens that Tidal is all they need for music.
I’ll watch the occasional show on Prime, but it’s become harder and harder to find something decent to watch. We might have movie night if we have someone over. Otherwise I’m enjoying my new Nait50/Auralic Vega S1 setup too much. 
So much on Prime is utter rubbish - in fact, there’s little on any of the sub. streams worth watching… 
It’s a big list! 
Yep, annually by direct debit.
When my stepfather died a few years ago, I was the executor - he had 5 or 6 monthly direct debits for things like World Wildlife Fund and some insurance policies that had been going on for ages and he had apparently no knowledge of or had forgotten about
Of course none of those organizations or companies ever bothered to contact him - that is until I cancelled the orders - They were quick enough to contact us then
When my dad died, we discovered he had home plumbing insurance with Homesure.
When I phoned them to cancel the insurance, I mentioned he hadn’t lived at his property for over 12 months.
They refunded his last annual payment. 
A reasonable question.
He’s a young teen and his current sensible circle of school-friends are all into the gaming stuff, most using a variety of hardware platforms. These subscriptions largely replace regular ‘pocket money’ as they are paid for by credit card and he is too young to have one. Probably a little young to get a job but I value his help around the house/garden enough to believe I get fair value for money in return.
Equally on balance I suspect the subscriptions are better value overall than buying multiple physical games as we often used to which lose their appeal and value over time. The subscriptions offer more variety for your money especially the Xbox Game Pass.
If I’m honest I’d always planned to try many of these modern games myself but rarely do so as I have plenty of other interests.
Crunchyroll is odd as it’s quite a niche anime/manga type channel and much of the content is unavailable on other streaming services. If he didn’t use it he’d tell me to cancel.
Perhaps I should just give regular pocket money and let him choose which services to spend it on by reimbursing me each month.
As for all the streaming services, I’m unlikely to cancel Amazon Prime which I can justify from delivery fee savings, though I would not subscribe to Prime TV were it not bundled with Prime.
Always firmly believed in buying physical media in years gone by - VHS/DVD/BluRay etc - but even several streaming services are probably cheaper than a maxed out Sky Package and all the physical media I used to buy which are now all of little value and in storage boxes.
I mentioned a few months ago that ‘family viewing’ is harder as our tastes are diverging as the kids get older - much harder to find things we all want to watch together but there are still some on most of the streaming services.
I was going to cancel Netflix a few months ago but daughter and Mrs AC were up in arms as they watch a lot of Netflix content together I’d have little interest in.
Paramount+ is the most recent subscription and really for me as there are shows I wanted to see which were unavailable elsewhere. Probably my favourite streaming service currently.
Disney+ despite price hikes is good value compared to all the Disney DVD/BluRays and iTunes purchases of Disney TV Shows when the kids were younger, and it’s not just Disney content.
Many people are tightening their belts these days, and if I had to these services are all clearly expendable luxuries - if they were not used at all they would definitely go or be subscribed to intermittently when something of interest aired.
It’s also incomplete!
Audible
Kindle unlimited
Microsoft 365 (must check expiry and look for a good Amazon redeemable code deal)
Parallels Desktop
A couple of annual techie type subscriptions
Yikes.
Most of my streaming service subscriptions are via Apple - annual plans when available were usually gave you 12 months for the cost of 10 or 11 months.
There were often deals on ‘iTunes Gift Cards’ of up to 15-20% at supermarkets which would make the plans even cheaper but any savings at all are thin on the ground these days.
Prime …… I can get that subscription back easily via coffee beans,loose tea,jam and condiments. It turns a profit.
Quobuz…… It doodles away in the background and on the Atom he
Serious listening via cd and headphones.
Guardian……£12.50 per month. On line.
Audible………£7.99 one book plus a host of freebies.
That’s it! BBC does not figure in my life. I would be quite upset if they decided to tack the licence fee on to my council tax or some other cockanamie scheme. Let those who enjoy it pay for it.
This is probably no longer the case. My granddaughters, one of whom is 10, have debit cards which their pocket money etc is loaded into and they then use those in whatever way. They can’t go into debt, but do learn how to manage the cash they have.
Well yes you need to be an adult (18) for a credit card, but from 11 you can have a bank account with several banks with parent/guardian support, and then have a debit card which can then be used.
Apparently you can have prepaid debit cards which some can be used with children as young as six… probably not ideal for subscriptions though.
I think I had my first card that supported direct debit and Switch or Electron (is that still a thing?) when I was about 12. Card based DD became so ubiquitous in the UK I never had a credit card until I was about 25 and had already been living abroad for years by then.
I was able to put things like my monthly mobile phone bill on it and subscription to several lads mags popular in the 90s .
Yes, Revolut for example have an under 18 debit card which they market as suitable for ages 6-17.
We gave ours a monthly allowance into the bank. The older one was very into games and he saved up for those he really wanted, getting others with Christmas and Birthday money. Maybe an allowance, reduced by subscriptions would help him focus on what he really wants. It’s important that children develop the ability to manage money from an early age. Some people pay the children for household tasks, which we never did, we just expected them to keep their rooms tidy etc.
There are several pre-loaded debit type cards available but those I’ve looked at all have some kind of monthly fee for the parent/guardian.
Reminds me we need to set up an under 18 bank account for him which will come with a debit card of some kind.
Yes plan to set up bank account quite soon. I’m still likely to manage subscriptions/purchases myself with a cc as that islikely to provide better buyer protection than visa debit etc.
I think you may have mentioned Go Henry or similar before but fees/charges put me off.
So many places these days no longer accept cash a debit card of some kind is becoming a necessity.