Most people in the UK have several subscriptions for streaming services and Ecommerce sites. These days, it can be irresistibly easy to fall into the trap of signing up for several subscriptions, which all seem far too beneficial to resist. For instance, they can give you access to all the goods and services you desire with ease, and many platforms offer perks such as reduced prices or cheap and quick delivery to subscribers.
Although subscriptions have their perks, is the cash we pay for them worth it? Or are we just falling into a money-leaching trap that we try to avoid in the future?
Subscriptions Explained
A subscription is when you pay a recurring monthly or annual fee so that you may use the goods or services offered by a company.
The goal of subscriptions is to increase customer retention and lower customer acquisition costs.
Subscriptions are incredibly beneficial to companies as they provide them with monthly or annual recurring revenue. Conversely, customers benefit by gaining continuous access to the goods and services they want, often at better rates and with special deals.
Subscriptions also offer a great deal of convenience to customers as it allows them to ‘set it and forget it’ instead of needing to remember to pay every month.
How Much Do Subscriptions Cost?
Of course, no one price applies to all subscriptions and the more things you are subscribed to, the more money you will inevitably end up paying.
However, by looking at some of the most popular subscriptions in the UK, you may get an idea of what subscriptions can end up costing you a month.
A recent survey from Finder has found that over 60% of adults in Britain are subscribed to Amazon Prime, which costs £8.99 a month or £95 per year. Some other popular subscriptions are Graze – the most highly used food subscription in the UK – which costs £4.49 a box. Other subscriptions, such as Netflix, start at £6.99 a month, and Apple TV, costs £4.99 a month.
In fact, in the UK, Brits spend a total of more than £2 billion every year on subscription services.
This phenomenon is what Barclays refers to as the ‘Subscription Society’ , something that shot up in lockdown due to the increase in the popularity of online shopping and streaming.
Barclays has revealed new research that, even after the easing of lockdown restrictions, the UK remains a nation of ‘Super Subscribers,’ with 81% of UK households being signed up to at least one subscription and the average Brit spending an eye-watering £620 a year on sign-up services.
Are You Wasting Money on Monthly Subscriptions?
Subscriptions are very convenient for consumers. They allow you to stay subscribed to all your favourite companies without remembering to manually submit a payment. They also offer perks and special discounts to subscribers.
But new research from Barclaycard has found that the average Brit spends £620 a year on sign-up services – this figure leaves us wondering, is this amount worth it?
Although some subscriptions can be very handy, if you do not make full and regular use of a subscription, it would always be best to cancel it.
It would be a good idea to look through your bank statements and see if you are paying for any unnecessary subscriptions which you can cancel – remember, if you don’t use it, don’t pay for it.
How To Work Out If You Are
To see if you are wasting money on subscriptions, you should start by figuring out the total amount you are paying for them in total. You must then decide where you are spending unnecessarily so that you can cut back and make sure you are not wasting any cash.
If you are subscribed to multiple streaming services, this may mean you are wasting money. Streaming services are very popular, and each can offer its own shows and films. Nonetheless, if you are subscribed to every streaming service you can get your hands on, you may consider if this is money well spent.
It is likely you will still be able to cut back, save money, and still enjoy your favourite shows and movies.
Other things you may want to consider cutting back on are food subscription services. Although these can be convenient, you may not be making use of all the items you receive. Rather than throwing money away in the bin, it may be a better idea to simply nip to your local Lidl or Aldi.
Gym memberships are another area where people frequently waste money. It is not uncommon to sign up with subscriptions to go weekly. But if you do not, it would be a good idea to cancel it. Remember, you can always go for a free run around your local park or do a home workout instead.
Once you determine how much you’re paying and for which subscriptions, you can decide whether each expense is justified. You may even consider switching some of your subscriptions to cheaper alternatives.
This will stop you from wasting unnecessary money on subscriptions and make sure you only keep what you truly utilise.
