Remember when streaming felt like the future? It promised a way out of high fees and bloated channel lineups of cable TV. Instead of paying for dozens of channels you’d never watch, streaming services let you pick what you wanted, when you wanted, all at a fraction of the price. Cutting the cord felt liberating and ushered in a new way of watching TV.

Netflix was the first company to launch a streaming service back in 2007. Its menu of shows was limited to fewer than 1,000 titles compared to its DVD-by-mail library of over 70,000 titles. Originally, you could only subscribe to streaming as an add-on to its DVD rental service, but in 2010, Netflix streaming became available as a standalone product. Netflix was the first to introduce the idea of binge-watching when it released the entire first season of “House of Cards” in 2013, encouraging people to watch multiple episodes in one sitting. Hulu launched shortly after Netflix in the same year, followed by Amazon Prime in 2011. Today, Netflix is still the most popular service with 35.5% of respondents in a recent Forbes survey saying it was their favorite. Amazon Prime Video ran a distant second at 14%.

But as more streaming services have cropped up and prices continue to rise, consumers are finding themselves back in a familiar spot: juggling too many subscriptions, watching only a handful of shows and wondering if it’s all really worth it. The shift has sparked renewed interest in “rebundling,” where companies combine multiple streaming services in one package to offer convenience — and ideally, some savings.

Verizon is leading the charge in this rebundling trend, offering bundled streaming services much like traditional cable channel packages. One of the most popular offerings is Verizon’s $10 per month Disney bundle, which includes ad-free access to Disney+, Hulu with ads, and ESPN+ for eligible customers — a savings of $8.99 per month. However, there’s a catch: To qualify for Verizon’s discounted streaming packages, you must subscribe to certain Verizon phone plans.

Verizon claims its strategy is working, especially as more Americans are cutting back on streaming services. According to the Forbes survey, 45% of respondents have canceled a streaming subscription in the past year due to increasing fees. Additionally, 44% of people reported that their streaming subscription costs have gone up over the past 12 months. Still, the typical American pays for three services a month — last year, it was four — with an average expenditure of $46.

This cycle is uncannily similar to why people cut the cord on cable in the first place. With so many channels but only a handful they actually watched, customers felt they weren’t getting their money’s worth — leading to the mass exodus from companies like Comcast. Now, streaming services are facing similar backlash. Not only are subscription prices climbing, but services like Netflix have started cracking down on password sharing, removing the loophole that made streaming a great deal for families in different households. (And who didn’t share their accounts with their grown kids?)

Additionally, streaming services are increasingly relying on ads as a revenue stream, with Netflix even adding ads to its platform. Once again, we see streaming services mirroring the old cable TV model: more ads, rising costs and fewer benefits to offset them.

Smart TVs, which now come preloaded with nearly every available streaming platform, have made it incredibly easy to sign up for a service — and just as easy to forget about it later. With so many options at your fingertips, it’s no surprise that some subscriptions quietly pile up. So how can you trim those monthly streaming fees?

Yes, you can take advantage of bundle deals like the ones Verizon offers, but there are other ways to save. If you’ve recently bought an Apple device, you can get three months of Apple TV+ for free, and Apple’s service is more generous than others: no ads on original Apple programming like the popular “Ted Lasso” starring Jason Sudeikis, and you can share a single subscription with up to five people. Another tip: If there’s a particular show you want to binge-watch, you can subscribe (usually free for the first month) and cancel the subscription before you are charged if you don’t see other shows that interest you.

With some effort, you can find the right balance of entertainment without overspending.

Leslie Meredith has been writing about technology for more than a decade. As a mom of four, value, usefulness and online safety take priority. Have a question? Email Leslie at asklesliemeredith@gmail.com.