How to get rid of meaningless monthly expenses
Text: Anton Mukhataev
We often share tips on how to spend money wisely. and not to abuse (this is not us, this is life). You can save not only on failed purchases, but also on services that you do not use. A good example: you wake up to the sound of a text message about writing off 12 bucks for a three-month subscription to The New Yorker website, where you have not visited since the beginning of the year. Admit it happened?
You curse everything, but never unsubscribe - instead, you gradually forget about what your bank card is being withdrawn for each month for, or that you have recklessly paid for a year in advance. So services start not to save your money, but to spend it. We have collected a few tips that will help reduce your monthly expenses, even if individually they seem insignificant to you.
DO YOU OFTEN SEE CABLE TELEVISION?Today, Internet providers offer a broadband broadband subscription and cable channels at a bargain price. Another thing is that a huge selection and hundreds of channels are not very relevant when there are YouTube and other video services that give you your own to determine what you want to watch. It is better to pay only for the Internet, and to free up the money to spend either on the streaming service with TV shows and movies, or on something else.
Do you need mobile internet? Now many people pay for the Internet twice: first for broadband, and then for unlimited 3G or 4G. But think about whether you need to be so much online, including weekends? It is possible that, using the mobile Internet, you just sit on social networks or frantically reading mail instead of something more interesting. But the time that you are not on the Internet (for example, on the way to work or home), you can take something else: read a book or, excuse me, call your parents.
Do you have time to read all the magazines and newspapers you subscribe to? It is unlikely that if there are more than three or four. In this case, it is reasonable to unsubscribe from everything superfluous and leave only what is really needed. For the same publications that interest you only occasionally, nothing prevents you from taking individual issues. Hope you find time to read everything you subscribe to, at least naively.
Does it make sense to pay for the year ahead What you do not use regularly? It is clear that at the moment when you subscribe, the opportunity to save ten-digit interest looks attractive. But what if in the summer you go abroad or to the country? If you put together all the holidays, business trips and other potential trips, it turns out that the annual subscription is not so profitable. And it will be much more difficult to unsubscribe from what you have already paid money for: not all return the invested funds.
Why subscribe to services that overlap? The choice of a trial free period will help. It is better not to take it at the same time in several places, but in turn. So in the end you will be able to determine exactly what you need and what does not. The same is true with paid subscriptions: if you are interested in the content of two services, just pay them one by one, and not at the same time. Most of today have such a library that you definitely will not have time to explore all the interesting things for this time.
When did you last update the rates on internet and mobile? It is possible that a new version of the current tariff has come out, which will either cost less, or increase the speed or amount of available traffic. Or the tariff scale has been updated so that you want to switch to another, cheaper subscription. However, from time to time, check to see if the operators have anything new. Do not forget about the special applications that will help determine which tariff suits you best.
Are all your subscriptions a habit? Perhaps you have repeatedly had the desire to buy a paid account on the site, which you open every couple of weeks. Or do you want to think that you like to read books and read a lot, but in fact a subscription to book services is simply unprofitable for you, and it does not motivate you to read. It is better to restrict those subscriptions, without which you can not imagine a day.
Are there cheaper or free (but legal) counterparts? what you use? Perhaps you are not such a big fan of music, and the huge Spotify library is superfluous for you, and Yandex.Musics will be enough. Or are you subscribed to a paid VPN, although the free gives results not worse. Consider whether this subscription fits into your lifestyle in order to lay out substantial money for it from month to month.
Should I buy subscriptions during New Year's sales? Although at this time many services indulge with discounts and special offers, it may turn out that in a fit of shopping you will buy a one-year subscription to something you will regret later. Do not get fooled, but rather arrange yourself a special day in the year (or several days) when you update the list of subscriptions: discard those that you didn’t use or almost didn’t use, and add new ones to the trial period that may actually be useful. And for clarity, always open a statement on your bank card or recent transactions in PayPal.
Photo: recose - stock.adobe.com
Material was first published on Look At Me