Is it time to ditch your digital subscriptions?

Over the last few years, particularly during the lockdowns, you probably signed up for a new month-by-month subscription where goods are sent to your front door or services accessed via the internet.  

They’re usually incredibly easy to sign up for, often letting us try it for a month for free or at a reduced priced. As a result you could well have collected two or three, if not more, of these memberships.

Do you have more subscription services than you need?

And they are now for pretty much everything. Streaming has undoubtedly been the biggest, with a huge number of film and music accounts available. Food is very popular too—recipe boxes, bottles of gin or packs of cake can be delivered every month. You can pay to get free shipping and perks from fashion retailers, supermarkets and more. Or there are boxes for razors, flowers, books or socks. The list goes on. 

There are positives, particularly the offer of convenience and variety without a long term commitment. Plus, sometimes, they can be cheaper than alternatives. 

But there are problems too. It’s easy to forget you’re signed up, particularly if the membership isn’t for something that physically arrives at the door. Payments for digital subscriptions can keep leaving your bank account without you really noticing. 

And much of the time these services are luxuries rather than essentials. With costs on the rise everywhere, they can become a drain on your bank account, meaning you might need to begrudgingly cancel some or all of your subscriptions. 

This doesn’t need to be a bad thing. In fact, I think it’s an opportunity to really think about whether you’re getting value for money from all these services. And if not, it’s time to ditch them to free up cash. 

The first step is to check your bank statements to see exactly what you’re paying for, in case there are any you’ve forgotten about. Make sure you go back a full year to look for annual payments. 

List out all the services and think about how much you use them and whether there are alternatives offering the same thing for less. Or perhaps there are duplicates! Here are a few to pay close attention to.

Retailer memberships like Amazon Prime 

These can really vary in value. Often you think you’re getting lots for your money, with free delivery or discounts. But in reality I think they tempt you to spend more than you would without it and stop you shopping around. 

The big one here is Amazon Prime. In September, Amazon added 20 per cent to the price of its annual membership, meaning you’ll now need to shell out £95 every year to access the benefits.  

I’d encourage you to go monthly and only pay for the months you really need it—perhaps even go without completely. You can get free delivery from Amazon on orders over £20 anyway, so just buy things together rather than making lots of small orders. 

For supermarket delivery passes, work out if you’re adding more to your order each month to qualify for delivery. If so, you’re not really saving. Better still, check out other supermarkets just to check if they’re cheaper overall. 

Food boxes 

People love the variety that comes with food boxes, but you can simply use old recipe cards or look in books or online for inspiration, and buy the ingredients at the supermarket. Yes, you’ll be buying larger packs of things like herbs, but these will last and can be used again in future recipes. 

Food box subscriptions may have seemed like a good idea during lockdown, but often you can save money just buying ingredients yourself

Likewise, other food and drink products through the post can usually be replaced for less at the supermarket. I’d look to pause these subscriptions for the time being, if not cancel outright, and just use them for an occassional treat—if your budget stretches to it. 

Streaming 

Unless you are committed to just a single service, I’d avoid paying upfront for a year. It might seem like a saving, but only if you are actually going to use it every month for 12 months. Instead, paying monthly gives you the opportunity to cancel when there’s nothing to watch or listen to, or when you want to try a different service.  

Remember catch up viewing is free for Channel 4, ITV and Channel 5, while if you are paying the TV Licence you also have access to iPlayer. There’s enough on these to cover a good few months of content. 

Other memberships 

Let’s not forget passes for the cinema, days out and the gym. These memberships will be less flexible and are more likely to be annual contracts. 

Gym memberships are more likely to be an annual contract

So make a note of when they expire, and ensure you do the same review. Are you using them enough to justify the cost? Are there cheaper alternatives? 

Read more: Broadband costs: How to save serious money

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