You don’t need me to tell you the cost of living is rising and everything is becoming more expensive.
So it’s probably a good time to have a proper look into our bank accounts and make sure we aren’t spending money on unnecessary things every month.
You know? Like all those subscription services that seemed like a good idea at the time?
This week I came back from work to find a Hello Fresh box at my door.
Oops. I had forgotten to skip a delivery.
I often do.
Now and again I’ll get one of the meal kits as a treat but I definitely don’t need one every week.
And as much as I love the convenience it should probably be called Hello Dishes. Because any stir fry that involves five bowls, three pots, a frying pan and two plates is obviously going to leave you with a massive pile of washing up at the end.
In fact, for all the money I spend on it, the box should really include someone to do the dishes for me.
Cancelling is often forgotten
Forgetting to cancel a subscription after the first ‘free’ month is easily done though.
And companies know that.
They’re the same companies who make it so difficult and time consuming for us to cancel.
Often you’ll be hit with ‘Why do you want to cancel?’.
Then once you give an answer, you’ll be asked ‘Are you sure you want to cancel?’
Yes, I am sure I’m sure. Now please just cancel it and stop taking my money thank very much.
Of course nobody is forcing us to sign up for these things in the first place.
We fall into the trap of getting a discount or a great deal for the first month or three.
But then we end up keeping it for longer than we want, promising ourselves ‘I’ll cancel it tomorrow’ when tomorrow never comes.
Sometimes your subscriptions come as a surprise
Some subscriptions are useful. But I recently checked my phone and wondered how I’d managed to sign up to quite a few of the things on there.
To be honest I didn’t even know I was paying for them. But there they were. Apps on my phone charging me £6.99 per month for things I didn’t need.
One in particular was a photo editing tool I’ve only used a handful of times.
Between my music subscription, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hello Fresh, milk, DJ software, all those apps on my phone and a random BEER subscription my hubby has signed up for, the monthly cost isn’t long in totting up.
In the grand scheme of things, £6.99 a month isn’t that expensive. But add it up over a year and all these small amounts can make a big dent in your bank balance.
Yes some of them are fun. And it’s quite exciting having stuff delivered to your door on a weekly or monthly basis.
But do you really need to be spending that money?
And do you even actually realise you are paying for them?
If the answer’s ‘no’, it’s probably something you can live without and maybe now is the time to take control.
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