The Quiet Leak – Find & Cancel Unwanted Subscriptions.

It has happened to the best of us. With good intentions, you sign up for a “free” trial offer and forget to cancel the unwanted subscription. Before you know it, unbeknownst to you, your credit card is being charged monthly or annually for the subscription you perhaps never intended to keep. So much for free, huh? Companies make it appealing to get you into subscriptions services, marketing the convenience and ability to cancel at any time. Meanwhile, those same companies know that the math works in their favor. They understand that many people are ‘set it and forget it’ types, making this behavior a money-maker for their companies. They then bury the cancellation option deeply into their website or app and make it impossible to reach a person by phone to cancel. This added friction can cause you to give up and just let it ride.

I am a big fan of Shark Tank. Over the years, this show has seen every type of entrepreneur on its stage with investors ready to take a stake. Most of the time, when an entrepreneur comes on the show with a subscription model for their business, the sharks are chomping at the bit to get a piece of the action. Why? Because they know companies make a killing on subscription services because of human behavior.

Subscriptions do not need to lurk in the bowels of your credit card statements. By taking control of subscriptions that have gotten out of control, you can save hundreds of dollars or more per year by ensuring that you are cancelling unwanted subscriptions.

How to effectively manage your subscriptions and free trials

1. Put a note in your calendar and set up an alert to notify you when the ‘free trial’ is ending

I have personally learned the hard way by forgetting about certain free trial offers ending. My family regularly signs up for premium streaming channels in order to watch a certain series or movies, but we cancel before the free week is up. The first time we did this though, I completely forgot we had signed up, and we were billed for a full month of the service. That never happened again! By quickly putting a note in my phone with an alert, I easily remember to cancel ahead of the trial ending.

2. Carefully review your credit card statements each month

Closely review your credit card or bank statements. By doing so, you can identify what subscriptions are being charged to your account on an ongoing basis. Some credit card companies might even offer a feature on their website to allow you to filter on types of charges, including subscriptions.

3. Use an app to manage your subscriptions

There are services out there that make it easy to manage your subscriptions, including the cancellation of unwanted subscriptions. Rocket Money is one of those services. Rocket Money offers an app that not only tracks your net worth, expenses and other personal finances, but it goes the extra step of tracking all of your paid subscriptions and makes it easy to cancel them with the click of a button.

Subscriptions to consider canceling on a tight budget

• Gym memberships. Your health is extremely important, but you can stay in tip-top shape even without a gym membership. Gyms oversell memberships, knowing that members will be active perhaps during the first month or two, but then drop off, yet still pay. What you eat is also extremely important to your health. And sometimes, simply walking, doing some sit ups, push ups and aerobic exercises is all you might need to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
• Cable TV and Premium cable channels. I am always completely blown away by how many people set it and forget it on their cable bills. I have personally heard stories of cable bills north of $250/month. That same $250/month saved in a low-cost index fund over the course of several years would enable an earlier retirement. Is the cable worth an extra 2 years of your retirement?
• Music streaming services. Lots of people, including myself, have XM radio and other services. When you need to pinch pennies, simply move to free music streaming through Pandora or even your local library.
• Amazon Prime. While we all love the convenience that Amazon delivers, are you getting $139/year of value out of it? Regardless of Prime membership, Amazon ships many things free when you spend a certain amount or set up a reccurring order for the things you regularly use. Additionally, other retailers such as Target and Walmart offer home shipping at no cost, and the prices are often the same.
• Credit monitoring. If you are paying for credit monitoring services, you may want to check with your bank, credit card companies or other services to see what they might offer free of charge as part of being a member.
• Store memberships. Do the math to figure out if your Costco, Sam’s Club or BJ’s memberships are truly getting you value. Are you buying more than you actually need? Are you impulse shopping in large quantities? If you need to, there are ways to shop these stores without a membership, including a store gift card.
• Credit cards with annual fees. Credit card companies that have annual fees often offer great sign up bonuses to entice you to become a cardholder. Make sure you are getting more value than what you are paying if you decide to keep an account with an annual fee.
• Lawn mowing services. I have personally never paid anybody to mow my lawn. Each week, I get a good amount of exercise by mowing my own lawn. I do not see it as a way to save time by hiring it out. I see it as an opportunity to get some outdoor physical activity. I do not use a self-propelled feature. It is just me and my clunky 22 year old lawn mower.

Biggest tip – defend your dollars

Unwanted subscriptions or subscriptions you can live without can be a drag on your household budget. By optimizing where you’re spending your money, including recurring subscriptions, you are playing an active role in defending your dollars. Simply pay attention to your credit card and bank statements and proactively cancel trial offers to stay on top.