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StitcherIt took 30 seconds to subscribe, but somehow forever to cancel. And all that time, it’s quietly eating your savings. Today, we take a look at how subscriptions quietly pile up, why small monthly fees are so easy to ignore, and how to reset them in a practical way that still protects your financial goals.
This isn’t a call to cancel everything. It’s about seeing what’s actually happening.
Everything is Subscription Now
It’s not only you who feels like everything has started becoming a monthly subscription. Jen says this works well for companies because subscriptions give them steady, predictable income. Instead of convincing you to buy again and again, they get you to buy once and then forget about it.
Jill calls this the “forgetting effect.” Many people underestimate how much they spend on subscriptions because companies design them to be easy and cheap to run, with higher profits. Companies also profit when people forget by setting subscriptions to auto-renew, turning free trials into paid plans, and keeping charges small so they feel almost invisible.
Why is This Detrimental For Us
Jen emphasizes that it’s not just about forgetting—canceling can be hard too. Companies like Adobe, gyms, and media subscriptions add fees, require phone calls, or make you jump through extra steps to stop, making it harder for people to leave.
They suggest starting by checking your bank and app store subscriptions. Sort them into daily use, weekly use, or didn’t use last month, then cancel or pause anything unused. Consolidate into family plans and downgrade pricey tiers. Going forward, skip annual plans just to “save” and use your local library for audiobooks, movies, shows, museum passes, and classes instead of adding more subscriptions.
Most recent canceled subscription
Jill has a coin-identifying app (though it’s mostly her husband’s). They signed up for a free trial, tried to cancel, but still got charged. The app wouldn’t refund them, so they took it up with their credit card, and the card reimbursed it. Meanwhile, Jen canceled her Southwest credit card because they increased the annual fee.
Bill of The Week
Thanks, Jess! You canceled your Xbox Game Pass subscription, and it’s no longer offering a discount.
Thanks so Much for Listening!
Thanks so much for listening. We love love love reading your kind reviews of our book Buy What You Love Without Going Broke and we especially loved this one from:
✰✰✰✰✰
Omg the cognitive dissonance of getting this book from the library! It is well worth the purchase price, but after reading it, I'm proud of myself for following its own advice by borrowing it. Well done Jill & Jen for balancing sound financial advice with self-care mindfulness. BWYLWGB feels like it was written by a friend, for a friend. Can't wait for the sequel when I can buy the book outright! IOU $25!!!
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