I was listening to a podcast today and they were talking about monthly fees you pay for things that you don’t really need. They quoted that 10% of Americans own a storage unit - that shocked me! Seems high?!
Anyway, theme was, what are you paying for on a monthly or subscription that you don’t use or don’t really need??
Could you clean out that storage unit and save the monthly fee?
Are you paying monthly for an app but not using it?
Have a gym monthly fee - but not going to the gym at all (I realize some are paying this fee even through COVID to support local gyms - all good!)???
Last week I cancelled a monthly subscription for coffee from Panera. I did the one month free trial - and used it twice a week while at the office but decided that really when I thought about it while it was convenient, I don’t really like the coffee! So cancelled.
Someone else I know says she has a music monthly subscription that she never uses - but hasn’t bothered to cancel.
Is there a “storage unit” or other monthly $ obligation you could really do without - or don’t use/benefit from???
I have several clients who keep unnecessary bank accounts at $15 a month in fees… for accounts they don’t need or even use. They’re literally transferring money into these accounts each month just to pay the bank’s fee. I have another client paying $300 a month in storage fees for old bookkeeping papers, about four banker boxes worth. We offered to scan it all onto a computer drive, and, after paying for that labor, they’d break even in one or two months, but no.
We like our Comcast cable (especially on-demand) but use it less and less now that we have Netflix and Amazon Prime. It makes less sense now that we use a local cable (town “utility”) for internet, no bundling. We keep it for now. Same for our landline, which is still an old fashioned landline with the phone company. Now that I’m retired there is time to reconsider those choices.
I can’t think of anything I don’t use that I pay for but there are a few things I need to research and get a better rate on like cell phone service for the family. And I still have a house phone I want to keep but I need to move to a cheaper service. These are projects I’ll tackle this winter once I get past election related activities.
I’ve never had a storage unit but I have tons of crap in the basement to organize and declutter - another winter project.
I know someone who fits that storage area example. I’ve explained to her multiple times that she could sell (or toss as much is garbage) everything in it and buy it back new once she has room for things where she lives. She assures me she can’t ever get those things back again, so pays in the neighborhood of $300/month for two units.
She’s also a hoarder and has been in every apartment or house she’s lived in, so I guess that’s just how she gets her jollies - which I wouldn’t mind if she could afford it…
For us, we still subscribe to Netflix discs since we don’t have WiFi at the house (except via phones). With our travels and the recent health issues of our parents, sometimes we’ve had discs at the house for over a month or two. We could have bought it instead! I like the selection though, so it stays even though I’ve mulled cancelling it. Otherwise, we don’t keep things we don’t use. When I see something show up on our credit card and know we don’t use it (or plan to), the phone call goes out the same day. AAA can be the exception, but we have used it some years so it’s still there.
Sirius is one that is kind of bothering me now. I used to listen to it in the car a lot and now I never go anywhere. I should have canceled it in March. But somehow cancelling it now feels like admitting that I’m never going to go anywhere!
Some of our subscriptions are so old that when I call, they can’t find a record of it, even when I give them possible email addresses. It’s so annoying. I have told DH, “NO MORE ‘FREE’ TRIALS!!” Those are the kiss of death.
Funny enough we got rid of our cable TV with AT&T last February right before Covid. Even with Amazon prime, Nexflix, Hulu and Disney Plus we still save over $100 a month and have a home phone number which H wanted to keep.
I have Sirius free for three months thanks to my new car. I had it with my other new Mazda five years ago and was able to extend it for another year for $30! If you wait long enough, the cost goes down, down, down (my husband doesn’t care for it, so I didn’t renew it after that). Now that I have it again, I have the app on my phone and listen while I’m walking since I’m not getting much use out of it in my car. If I can swing another cheap deal, I think I’ll renew it in December.
My husband pays monthly for Apple Music (I think that’s what it’s called) but for $120/year I can’t use the app because he didn’t buy the family plan… I wish I could show you how much music he owns outright (CD’s and vinyls). It boggles my mind that he needs more!
@gouf78 my husband also has Sirius, and he can add any number of devices, we are thinking we should just add my phone, and I can listen in my car through that…right?
We still have a landline. But we also have DSL. It’s a bundle. Without the $3.50 a month landline, our internet access cost would double. The landline gives the telemarketers someplace to call??
I keep trying to drop the gym membership (covid) but they keep convincing me to “put it on hold without paying” for another three months. I hope this is somehow helping them to convince corporate that they’re keeping their numbers up and not have to close down, but frankly I don’t know that I’ll ever go back.
I also have several of those buy 10 get one free punch cards in the glove compartment and I doubt they’ll still be valid by the time (if ever) I get to 10.
I forgot about AAA! We’ve had it for decades; I mainly liked it for the maps and guidebooks. We did need their road service on rare occasion. Of course everything can be found online now, but there’s nothing like a paper map.
Then a few weeks ago, my car battery died and husband was able to jump it. A few days later, it was dead again. I called AAA. They came in 20 minutes and tested it. I needed a new one and they installed it right there and then. Husband had been advising me to let him jump it again and make an appointment at the dealership to check it out. Instead of letting the masked technician come to our house and fix it?!
We have a daily newspaper delivered and an online sub to the NYT. I didn’t count those because we read them regularly and don’t care to stop. Our family Lumosity sub is still wanted too. Then there are a few magazines like Reader’s Digest, Nutrition Action, and H has two sailing ones.
I recently let my subscription to Pogo continue. Mom had me using it at her house (she loved it) but I assumed I’d ditch it when she passed away. I’ve found I like a few of the games. I can’t use them at home due to data concerns, but when on WiFi elsewhere - like here at FIL’s house - it helps pass the time, just as it did at her house.
What I don’t keep paying for are things we don’t use.
I cut our landline bill in half by getting rid of long distance. We don’t have caller ID on the landline, though, so we assume whoever calls is a robodialer/telemarketer. Has led to a couple awkward conversations when a Real Person we want to speak to actually calls!
Would get rid of the landline, but the defibrillator requires dial-in.
I should probably make a list of online subscriptions so I know when they’re about to renew and can make an affirmative decision about continuing.
Am thinking about dropping the deadtree newspaper, but haven’t been able to cut the strings. There are some things that are buried in the online version and I don’t always dig deep enough to find them, even though I enjoy reading those pieces. We only get Saturday and Sunday papers now, and online is included.
Dropped AAA years ago when online resources became more useful. We don’t use travel agent services, and our car insurance covers towing and road service for less than AAA.
My co-conspirator in charity quilting thinks we should get a storage unit for all the donated fabric we’ve received. I’m absolutely opposed. Not spending $ on that! I’d rather stockpile it in my house and listen to H grouse about it (though I’ve passed a bunch on to other charity quilters and have used 125+ yards on masks and scrub caps this year).
Sibling stuck me with our parents’ storage unit that had to be near her so she could empty it. I was 25 0 miles away, out of state taking care of parents’ locally and delightful sibling never tackled it and moved far away. Paid for that unit for a couple of years before I could escape local health demands and have the storage facility donate 99% of it. Never again. Basements. attics and storage units= lands of deferred decisions.
Re: Sirius radio- most car plans let you use them in the house through other devices; we access ours through Alexa.
Just canceled our gym memberships after 7 months of deliberate support. We know that it will be a long time before that is a smart place for us to be.
