Link: https://old.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/1v7kg57/well_storage_is_no_longer_cheap_how_many_of_you/

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The original was posted on /r/datahoarder by /u/AnyKey19 on 2026-07-27 00:02:49+00:00.

I know it’s sacrilege, I remember people used to say never to delete or re-encode anything because more storage is always affordable. Well, looks like those days are over. Prices on HDDs have tripled/quadrupled in the last year and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to end anytime soon.

How are you handling it? I’m personally thinking of downgrading a lot of my stuff to 720p, I’ve run a few tests and as long as I don’t skimp too much on the bitrate I don’t really notice a difference. I’m also compressing things like game ROMs and ISOs into .7z to save space. I’m proud of my FLAC music collection but AAC-256 seems to be pretty much transparent from my own tests and research.

I’m even doing the unthinkable and pruning some stuff that I don’t use.

It sucks but desperate times call for desperate measures.