Have you ever subscribed to something for a free trial and then forgotten to unsubscribe before your credit card was charged? Monthly subscriptions can wreak havoc on your financial wellness.
Free trials are great for sampling something before you commit. Depending on the platform, free trials can last 1-3 months. The tricky part about free trials is that unless you set a reminder date on your calendar to unsubscribe, you have a new monthly subscription. That means the subscription fee is withdrawn from your account.
Before you know it, you pay a hundred dollars or more yearly just for forgetting to unsubscribe. You might think this trickery is a marketing scheme. Companies hope you forget to unsubscribe so they can continue getting your money.
“Oh, it’s just $7.99/month; it’s no big deal…” That monthly subscription that only costs $7.99/month will cost you $95.88/year!
Subscriptions tend to sneak into our outgoing expenses because programs and different apps make it easy and accessible to quickly download and link to a user account that already has your financial information stored, such as Apple ID.
Check subscriptions on Apple ID
- Open the Settings app on iPhone or iPad
- Tap your name at the top
- Tap Subscriptions
- You’ll see all the Active and Expired subscriptions tied to your Apple ID
- Tap on one to cancel, change options or see more information
Check subscriptions on Android
- Open your device’s settings app, Google.
- Tap Manage your Google Account
- At the top, tap payments & subscriptions
- Tap manage purchases, manage subscriptions or manage reservations
- To see more details, select an item
There are a few apps you can also use to help you identify subscriptions. It is important to incorporate financial healthy routines and habits into your lifestyle.
Financial wellness boils down to understanding your finances what is coming in versus what is going out. Take time to look once a month to understand where your money goes and determine how to create a budget that works for you.