In the digital age, managing money effectively often requires mastering a new skill set—navigating the endless options for streaming entertainment. The search is no longer limited to the search for the remote control in the sofa cushions but managing a seamless endless list of subscriptions. Add upgrades to ad-free options, and you’ll quickly find yourself screaming.
Do You Know How to Unsubscribe?
With the increasing number of platforms, it’s fast and easy to subscribe to multiple services, but canceling them? That’s a different story. First, unraveling the self-inflicted mess requires examining every charge potentially posted to multiple credit or bank accounts, which makes it very inconvenient and aggravating. Websites are designed specifically intended to keep you subscribed. The ease with which you subscribe through apps like Amazon, Apple One, or Roku does not mean you’ll have the same ease when it comes to unsubscribing.
How these apps are configured often makes it easier to subscribe than unsubscribe. This is the norm for all online subscription services in general. The less action you take, the more you contribute to their bottom line.
Avoiding Duplication & Pitfalls
You might end up paying for several subscriptions for the same service without knowing. It gets even muddier when you consider the charge will come through on your account as “Amazon” and not as your specific streaming service. It’s good to do a family audit of your various online subscriptions at least once yearly to catch any discrepancies.
To better manage a plentiful subscription catalog, consider using a single email account from an email service such as Gmail for all your families’ streaming subscriptions, where each authorized member can log in, enjoy programming, and reset subscription passwords as needed. Tracking and managing duplicate subscriptions then becomes part of the past.
Do you think you’ve done a clean sweep of all your streaming subscriptions? Don’t assume the old trick of changing your credit card number will automatically unsubscribe you from any given service. Many card issuers have a customer-friendly service to help consumers “avoid interruption” when your card number changes. Therefore, you will need to cancel each one individually. Remain vigilant that they don’t mysteriously return thanks to an eager teen with a card # and email account.
Beware Subscription App Managers
There are some apps, such as Rocket Money, that will manage all your subscriptions. While it can be a useful tool, it can become just another subscription you’ll need to manage—and eventually cancel. This app requires you to connect your bank accounts or credit cards under the guise of finding and canceling unnecessary subscriptions. This means the app has ongoing monitoring access to your financial transactions. It’s no surprise that we at Organized Instincts do not recommend apps such as these.
At Organized Instincts, our daily money managers help you keep better track of your online subscriptions, allowing you to enjoy your downtime. If you want to learn more, send us a message to learn how to enjoy screen time rather than screaming!
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