Although there are caveats, I believe time-saving services are generally an advantage of modern life. Convenience means we have more time to spend with the people and pursuits we care about. In the last few years, society has become more and more accustomed to convenient services. A subscription is often how we engage with such services.
Today’s subscriptions typically offer autopay. Autopay is itself convenient… but it’s also easily forgotten. In the old days, if you had a few unread magazines or newspapers stacked up, you might not pay to continue your service. In the modern age, unseen, forgotten subscriptions on autopay can be a financial drag.
C&R Research reports that the average American spends $219 per month on subscriptions for things like streaming services, news websites, and even regular deliveries of our most often-used goods, such as grocery items or pet food. While having regularly consumed items delivered automatically can be a valuable time saver, other types of recurring subscriptions are getting out of hand for some households.
Households underestimate the amounts of subscriptions by $133 per month according to C&R Research. Some households have even forgotten they were subscribed to a service. As many as 42 percent of households have some ongoing autopayment happening for a service they are no longer using.
These fees can add up quickly and become an unnecessary drain. Some of them are for things like streaming services. We’ve all been there. We subscribe to see the big new movie, a sporting event, or a series and keep the subscription going even though we’re done with the show. (While writing this article, I remembered that I need to unsubscribe from an unwatched TV service, which I meant to do months ago!)
Other subscriptions are less straightforward. For example, you may have signed up for a premium rideshare or restaurant delivery service that are no longer necessary or may not merit the expense. Perhaps the initial enrollment was a free trial that became a paid service.
You should be able to track these extra expenses with a quick review of your checking account and credit card statements. One of the nice things about subscription culture is that turning them off can be easy and doesn’t need to be goodbye forever.
Although it might only amount to a few dollars per month, the act of reviewing and stopping unused subscriptions demonstrates a wealth preservation mindset. That mindset is one to be celebrated. It should provide greater financial footing over time so that we may do a bit more of what we love with the people we love.