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@MartyP it’s a great question with alot of great answers… Guitar strings are alot like car tires… They wear out gradually and you don’t usually appreciate how bad they are until you replace them… Thankfully as already mentioned, guitar strings are not as expensive as new tires, hehe!!
But really, everyone has a different “tolerance” to aging strings. Professional musicians who charge people money to hear them play, usually change their strings every day they have a performance, to play with fresh strings. And it goes down the continuum to people like me (hobbyist players) who can’t really even hear the difference between new strings and old strings. I change mine once a year (or so) whether they need it or not, haha!! Or if one string breaks I change the whole set. I like “old” strings because they stay in tune better and like I said, I can’t really hear the difference in tone. That said, there’s nothing more gross than taking a really old set of strings off, coiling them up and then doing a side by side comparison with the new ones….
If you need a tetanus shot before you play your guitar, it’s probably time for new strings. But everyone should do what’s right for themselves.