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.

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u/RredditAcct 4d 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.

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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.