Finances FYI Presented by JPMorgan Chase
Subscription services are a billion-dollar-per-month industry, according to a survey by West Monroe, which found that the average person spends almost $240 each month on subscriptions. These subscription services include streaming, shopping, music, beauty products, fitness, and subscription boxes.
Now is a great time to take an inventory of all your subscriptions and cancel the ones you haven’t used enough in 2022. Give yourself the gift of cutting down on unused subscriptions with the following tools.
Subscription Management Apps
New technology can scan your bank statements and notify you of recurring charges. Most of these types of apps provide basic monitoring services for free. Some also have a premium paid option that will cancel the subscriptions for you. Other premium features include negotiating better deals, setting up savings accounts for you, negotiating parking tickets, and more.
Some services filter through your bank statements to identify any monthly recurring charges. Sometimes, the software cannot catch subscriptions that have billing periods that aren’t monthly. If you use one of these apps, following up on subscriptions with abnormal billing cycles is a good idea.
These apps have received some negative reviews because they need access to your private financial data. By connecting these apps to your financial accounts, you depend on them to handle your data securely. Check the app’s privacy policy before signing up to ensure you’re comfortable.
Smartphone App Review
On your smartphone, you can see a list of your subscriptions in the store where you buy apps. If you can’t find it, do a quick online search to see where subscriptions are listed on your particular phone. From there, you should be able to view all active subscriptions and how much they cost.
Then, you can check for lower-cost plan options or consider canceling. Make a habit of checking your app subscriptions monthly and changing to a cheaper subscription plan when possible.
Free Streaming
Free ad-supported TV, called FAST for short, is a content delivery model provided at no cost to you. Much like traditional television, advertisers pay to stream ads before, during, or after your video. FAST also uses scheduled programming. The FAST streaming option is growing in popularity as companies look for ways to retain and attract new customers. This works to your advantage by giving you access to many platforms without paying for them.
One of the most popular features of FAST streaming is the various available options and access to the best new products or services, according to a Harris Poll survey.
Auto-Renew Features
Perhaps you subscribe to a service to watch the newest hit show or get a must-have item, only to forget to cancel later. Fortunately, many subscription services offer the option to turn off auto-renew. This will end your subscription after the current billing cycle or send you a reminder to renew or cancel.
You can also schedule a notification in your calendar when you sign up, reminding you to cancel before a free or reduced-cost billing period ends.
Previous Year Analysis
The end of the year is a great time to do a financial analysis and plan for the upcoming year. Part of that analysis can be to look at your bank statements to identify all your subscriptions. Sort the subscriptions based on whether you actively use them, and cancel any you no longer want.
With the new year approaching, now is the perfect time to take an inventory of your subscriptions to decide what to keep and what needs to be left in 2022.
Finances FYI is presented by JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan Chase is making a $30 billion commitment over the next five years to address some of the largest drivers of the racial wealth divide.
