I Cut My Subscriptions Expense From $105 to $50: Here’s How I Did It
Written by
Angela Mae
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Carly Brashears
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Monthly subscription services are all the rage these days, but those small monthly sums can add up quickly when you have four, five, or even more accounts at once.
According to a C+R Research survey, the average person spends around $219 on their monthly subscription expenses. Not only is this a significant amount of cash, but many people aren’t even aware of how much they’re truly spending each month for these services.
Even if you’re sharing accounts with friends or family members, chances are your subscription costs are higher than they need to be. And with many companies cracking down on account sharing, you’re bound to spend even more money once that’s no longer an option.
GOBankingRates spoke with Tim Hopfinger Lee, the founder of Tim’s Coffee, about his experience juggling multiple monthly subscriptions, how much he spent, and what he did about it. Here are some tips for cutting your subscription services.
He Was Paying $105 Monthly for Subscriptions He Didn’t Really Need or Use
“During the pandemic, I decided to try almost all the subscription services there are,” said Lee. “With a steady income but no travel plans, that seemed like a nice way to spend time at home. My list of subscriptions was extensive: Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max (formerly Max), Hulu, Audible, Spotify, Apple Music, Kindle, Grammarly, YouTube, Tidal, Dollar Shave Club, and smol (these are the ones I can remember of the top of my head).”
He even tried out a VPN so he could gain access to services not available in his region.
But the costs of these services started to add up. At a certain point, he realized he was spending around $105 a month on his subscription expenses. This was even accounting for those he shared with friends to keep costs low.
He Cut His Subscription Costs By More Than Half
Account sharing might have helped keep costs relatively low, but it wasn’t a long-term solution.
“As companies began to crack down on account sharing, my friends got worried and stopped using them,” said Lee. “I wasn’t really using all these services, so it was about time to start canceling them and save some money.”
After making quite a few adjustments and canceling services he didn’t need or use as much as before, Lee’s subscription costs dropped to less than $50 a month. That’s over a 50% decrease in expenditure.
The Cancelation Process Was Easier Than Expected
“One pleasant surprise was the ease of canceling these services,” said Lee. “Although I dreaded the process initially, it was quite straightforward.”
Many monthly subscription services — like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime — have an online cancelation process that you can do from the comfort of home. A few do have a more in-depth process, which involves calling the customer service team. But even then, the process is generally streamlined.
Choosing Which Services To Keep Was a Little Tricky
For some subscriptions, it was easy to decide which ones to cut and which ones to keep.
“I chose to keep Netflix as they always have something for me to watch and Disney+ for its affordability. This meant saying goodbye to Max and Hulu,” said Lee.
It was also easy for him to cancel services like Dollar Shave Club and smol. “Though part of my daily routine, I realized they were not indispensable and decided to cancel them as well,” he said.
Other services, such as Lee’s many music subscriptions, were a little harder to cancel because of how well they paired with his devices.
“The reason I was subscribed to too many music services was because of the gadgets in my ecosystem,” he said. “Spotify worked seamlessly with my Echo Show 5, Apple Music was due to my iPhone, and YouTube Premium was an affordable luxury.” Lee did manage to cut costs by canceling a couple of these more redundant subscriptions — Apple Music, Spotify and Tidal.
And then there was Audible.
“I got too attached to Audible even though there are other services,” said Lee. “I try to go to sleep while listening to a book, so I decided to keep this one.”
Plus, Audible offered a deal when he went to cancel — $0.99 a month for 3 months.
It’s not uncommon for companies to offer deals or other incentives to try to keep customers from canceling. For Lee, that just meant taking advantage of those deals whenever he could.
“For the services I did keep, I opted for yearly deals where possible, offering more savings,” he said.
Certain Subscription Expenses Popped Up Later
When a person has a lot of monthly subscriptions, it’s easy to forget about one or two of them. This is what happened with Lee as well.
“Grammarly was something I forgot to unsubscribe from, even though it’s unjustifiably expensive without a student discount,” he said. “But I did manage to do it recently. Similarly, LinkedIn Premium, despite its usefulness, proved too costly after the first month’s trial.”
It’s All Too Easy To Spend Money Unnecessarily
Spending money on unnecessary or redundant things is far too easy to do. And it’s even easier when you set up autopay, as many subscription companies encourage or even require.
For Lee, the process of canceling so many of his subscriptions helped him realize not just the redundancy of many subscription services, but also where his money was going.
“Reflecting on this journey, the biggest lesson for me was how I spent money on unused subscriptions,” said Lee. “Services like HBO Max, which I barely used, were kept just for the sake of having them. It was an eye-opener about how easy it is to pay for something you don’t really need.”
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