Want to ditch streaming services? You can still watch Christmas movies without streaming services, you can even watch Christmas movies for free without streaming!
We have gotten pretty reliant on streaming services these days. We went from getting rid of cable to save money to having a dozen streaming services that cost us the same as what we were spending on cable. Many are also now boycotting streaming services that hold values they don’t agree with. With those two issues, we can be left wanting to skip the streaming and still enjoy Christmas movies this holiday season.
Growing up, if I wanted to watch a Christmas movie, it meant going to the cabinet where we kept all the VHS tapes and picking the one I wanted. If we didn’t have it, we’d rent it the next time we went to our local video rental store.
While this modern era of just logging on to the internet and finding the movie has been nice sometimes, I miss going to rent a movie and pick up some snacks. It made movie nights more special.
What can we do now that rental stores are closed? Thankfully, many great options can help you ditch a bunch of your streaming services and still enjoy a fun Christmas movie night! Let’s chat about some of the best options to use this year.
How to Watch Christmas Movies Without Streaming Services
With these options are going to talk about using physical media. If you don’t already have a DVD player, that will be your first step. Before buying one, make sure you don’t have a device already that will work. Some game systems can play DVDs, and some computers still can.
If you don’t have any options, you can buy DVD players very cheaply now. Thrift stores often have them, or you can even get a new one for around $40. Once you have a DVD player, it’s time to talk about where to find DVDs to rent or buy.
Use Your Local Library
Did you know most libraries carry DVDs you can borrow for free? Even if you have a small library like I do, you can request a DVD they don’t have, and they can get it through interlibrary loans.
Libraries are also a place you can sometimes buy DVDs from. Many libraries have sales throughout the year where they get rid of items to make room for new items or sell things people donate to help them raise funds.
My local library always has a selection of DVDs for sale at its library book sales, and they are very cheap. This is a great way to build up your collection.
Check Your Local Thrift Stores
People donate old DVDs all the time to thrift stores, and they are generally extremely cheap. If you have friends who are also on the hunt for physical media, you can share your lists and keep an eye out for each other. That way, you don’t have to spend as much time looking.
Garage Sales and Facebook Marketplace
You will find DVDs at a lot of garage sales, and people sell lots of DVDs on Facebook as well. This is a great option if you are just building your library and are open to lots of different DVDS. You can also again join with friends to split ones you find.
Buy At Local Stores
There are some stores selling DVDS. Barnes and Noble still carries DVDS at some locations and online. Barnes and Noble is where you will even find a lot of Hallmark Christmas movies. Dollar stores also sometimes have a collection of DVDs, though the selection is often very limited.
There are also local stores still carrying DVDs that you can find sometimes. We are even seeing this increase lately as more people are returning to physical media for different reasons.
Swap DVDs
If you have friends and family who also want to use more physical media, you can start swapping DVDs with each other. You could even share lists of what each person has, creating your own library.
There are also places where you can swap online, like SwapADVD.
Buy Online
If you live in a small town like me, online may be one of your best options for buying DVDs. The first places you may think of are Amazon, Target, and Walmart, and while they do all carry DVDs, many are boycotting these businesses currently, and they aren’t ones I recommend. These are some alternatives you can try instead.
- Barnes and Noble
- ThriftBooks
- Vintage Stock
- eBay
- Poshmark
- Half Price Books
- Orbit DVD
- Deep Discount
- GRUV Entertainment
The best thing for your budget and the environment is choosing one of the options that allows you to buy used DVDs or to borrow, but if it’s one you will watch over and over, purchasing new is a reasonable option as well.
Over time, you will build up a great library of Christmas movies to pull out and enjoy year after year. Christmas DVDs are some of the physical media I have always held onto because I don’t want to count on streaming services to have my favorite movies each year, and I don’t want to miss out on watching them.
And if you aren’t sure where to start with building your Christmas movie collection, check out the list of The 50 Best Christmas Movies here on The Stress-Free Christmas.
More Christmas Movies Resources
Looking for even more Christmas movie-related posts to check out? Here are some you may enjoy.
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