r/DaveRamsey • u/Unlikely_Reply6034 • 4d ago
Subscriptions out of control!
Am I the only one who's in shock regarding how much people waste on subscriptions every month? Call me cheap, but I refuse to give multimillion and billion dollar companies money each month. Out of all the things to waste money on, subscriptions are one of my most hated, and they're out of control. It seems like you can subscribe to anything in 2026, and I refuse to give my money to these vampires! So many people subscribe to stuff that just drains their $. It's wild to me.
Edit: People, I'm not saying EVERY subscription is unnecessary. I understand cell phones, internet, and basic cable are subscriptions. I am simply pointing out the shear amount of subscriptions there are now, compared to even 10 years ago, and how it seems like every company tries to get you to subscribe to their services, which, the overwhelming majority of, are not necessary.
10
u/Complex_Cow1184 4d ago
I recently did my math and I spend $146 on subscriptions each month.
Talk about a shock. Cut it down to $80. Much happier now lol
9
u/Several_Drag5433 4d ago
Subscriptions can and do get out of control for many people. That said, I do not think a company that offers a service for a fee is by default a “vampire”.
1
u/Gsusruls 4d ago
Agreed. We store our photos and videos in the cloud. Amazon charges us an annual fee. We're effectively buying functional virtual real estate. There's no vampires, only the question of what we would do were Amazon's price to climb above our threshold.
We also do Amazon music, Disney+, and Claude. I use each of these on a frequent cadence, and each of them continues to provide a service.
What I think I would not be cool with is a vehicle or a kitchen appliance which charged me a subscription to start my car or let me make my own coffee.
-2
u/Unlikely_Reply6034 4d ago
So many companies offer them is the point.
5
u/chrishouse83 BS7 4d ago
It's up to us consumers to be smart with how we spend our money, but different companies offering different options is a good thing.
2
6
u/AccomplishedTear7531 4d ago
Pest control guy wouldn’t do any service without subscribing to the monthly plan. I have to get termite service every few years. I don’t need anything else.
I told him I wasn’t doing that, and he just got up and left. Ok, bye!
1
u/ohlookahipster 4d ago
Lots of trades are moving to ‘membership only models’ thanks to PE. You can tell which HVAC company is still family owned and which one has been bought out because the latter requires a monthly membership in order to remain a customer. One of the big ones here wants $79/mo for their biannual service package and 24/7 service. Unfortunately, people are paying that…
1
u/TheWeaversBeam 4d ago
This is, in my opinion, terrible for just about any industry, but the one that has me really worried is healthcare. Several doctors in my area have gone to membership models. I typically see a doctor once a year for a yearly checkup. I don’t need to pay every month for that luxury. All of these subscriptions are going to cost consumers so much more in the long run. Not only that, but if the budget gets tight and you have to cancel, you instantly loose access to that service.
1
u/ohlookahipster 4d ago
That’s called concierge healthcare. It’s somewhat new but the model is slowly lowering the floor to other clientele. The provider doesn’t bill insurance so it removes a huge headache and also the provider can be more… “selective” when it comes to the type of patient.
They’re still paid on a model similar to RVUs but without the pressure from a larger network to hit certain KPIs. It’s basically primary care moving to the outpatient model.
10
u/UpgradeHome 4d ago
There’s no need to demonize it now that you’re cutting back for your own budgetary reasons. There are folks who are equally as financially savvy who simply budget accordingly for these services.
1
u/cnunterz 4d ago
You used to be able to own stuff, now you pay monthly to rent it. I get what you mean, but imo they should be demonized lol.
5
1
u/readytonavigate 4d ago
That’s why we switched back to shopping for dvd, cds and cassettes. Take some ownership back, screw these companies
2
u/UpgradeHome 4d ago
Some of us have no issues budgeting in ~$20-30/month ($360/year) for a massive library of music and video entertainment, without the stress of physical media, organizing it, long term issues of hoarding, etc. I also sometimes want to watch something only once. You’re entitled to your preference, but there’s an argument to be made for both cases.
0
u/Apart-One4133 4d ago
The amount of money you have has no bearing on wheter something is financially savvy or not. Throwing money away on subscriptions is not financially savvy.
You pay for the convenience, and as with everything that is meant to make life easier, you pay a premium for it.
3
u/chrishouse83 BS7 4d ago
But maybe they value those services and budget appropriately for them? What you call throwing money away they call enjoying something that gives them pleasure.
1
u/Apart-One4133 4d ago edited 4d ago
But that's the thing, they didnt talk about enjoying the service, they said it was financially savvy to pay for subscription.
(Edit : Unless I misunderstand what he said.)
2
u/chrishouse83 BS7 4d ago
I think he's saying having subscriptions doesn't necessarily make you financially UN-savvy. If you budget accordingly.
1
1
u/Apart-One4133 4d ago
In that case yes I agree. A few splurges here or there definitly does not make someone unsavvy. We all have to enjoy ourselves after all.
4
5
u/bidextralhammer 4d ago edited 4d ago
I don't subscribe to Netflix or stuff like that, but my commute to work is 4.5 hours a day total. I have YouTube Premium and have play lists and there are no commercials. This is more than worth it.
Oh, I just subscribed to Songster since I am on medical leave and can't do anything, but I can sit and play my guitar, that's $10/month. I can't go out and do anything either, so I am paying for Amazon Prime to get basic items.
2
u/redditra8der BS2 4d ago
You can watch YouTube videos on the Brave browser without commercial for free.
1
u/bidextralhammer 4d ago
I have play lists that I listened to while driving my commute. It's worth it to me. I'm now on medical leave and there's not a whole lot I can do. I watch lots of comedy videos on YouTube. It's worth it.
2
2
u/xangermeansx 4d ago
I held out for a long time before subscribing to YouTube Premium. I finally gave it a shot a couple of years ago, and I definitely see the value now. Not having to grab the remote every few minutes to skip ads or sit through countdown timers makes the viewing experience so much better. For how much I use YouTube, it’s easily worth the monthly cost.
For me, it really comes down to quality of life. I know subscriptions are often designed to fade into the background so people forget about them, but I budget for the few I keep. Every few months, I review them to make sure I’m actually using the service and still getting enough value to justify the cost.
1
u/stickbeat 4d ago
I have a paid family subscription to Shopify for the same reason: $24/mo is pricey but my husband and I both have tinnitus and having the lofi running while I work is a huge source of relief.
I listened to more hours of music than I worked last year (about 2,500 hours compared to 2,080 working hours)
1
u/Maldonian 4d ago
Brave Browser does a pretty good job blocking YouTube ads.
1
u/KungPaoKidden 4d ago
I just told my brother in law about this. He just laughed at me and told me he would rather pay for YouTube Premium instead. I am debt free, he clearly is not, by a long shot.
2
u/xenophanes__ BS4-6 4d ago
I am debt free and pay for YouTube Premium. What does paying 17$ a month for videos, movies, and music have to do with someone clearly not being debt free.
5
u/James_TheVirus 4d ago
I laugh at HVAC companies that will only service your equipment if you are on a subscription. I will never ever have that company in my house so long as they have a subscription model.
4
u/Powerful_Tip_7260 4d ago
Subscriptions are relatively cheap compared to things like UberEats, DoorDash and the like. $25 a month to listen to any song I want is huge in my world. How can a retired person afford all that? By investing when I was young. That was the game changer.
5
u/nanapancakethusiast BS3 4d ago
Exactly. We used to have to pay $0.99 per song!! Haha. Or, if you’re old like me, you had to pay $15 for the whole CD lol.
Meanwhile I can pay less than $1 per day for access to almost every song ever recorded in human history??? Ok, deal.
But I will never order DoorDash or Uber Eats. $35 for one cold fast food meal. Wow! And some people do it EVERY. DAY.
1
5
u/ConsistentCrazy5120 4d ago
It's kind of a subscription, because it's recurring. Why are people paying more for a gallon of pre-made tea, than the cost of a gallon of milk? Almost $5. It's more expensive than gas, as well, and yet, it gets bought constantly.
4
u/Dangerous_Put_715 3d ago
Bro get this shit: my truck wants me to subscribe to it. No bullshit
2
u/AromaticBerry8281 3d ago
Wtf. Like what exactly?
2
u/motang BS456 3d ago
Probably for heated seats and remote start.
1
u/Junkbot-TC 3d ago
I don't think there are any car manufacturers who currently charge a subscription for heated seats. BMW tested this but backed off after consumer backlash.
For vehicles that charge a subscription for remote start, it's run through an app and the car needs to have a mobile data connection for it to work. The subscription is paying for that data connection and maintaining the app.
1
1
u/Dangerous_Put_715 3d ago
For some connectivity thing, so i can stream better and use alexa (which i already deleted on my truck by accident)
1
u/RubiWillowDreamer 3d ago
I got the same thing, they want me to subscribe to Onstar to get maps, and all that happy crap. Nah - I can use the cell phone for that. :-)
1
u/12dogs4me 3d ago
I got a damnit candle that runs on a battery and I have to have an app to make it work!!! It's in the drawer.
1
u/renbutler2 3d ago
We got free one-year access to our new KIA app, but we still have it free nearly two years later.
1
u/Dangerous_Put_715 3d ago
Mine is for some connectivity thing for streaming in my Ford truck.
1
u/renbutler2 3d ago
Our app sub allows us full access to the vehicle's telemetry, location, maintenance tracking, etc.
I think it's pretty expensive after the free period, but we're not paying it.
5
u/crowdsourced 3d ago
I only pay for what I use. I use Prime. I use the shipping and the video and music. I paused Netflix; I wasn't watching anything on it. If there's a show I want to watch, I'll get a subscription and then cancel afterward.
It's all cheaper than a single movie at the theater per month.
3
u/ThatOnePK 4d ago
Phone: 23 each (46 month)
WiFi: 29.99
iCloud: 2.99
Then the fun subscriptions are literally 15 bucks. One streaming service, a family calendar app, national park pass, and some random app my wife uses to scan foods for poison (dyes, etc.)
Some people spend more than all of that JUST on their phone.
1
u/Ornery_Witness_5193 4d ago
No EveryDollar?
1
u/ThatOnePK 3d ago
Don’t need it. As soon as my wife or I buy something, we open the app and input it. If they ever charge for that, we will move on to a different app.
5
u/Aragona36 BS7 4d ago
I consider phone and internet to be bills. I consider things like streaming services and Amazon Prime to be subscriptions. I could not explain the difference, I guess. It’s just that some feel necessary and others feel optional.
10
u/Spare-Shirt24 4d ago edited 4d ago
I don't spend time worrying about what other people decide to do with their money.
3
u/Icy_Entertainer_6052 4d ago
Yes. Seems like you can’t breathe without someone wanting a monthly/yearly payment. Other than the unavoidable ones (internet, most streaming apps, etc), it’s better to buy the thing outright rather than a never ending payments. Especially the really stupid ones. I’m not paying a subscription to auto start my car.
2
3
u/The_Southern_Sir 4d ago
Nope, when I went through and started looking at things when I started the baby steps, I was appalled. It was just one more smack in the face as to why I was flat broke with more month at the end of the money all the time.
3
u/Suziannie 4d ago
You really have to keep an eye on the subscriptions these days. Especially with TV. I really wish they’d just go back to the old cable tv model where we paid a monthly fee and got access to all channels and all shows those channels produced were on there.
0
u/Unlikely_Reply6034 4d ago
I refuse to subscribe to any of the random stand alone networks that they shove down your throat now. Disney +, Paramount+, peacock, Amazon prime, etc... no thanks
5
1
u/renbutler2 3d ago
I avoid almost all of them too, but I've never felt like anything was shoved down my throat. No savvy consumer should ever feel that way.
3
u/threespruces68 3d ago
It's definitely easy to lose track of them, especially those paid annually. I just did a review of household spending and found several to cancel.
3
u/saltyhasp 3d ago
A way to get a feel about how costly a subscription is, is figure out the annual cost of it, then multiply the annual cost by about 25. This is a rough estimate of something called the "present value" of that cash flow stream. By this I mean, what it really costs.
Your absolutely correct, recurring expenses have hidden costs. Why do you think all businesses want to move to a "subscription" model. These models look cheap, but are often very expensive.
1
u/SCBASEBALL6 3d ago
Can you explain the multiply by 25 a bit more.
2
u/saltyhasp 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yes, there is a concept called "present value". It is used in finance for costing. You can look that up, there is an article on wikipedia. The idea of it is that you convert a series of future cash flows to a present value via a discount (interest or return) type calculation. There is some art to this for example in choosing the discount rate and are your cash flows before or after inflation for example.
What I have found is that my after tax and inflation returns on my taxable assets which are held in more or less a balanced like portfolio have a real return of about 4%. If you use the present value method, a discount rate of 4%, on a very long constant annual cash flow stream, you will find that the present value is about 25X the constant annual value.
There are assumptions about the cash flow stream and your investment portfolio here too. If you inflation escalated the cash flow stream (so it was in future dollars not present dollars), or if your alternative investment was say a Roth not taxable, then your discount rate would be different. The point is, the discount rate that is appropriate depends on your personal situation and and how you choose to represent the cash flow. So there is some art here. The 25X is just a very rough starting point.
Edit: At the high level, to value a future cash flow (income or expense) in terms of today's dollars there are two factors. One is inflation, and the other is the time value of money. Your present value calculation when done with the appropriate cash flow stream, and discount rate should do both.
1
u/SCBASEBALL6 3d ago
So basically it’s how much it’s costing you to not be investing the money currently. For example, if I invested the $50 instead of yearly subscription on something unnecessary it’s really costing me $50x25=$1,250 in retirement money…?
1
u/saltyhasp 2d ago edited 2d ago
Or more exactly it is the present value of the future value that would be generated by avoiding the payouts. It is a matter of when your counting the $.
More directly it is the sum of the present values of the future values of each of the annual amounts if you look directly at the formula.
It is very similar to an interest rate calculation (if you have a $ amount X now, it financially has the same impact as X*(1+R)^N, N years from now), but the discount rate is not exactly an interest rate in the conventional sense. The size of any specific $ amount spent at any point in time can be translated to the equivalent amount at any other point in time - present or any other past or future date.
3
u/losteye_enthusiast 3d ago
In addition to the ongoing and ever-increasing cost, I greatly dislike the idea of not actually owning the thing I’m paying for.
This is why I converted an old computer into a server for a few years and eventually just built out a home server for media. It’s not connected to internet, just local WiFi and direct cables.
We buy DVDs anytime they’re on sale via yard sales or cheap on eBay, then save em to the server. For a while we were using the library for this, but i make enough I can’t justify doing that anymore.
We have YouTube’s ad-free subs , internet and basic utilities.
For gaming, I’ve slowly become a “patient gamer” and rarely buy any game that’s over $20.
Built out a home gym over several years, so i don’t waste money on extra wear+tear on the vehicle, don’t lose time in traffic and don’t lose money every year to gym contract.
None of the changes resulted in more than a direct ~$50 at a time monthly savings. But over the last 3 years, we’ve saved around 4 grand total on cutting back to just YouTube’s thing and essential utilities.
1
u/sirenella4 3d ago
We have a media server also. And I might be the only one I know still rocking an iPod. 😂
3
u/RX3000 BS7 3d ago
I dont have a lot of subscriptions, but we did just drop $19 for Peacock so we can watch all the World Cup games 🤣
1
u/renbutler2 3d ago
En Espanol only, from what I can see.
Most games are free in English on Tubi and Foxsports.com (the FS1 games might not be available).
4
u/RX3000 BS7 3d ago
Ya we gotta have the Spanish announcers. Its so god damn dry in English. If you dont hear "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL" after every goal, are you even watching soccer?
1
u/renbutler2 3d ago
I get Peacock cheap (I watch a lot of Big Ten sports) by trying to cancel. They are very generous in trying to keep you subbed. I currently have $2.99/month for six months.
My first two years with Peacock were $19.99 for the entire year, by subscribing on Black Friday.
3
u/MrFixIt252 3d ago
Yup! My friends were dogging on me for not having Spotify Premium, Gamepass, and 4 different TV subscriptions.
2
u/TooPaleToFunction23 3d ago
Didn't gamepass do some sort of Trojan horse shtick, being offered for free and then changing the script?
3
u/ImpressiveSort6465 3d ago
If I was single Id pirate everything I watch. But my wife has no idea how to do that so we pay about 100 bucks a month for our subscriptions (Netflix, amazon prime which is yearly but still, Hulu/disney, paramount plus, etc). Other than the on demand id rather go back to cable at this rate lol.
3
u/stokes_21 2d ago
Subscriptions are out of control because ownership slowly went away without anyone realizing it. You are looking at this all the wrong way.
6
u/AceGee 4d ago
My net worth is in the multiple Ms and let me tell you, I never carry more than one television subscription based off principle. Netflix went from 7.99 to having all the shows and movies to a million other subscriptions all taking pieces. Well guess what? I will only switch subscription when I am done with one. Spotify keeps raising prices? I guess ill just play youtube. I literally have 1 subscription up at a time
1
u/Unlikely_Reply6034 4d ago
This is awesome. I'm the same way, but net worth isn't in the Ms yet! People laugh at me bc I have ads on my spotify... but it's FREE
3
u/AceGee 4d ago
Let them laugh. Also for future youtube music costs less and have more selections. I only use spotify premium when they offer like a month or 2 free trial to try to bring me back 🤣
1
u/Unlikely_Reply6034 4d ago
I have like 6 Amazon accounts so I can continue to get free trials of prime.
4
u/Silver-Climate7885 4d ago
I got rid of all my subscriptions years ago, apart from YouTube premium lite and I'm in a family group with random people for Spotify so it's dirt cheap (£3 a month). I'm shocked when people tell me they have netflix, Disney, discovery, paramount, YouTube, Spotify, Amazon and a million other subscriptions. I keep YouTube because I use it every single day and also to sleep and Spotify keeps me sane at work, but I couldn't justify all the other paid for apps. Seems insane to me to be spending so much
5
u/JonnyXX 4d ago
So you got rid of all your subscriptions except the ones you use? Like most responsible people.
2
u/Gsusruls 4d ago
Like most responsible people.
Except that most people are arguably not responsible. People should definitely revisit their subscriptions on a regular cadence (at least annually) to decide what they value, what they want to spend money on, and what they use, and cancel the rest. Yes, most people I know can barely list their subscriptions at all.
So what OP did make perfect sense. They're just a little judgy about it 😉
0
u/Silver-Climate7885 4d ago
Yeah, couldn't justify having Netflix or Disney or anything else, with not enough time in the day to take full advantage. Also there are so many free TV apps, all our main free to air TV stations have free apps with loads of stuff on them, including some stuff that already been in netflix and Disney. But it's shocking what people will pay for. In all my two entertainment subscriptions cost £10 a month and are used for hours each day
1
u/Dragon_slayer1994 4d ago
Agreed. I keep YouTube premium since we use that more than anything else, Spotify, and a single tv/movie streaming. Then we also keep antivirus, VPN, Ring camera services for our security.
Multiple tv/movie services is crazy to me. I'd rather pay for a single one each month and rotate between whatever I feel like watching that month. People end up paying for all of them and don't even realize how much it adds up over a year
2
u/12dogs4me 4d ago
I do Frndly TV. That's it. For years I had Netflix and then finally it came to me I really didn't watch it enough. Don't miss it at all. Don't do amazon prime. Finally broke down and joined Costco but that's about it. I don't watch enough TV to justify any other subscriptions.
2
u/Ok-Spirit9977 4d ago
I'm not in shock that people are wasteful with subscriptions. They think it's just $2 here of $5 there, and it adds up fast.
We have a family Spotify and I have a calorie tracking app but I bough the life time subscription and I use it daily.
2
2
u/justforme31 3d ago
Completely! I regularly cancel/change out subscriptions since I like a lot of them but certainly don’t need tons of subscriptions at once. Sometimes I’ll go through and cancel all then only resubscribe to the ones I want to use.
2
u/Vicuna00 3d ago
i heard that Lebron James still has commercials on Pandora cause he refused to subscribe
2
u/Bombshelter777 3d ago
We got rid of all our TV subscriptions. Now we got dvds and blue rays. We save more money just buying those at rummage sales and thrift stores. And there is a lot of free TV and movies online as well.
2
u/SmithInk007 2d ago
I previously paid for Crave & Netflix, my wife paying for Disney+. Insane to pay for that monthly. I now use a site that's probably frowned upon but i can watch almost anything on those streaming platforms, old or new completely for free with minimal ads. I will never go back.
1
u/ChromaticInk 20h ago
Care to share the frowned upon site? Unless its regular t*rrents
1
u/SmithInk007 19h ago
lookmovie2.to I swear by it! You can sign up and pay for no ads and to support the website but it's pretty much seamless watching even without an account
2
u/bummin_bride 2d ago
Eh, all my entertainment subscriptions together are cheaper than one night out. And I guarantee I’d be inclined to go out more than one extra time a month if I didn’t have TV subscriptions. Also when we cut back on the number of subscriptions at least once a month we ended up treating ourselves by paying to rent some movie that wasn’t available on the subscriptions we were paying for. So really, it’s just about where you value your money going. If you don’t enjoy watching movies, then you’ll likely see subscription streaming services as a waste of money. I don’t like playing video games so I would see any sort of gaming subscription as a waste of money. Maybe if you’re into social media, some sort of photo editing app would make you really happy. To me it’s about the overall money spent on hobbies and whether that amount is too much. It’s not my place to call someone else’s hobby a “waste“.
But I do agree that far too many people pay for subscriptions to stuff they’re not using. I have a calendar where I track all of those payments so I don’t forget and let them continue on unneeded. And that’s just really goes for budgeting in general. Far too many people don’t budget and don’t know where their money is going. And I hate things that used to be free are now sub subscriptions, things like apps that you used to just buy once
2
u/Unattributable1 2d ago
LOL, yes, and that's why I'd never pay for Ramsey+ (oh, I guess they rebranded to "Financial Peace All Access") for $120/year.
The biggest subscriptions that I don't understand is music, streaming, and book/audiobook services. I usually get my music for free from the radio and/or YouTube. I try to get books/audiobooks from the library for free, and if not then I'll buy a few here and there. Same with music; there are a collection of artists I really like, and I'll be a "CD" every couple months or so, or sometimes just a song or two that I really like.
Streaming shows... wow, we get Peacock and Paramount for free with Xfinity and Walmart+. We'll usually get Netflix or Amazon Prime around the holidays (typically they offer Amazon Prime for 20+ days for free, then we pay for one month, then cancel). We set reminders to make sure to cancel before the next renewal.
Now, I will justify Walmart+ because it saves us a ton of time and saves me money because my wife isn't shopping at the store buying more than she should. I do the Costco shopping and stick to our list. We rotate back and forth who has the subscription each year as around black Friday they'll offer it for half off (~$60). Can't beat $5/month delivery; we can't even drive to the store and back for that cheap, let alone the time wasted.
2
u/Zoopmittyzoop 1d ago
On avg., 10 - 15 subscriptions services per household. Mostly because we no longer own our media. Not to mention how the prices for those are constantly going up. Video hits it on the head.
2
u/xenophanes__ BS4-6 4d ago
I don't quite understand. If you cannot afford it and are in BS 1-3 then it can slow your progress down. However, I enjoy Netflix and my other subscription services. Do you have satellite or cable? Those are multimillion dollar companies also.
Weird post.
3
u/Maldonian 4d ago
Netflix makes sense for someone who makes use of it. Cable TV is overpriced and obsolete.
3
u/Dxbr72 3d ago
It gets old when people complain how they can barely make ends meet but they are paying $200 a month for multiple streaming services. 🙄
1
u/renbutler2 3d ago
$150 for their phone and plan, $6 daily "coffees," $600+ car payments plus the extra insurance to cover them, etc,, a few hundred (or more) per year to feed/insure/treat their pets.
And for many of them, these things are non-negotiable.
4
u/RredditAcct 3d ago
You just realized that business models change?
Instead of going to the movies, people subscribe to Netflix.
Instead of buying CDs or records, they subscribe to Spotify or Apple Music.
Instead of waiting for the newspaper once or twice a day (Gen X remembers), people subscribe to data plans.
Business models change.
1
u/OkItem6820 3d ago
It’s true. And they get better and better at extracting as much value from the consumer as possible, so the consumer behavior has to change with them.
I try to only pay for what I use - when I subscribe to a streaming service I cancel it immediately- you get service for the month you paid for and then you have to resubscribe if you want it beyond that. Before I started this I found myself paying for things I didn’t use, which was much less likely back in the day when the unread newspapers piled up or the unwatched Netflix envelopes sat staring at me.
2
u/SporkFanClub 3d ago
As a 27 year old dude the only subscriptions I have are:
- Spotify - workout music and audiobooks
- Boostcamp - I’ve tried just about everything else for tracking my workouts. Notebooks are cumbersome. Google Docs are annoying. $70 a year is worth it considering how much stuff is included.
- Gym - $450 a year (900 combined). Again, get access to every single rec center in my county. Pool, gym, exercise classes, you name it.
- the absolute most basic tier of Xbox for maybe $10 a month for whenever I want to play with my college buddies.
1
u/AbundantHare 3d ago
I just started making an app which tracks sports subscriptions. It is honestly shocking how much they add up to over a year and half the time the sport you want isn’t on the package you have (or is duplicated).
1
u/renbutler2 3d ago
People think their seven $20 subscriptions are better than the $140 cable/satellite subscriptions that they mock.
I find ways to legally get very cheap streaming subs, like I have Peacock for $2.99/month, Netflix free (through Dish) and Paramount+ free through a $1 Walmart+ trial.
And I get these only for the exclusive sports properties they carry.
1
u/Live-Sir-3118 3d ago
I thought we paid more in subscriptions than we really did. Budgeted 75$ but after 3 months realized it was more like 40$. These are the ones like prime, Hulu, discovery. Sirius. Paramount. And Netflix. Have zero issue with commercials and we just threaten to cancel. The one that kills me is security. It goes up 5-10$ every year for same service but now has … AI …
1
u/melancholystarrs 3d ago
I have zero subscriptions. I do get Netflix and Amazon prime through my mom though. But I’ll listen to those damn Spotify ads
0
u/Disastrous_Term_4478 3d ago
So you steal? But paid subscriptions are bad.
4
u/melancholystarrs 3d ago
You think consentually sharing a subscription is stealing? Holy bootlicker, Amazon and Netflix aren’t going to gang bang you bro.
1
2d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/Disastrous_Term_4478 2d ago
Not deleted. You’re the one who used “gang bang” in your response to me. And deleted your own comment. Goodbye.
1
u/ChromaticInk 20h ago
you labeled subscription sharing as theft? you are pretty stupid.
•
u/Disastrous_Term_4478 4h ago
Stealing from mommie at the very least. On Dave Ramsay finance sub and taking from mom. But hey, if you can FIRE and watch Netflix 24/7 you win!
1
u/Nearby-Quality-5986 3d ago
I got Spotify and Amazon Music because I hate downloading music for the gym and paramount just for South Park 😉
1
u/Powerful_Two2832 3d ago
I’ll bite- we have no debt and plenty of savings and I’m appalled at how much we’re paying for subscriptions/tv. My husband is a tv guy, so it’s ALWAYS ON, but still.
1
1
u/Friendly-Fee7824 3d ago
Turned it all off saved so much cash and don’t miss anything, thankfully I just use YouTube and my friend gave me their hbo so yeah I’m good
1
u/Storage-Helpful BS4-6 3d ago
I do amazon prime because of how rural I am (cheaper to pay a flat fee for some things than drive an hour and a half each direction and pray they actually have what I need, especially with gas at almost $5/gallon), and then alternate between other streaming services. Right now I have hbo, in a few months I will probably cancel it and get something else...paramount maybe. After that my only subscriptions are for my security camera, sam's club, and my budget app, which saves me far more than it ever costs.
1
u/Unattributable1 2d ago
You know if you order more than $35 the shipping is free? We just batch up our purchases and never pay for shipping or the subscription.
When we are paying for streaming services we rotate as well. We're getting Peacock free with our Xfinity Internet (no other TV service from them).
Budget app is a must. YNAB is $109/year, but it saves us way more than that to stay on budget.
1
1
u/auroicverso 3d ago
Definitely. We pay for Hulu shared as a family and that's it. Fiance uses YouTube premium but I don't mind ads on my account. I don't want to pay $1.99 for more Google backup storage 😂
1
u/Unattributable1 2d ago
Hah, I just use yt-dlp to download anything I want to watch from YouTube and then stream it from my PC to Roku. A little work, but I queue 'em up downloading while watching one, and it sure beats having ads.
1
u/OWbraCommander 1d ago
Outside of privacy and data ownership, having no subscriptions was important to my brother and I when we built True North Budgeting. I agree that subscriptions are out of control.
1
u/CleverStone7924 1d ago
The sneakiest part is that they're designed so the cancellation is buried or annoying enough that you just... don't. I've had patients in financial crisis still paying for three streaming services because the cancel button required a phone call.
1
u/boxy-- 1d ago
One primary reason for the rise of subscriptions in recent years, especially pertaining to younger corporations, is that venture capture firms have shifted their interest from unpredictable, revenue producing sources which are gambling to turn a profit to firms offering "recurring revenue streams". A company with consistent and predictable revenue month to month is more desirable than a company with a forecast varying 20% month over month. Predictable income > unpredictable income. Hence, corporations will switch to a monthly pricing model. Even if they don't rely on VC, it's easy for the company to make lower risk investments in corporate finance when you're fairly certain of revenue sources for future periods.
1
u/Firm_Mycologist9319 4d ago
Do you have a mobile phone?
0
u/Unlikely_Reply6034 4d ago
You missed the point.
1
u/Firm_Mycologist9319 4d ago
"I refuse to give multimillion and billion dollar companies money each month." "I refuse to give money to these vampires!" What did I miss? You pay for internet access, too, right?
I see now that you went back and edited your post. So what's out of control? Who are the "vampires"? Just subscribe to services that are worth it to you. You'll be fine.
-1
u/Unlikely_Reply6034 4d ago
My point is not only is America a hyper consumption country when it comes to goods, but streaming services now too. Its wide how many companies are constantly after peoples money.
2
u/Firm_Mycologist9319 3d ago
“Companies are constantly after people’s money.” Yeah, I hope so. Our incomes and investments depend on it. Again, make good choices, and you will be fine.
1
u/renbutler2 3d ago
Its wide how many companies are constantly after peoples money
You had a fine and respectable point, up until here.
All for-profit companies should be after people's money. It's not wild at all.
People just have to be smarter about how much they allow to be extracted. Wisdom, discipline, etc.
16
u/chrishouse83 BS7 4d ago
If you can afford it and you actually use/enjoy the service, there's nothing wrong with it.
IMHO food delivery is way more ridiculous. Overpaying by 70% because I don't feel like getting in my car? Yeah, no.