The other day our family received a greeting from Netflix. We were grateful that the streaming service gave us a line, but given the content of the message, we really wish they hadn't.

"We hope you are enjoying Netflix. We are always adding new TV shows and movies for our members to enjoy," Netflix happily informed us, but this was a more gentle way of saying that we would be paying an additional $1 per month for the privilege of accessing Netflix's streaming content starting in January. It was a gentler way of putting it.

You don't need to be fluent in corporate jargon to interpret what's going on here and why; Netflix produces a lot of original programming, from Academy Award nominated movies to topical TV shows and specials. To do that, they need funding, and Netflix is counting on you and me to provide more of that funding. [Netflix is not a non-profit organization, so if the cost of producing an ambitious group of shows goes up, that money will be passed on to the viewers. There is one problem with this logic, however: I don't watch enough Netflix original productions to feel that Netflix is worth the $13.99 I pay each month.

I'm not saying I don't watch Netflix. My daughter enjoys watching amateur bakers face-plant in "Nailed It," and I watched three seasons of "Glow" in one sitting a while back before the plug was pulled on future episodes. In terms of regular subscription viewing, however, Netflix is pretty low on our list.

The back catalog of movies is thin if you enjoy the classics - someone should tell Netflix that there are entire centuries of movies made before the 2000s - and the number of movies there are Netflix Originals the streaming service wants to put front and center appears to be shrinking at the expense of the rest of the world.

In fact, when we tell people that Netflix is about to raise its prices, members of our household ask if Netflix is still worth it. Many Netflix subscribers are probably asking the same question as their bills go up.

To answer that question, we need to consider the streaming habits of each of us. My family cut the cable cord over a year and a half ago, a move that we have almost no regrets about, except for the occasional sporting event that is caught on cable pay-per-view. Having a streaming service that offers a wide range of movies and TV shows has helped stave off that loss, but at the same time, we are eagerly hoping that our monthly streaming bill will not be so high that it exceeds what we have been paying to our local hateful cable provider! ...

To that end, in addition to Netflix, we currently pay for Disney Plus, Hulu's ad-supported streaming service is combined with our Pandora subscription, and we pay for Amazon Prime so we can watch Prime Video. Because they support their local public broadcaster, they can watch expanded programming on PBS Passport.

Importantly, we watch all those remaining channels. Disney Plus allows me to re-explore the back catalog of The Simpsons with my daughter, and Hulu allows me to watch many on-demand shows that I would have missed when they aired in real time; Netflix does not.

And this is the first step I would suggest to anyone trying to decide if a streaming service is still worth the money. Total up what you are paying for streaming each month and see if that is more than you really want to spend. Paying $4.99 here and $5.99 there may not seem like a lot of money on its own, but you'd be surprised how quickly these services add up.

If the amount you are actually paying is greater than what you thought you were paying, or if the price of those services seems to be going up slowly, it would be time to consider hitting the cancel button on at least one or more services. What helped our family make the decision was to log all the programs we watched for a week or so. We would write down the name of the show, which service it was streaming on, and whether we could live without it if that service suddenly disappeared.

This should give you some clarity on which subscription services you actually watch and which ones are surprisingly expendable. Another trick is to look at the guide of shows currently streaming on the service you are paying for; Tom's Guide lists all the new shows on Netflix, the best movies and best TV shows on Hulu, and the new shows on Disney Plus. Mark the shows on the list that interest you. If the list is not very long, or if you are staring at a blank piece of paper, you may have found your answer.

If you have a good reminder program on your smartphone, you can set a reminder for the day or so before the streaming service in question bills you. That way, you can easily review your monthly streaming habit and, if necessary, cancel it before another month of billing begins.

Through all of this, the consensus among everyone in our household was that we would quit Netflix as soon as my wife and I finished watching "The Good Place". (We would then either pocket the money we were spending each month on Netflix or redirect it to HBO Max, which delivers more of the kinds of shows we want, whether it's an extensive library of movies or new shows like "Succession" or "Harley Quinn". It's like a streaming service.

At least until they try to raise prices on us as well.