Kim Komando: This tech mistake is costing you money every single month | Business News

Then there are all the subscriptions you pay for and don’t use. Streaming services are a major culprit; there’s only so much time in a day, and you can’t watch everything.

You probably don’t know that you can share various accounts with family and friends, or at the very least, get a nice discount. It’s not your fault. Tech companies don’t promote this money-saving secret you can thank me for later.

If you don’t have an Amazon Prime membership, you might not realize it’s much more than just free shipping. I suggest getting a 30-day free trial to make sure it’s worth it for you because it’s not cheap.

An Amazon Prime membership costs $14.99 monthly or $139.99 a year. You can split this cost with a friend or family member and still reap all the benefits.

Amazon Household allows two adults to share Prime benefits and digital content like e-books. Each person gets their own account, so you do maintain some privacy. Keep in mind you will have access to each other’s payment methods. Only share your account with someone you trust.

You can also add up to four teens (ages 13 to 17) to the plan for free. Each teen will get their own Amazon login, and an adult must approve all purchases on the plan.

Visit amazon.com/myh/manage to create or manage your household.

Apple One bundles Apple services for a lower monthly price than you’d pay for each service on its own. These savings may be worth it if several family members use iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple TV, Apple Music and iCloud.

The Individual Apple One plan costs $14.95 per month and includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade and 50 GB of Apple iCloud+ storage.

The Family plan is $19.95 per month. It includes all the same services and 200 GB of storage.

The Premier plan is $29.95 per month and adds News+ and Fitness+, with 2 TB of storage.

Here’s where the cost savings come in: The Family and Premier plans can be shared with up to five other people using Family Sharing as long as they live in the same country. That’s right, you don’t need to live in the same household.

To set up Family Sharing on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:

Tap Family Sharing and then tap Set Up Your Family.

Follow the on-screen instructions to set up your family and invite your family members.

Like Apple, Google offers expanded family plans with storage five people can share. Group members won’t be able to see each other’s files, but they share storage space and can see how much space the others are using. All members must live in the same country as the family manager.

Google accounts include 15 GB of storage for free. Here’s what it costs to upgrade to Google One for more capacity:

The Basic plan runs $1.99 per month or $19.99 per year for 100 GB of storage. You also get access to support from Google experts.

The Standard plan is $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year for 200 GB of storage. This tier gets you 3% back on Google Store purchases.

The Premium plan is $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year for 2 TB of storage and 10% back on the Google Store purchases.

Both the Standard and Premium plans can be shared. To set up family sharing, go to families.google.com/families. Sign in with your Google account and follow the on-screen instructions to add members.

Most mobile providers give you a nice discount for the more lines you have under a single plan.

You can also take advantage of deals if just one person on the plan qualifies. With T-Mobile’s affordable 55+ plans, for instance, only one person needs to be 55 or over. Full disclosure: T-Mobile is a sponsor of my national radio show.

The same goes for military and first responder discounts. Verizon operates the same way. You only need one person on the plan to qualify, and members do not have to live under the same roof.

Now that you know what you can share, what are the best ways to deal with splitting up subscription costs? The last thing you want to do is chase someone around every month for a few bucks. Here are a few options:

Let an app do the hard work: Apps like Splitwise help you easily track and pay shared expenses. This option is great when you’re planning to split multiple bills.

Switch off: It’s not feasible to switch your payment method each month, but maybe you and whoever you are splitting with can switch off annually. You pay for a year of a particular service, and then another pays for a year.

Get the payment out of the way: For services that only cost a few bucks a month when split, consider paying your friend back (or requesting that money) in a six-month or one-year lump sum. It’s easier than remembering to send over $6 every month.