Monthly subscriptions are the hidden gremlin inside an otherwise well-planned budget. You might know how much you’re paying for Netflix or Amazon Prime, but what about your gym membership, recurring deliveries, or software licenses? Those are subscriptions too!
Subscriptions are the leaky faucets of the money world. You don’t know how much money you’re losing until you put a bucket under the tap and watch it pile up!
Here’s an easy way to find out what subscriptions you have and how to decide what to keep.
Pull Your Debit Card and Credit Card Statements
Subscriptions are usually charged on a monthly, quarterly, or annual billing cycle to a credit or debit card. To find all of your subscriptions, pull your last year of card statements and skim them to find the purchases that could be considered a recurring charge or subscription. Common examples may include:
- Streaming platforms (i.e. Netflix)
- Convenience platforms (i.e. Amazon Prime)
- Magazines and newspapers
- Gym or fitness memberships
- Software tools
- Subscription boxes (i.e. Stitchfix)
- Automatic deliveries
- Learning tools (i.e. MasterClass)
- Food delivery (i.e. HelloFresh)
Wondering if something can be called a “subscription”? A good rule of thumb is that if it’s charged on a recurring basis (and it’s not a loan payment), it’s a subscription!
Review your Subscriptions
With your list of subscriptions in hand, add up all of the monthly charges to see what you’re paying each month. For annual or quarterly subscriptions, divide the cost so you can see what you’re paying on a monthly basis.
What is your monthly subscription bill? $100? $200? $500? More?
How much money could you save if you trimmed back your subscription costs?
Decide What To Keep and What To Cancel
It’s time to decide what you want to keep and what you want to cancel. You can evaluate each subscription individually and decide to keep or cull them based on your usage.
Having trouble deciding? Set a flat budget for “subscriptions” and anything that doesn’t fit into the budget needs to be deleted. To make ongoing tracking a little easier, put all your subscription services on a single credit card to more easily track your recurring spending.
Wondering what else you can do to take control of your financial life? Financial Game Changer, the latest book from author and financial advisor Lynn McCarty, offers simple, practical tips to help you shrink your financial worries, gain financial confidence, and build lifelong money habits to make you feel more secure with your finances.
You’re already on your way to financial freedom. The next step is to purchase Financial Game Changer, available at any of the following digital stores: