Most people vastly underestimate the amount they spend each month on subscriptions. Recurring charges for clothing, food and entertainment can add up quickly if customers don’t pay attention.
A family member recently asked me what exactly they were paying for with their $10.99 monthly Roku payment. I informed them that Roku doesn’t charge a monthly payment, but he was certain of the deduction from his credit card every month. After much password-retrieving and bill analyzation, I figured out he was in fact paying for a Showtime subscription. He was not aware that he ever subscribed to Showtime and did not want it. We canceled it and he now has an extra “Hamilton” in his wallet each month.
This loved one of mine is not alone. Analysis from C+R Research found that 42% of people have forgotten about a recurring monthly subscription they were still paying for but no longer using. It may come as no surprise that members of Generation Z are the worst offenders, and baby boomers are the least likely to forget a recurring charge.
Imagine my delight when my streaming service, Fubo TV contacted me earlier this month. I had been paying for an NBA package to ensure we could watch all the games not offered on the channels included in our basic subscription. As the playoffs started winding down, the games were no longer on obscure channels I had to access via the NBA package. Fubo emailed me to let me know I could cancel my NBA package since I could now view all the games through my regular subscription. They were encouraging me to stop paying for the NBA package I no longer needed. Call me a customer for life.
Most people don’t have a good idea of how much they are truly spending on recurring charges each month. C+R Research asked people to estimate how much they spend monthly on subscription services. First estimates were around $86. But when those surveyed figured out actual spending, the amount was closer to $219. On average, consumers underestimated monthly subscription spending by $133.
You can bet part of that is to blame on the fact that most of the time, customers set up automatic pay for those recurring charges. Out of sight, out of mind.
Here are some tricks and tips to help consumers keep those monthly charges in sight.
Set a reminder
The easiest option is to do this one thing each time you sign up for a free trial. Note when the freebie ends and set a reminder to review the service and decide if you really want it before the monthly charges start.
Choose the right credit card
A few years ago, Mastercard decided to require merchants that offer free trials to contact cardholders via text or email when it ends. The merchants will need to remind the cardholder about the transaction amount and payment date along with explicit instructions on how to cancel. The merchant will also need to get the customer’s approval before they can start billing them with a monthly charge. Chase and Capital One credit cards also have subscription-tracking features worth checking out.
Use an app
If you don’t want to go through your credit card bills to find recurring charges, there’s a free app to help you out. Truebill is a full-blown budgeting app for iOS and Android, but has helpful features specific to subscriptions. Connect your bank account and credit cards and the app locates all recurring charges under one of the app’s tabs. It will show billing dates and charges for each subscription and tallies up the yearly total. Then, the app gives step-by-step instructions for how to cancel each of the subscriptions if you so desire. It also provides links and phone numbers for each service for more information. Truebill users can also pay a monthly fee to have the app cancel subscriptions on their behalf.
No doubt you’ve received notifications of some of your monthly subscriptions getting price hikes. I’ve gotten them over the years from Amazon Prime, Hulu, Netflix and others. It can be easy to continue allowing dozens of merchants to charge you monthly without ever giving them a second thought. But it’s possible that tracking those charges, eliminating services you no longer use and keeping more of your money in your account can be just as easy.