Chris O'Shea
One way to get the most out of your budget is to reduce subscription expenses. This is especially important with the holidays here. Here are some things to consider when dealing with subscription expenses.
Assess Value
When looking at your subscription costs, you should ask yourself what value they provide.
- Monthly fee for a budgeting app that truly helps you keep finances in order. That’s beneficial.
- Subscriptions providing health benefits, like a meditation app or a gym membership.
- Subscriptions that are purely entertainment also provide value in their own way.
If you come across some subs that you struggle to find the value they provide, that’s a sure sign to cut them immediately.
Autopay May Hurt Your Budget
Subs are great because they come with autopay. You simply set it and forget it. However, autopay is a double-edged sword.
- Upside. It’s great that you don’t have to think about the payments and therefore are never late on payments.
- Downside. It’s not so great that you don’t think about the payments which may mean you pay for subs you don’t want or need.
Be Mindful of Payments
The best way to avoid paying too much for subscription costs is to actually pay attention to them.
- Make a spreadsheet of your monthly subs and their costs.
- Each month, go back to that list and ask yourself if the sub still provides value or has become too expensive.
- Simply being mindful of your subs will go a long way to cutting back on those costs.
Do One Thing: Check on your subscription costs so that they don’t hurt holiday spending.
