Staying connected is costing Australians thousands

Forking out cash for modern-day necessities such as internet, streaming and mobile phone plans takes a decent chunk from our pay every month.

But have you ever stopped to consider just how much it costs to stay connected over a year, or even a lifetime?

It turns out the average Australian — who has a life expectancy of 821/2 years — will spend more than $139,000 on internet, streaming and mobile bills over the course of their lives, a new study has found.

Assuming they start paying at the age of 18, Australians will spend more than $78,000 on access to the internet, $41,800 on mobile phone plans and a whopping $19,300 on streaming services over their lifetime.

That’s without factoring in pay TV and the cost of buying the actual phones, tablets, laptops or computers, with some people paying thousands of dollars for the latest smartphone each year.

According to the study, by Reviews.org, which surveyed 1000 people, the average Australian pays $25 for streaming, $45 for their mobile plan and $80 for internet every month.

Those numbers jump up to $300 for streaming, $540 for mobile and $960 for internet a year — a grand total of $1800.

With those figures in mind, Australians could save $9675 over a lifetime if they waved goodbye to a streaming service such as Netflix.

People could also save cash by switching to a cheaper or lower speed internet plan, combining individual phone accounts into a family plan and only paying for one streaming service at a time.

In comparison, the average American with a life expectancy of 781/2 years will pay about $US107,066 ($145,117) to stay connected throughout their lives, with $US41,591 of that being spent on internet, $US29,030 on streaming and $US36,445 on mobile plans.