Whack your subscriptions on the head

• Author: Columnist Diana Clement is a freelance journalist who writes on personal finance and property investing Comment: Diana Clement
• Published date: 20 January 2023
• Publication title: Horowhenua Chronicle

Trying to keep payments to these online companies down to stem the money leak is like playing Whac-A-Mole. As soon as you manage to cancel one, another “must-have” pops up. That’s $9.99 a month thanks

Just like gym memberships were in days gone by, subscriptions are eating away at people’s discretionary spending to the detriment of saving, or paying down debt.

Businesses are always looking for ways to squeeze more money out of us. The software or entertainment as a service industry was a brilliant invention for that. It has really taken off since it was born in the late 1990s. The businesses give us an introductory price or limit the features for a free subscription and we’re hooked. Soon we’ve signed up for the paid-for version.

When I interviewed Rupert Gough of the Mortgage Lab not long back he said clients’ bank statements are often littered with subscriptions. As many as 30 or 40. Netflix, Prime, Dropbox and so on. I was gobsmacked that anyone could have that many subscriptions.

I did take notice of a survey of New Zealanders by Finder in late 2022 that found one of the most annoying pieces of financial advice people like me are prone to give is to cancel subscription services.

So, to the 53 per cent of you that said that, I’m not going to ask you to cancel your subscriptions. Enjoy them. B

ut if you want to keep an eye on your outgoings, review them from time to time. Add up the cost, and multiply it over a year and then 10 or 20 years. The point is not Netflix, Prime, or Disney+. It’s the total cost.

Can you get rid of the ones you’ve forgotten about or know you don’t need to use? If, in your heart of hearts, you know you’re throwing money down the gurgler, then get that Whac-A-Mole mallet out and knock some of them on the head. Is there a free option? Everyone’s different, but I find...