It’s easy to fall into the trap of over-subscribing or forgetting to cancel the latest membership before it auto-bills to your credit card. Today, there are subscription services that exist for nearly every need, from ordering takeout and groceries to streaming movies and TV shows, to editing and sharing photos with friends and family in the cloud. Recently, a Bankrate survey found that 51% of US adults pay for unwanted subscriptions or memberships. A separate study conducted by Chase Bank in April 2021 found that 71% of Americans estimate they waste more than $50 per month on recurring subscription payments. If you identify with this majority of people who feel scammed out of tens – if not hundreds – of dollars each year paying for services that are forgotten or unused, check out these suggestions for identifying and cancelling your unwanted subscriptions:
- Check Your App Store
When in doubt, you can view many subscriptions you may be enrolled in by checking your phone settings or App Store/Play Store library. For iPhone users, most subscription services accessed through your Apple ID can be modified, cancelled, or reactivated directly from your device. Simply hit Settings > Apple ID > Subscriptions for a list of both active and old subscriptions accessed using your Apple ID. For Android users, hit Play Store > Menu > Subscriptions.
- Check Your Credit Card Statements
The most straightforward way to know when you’re paying for a subscription you may no longer want is to check your credit card statement for charges. Many credit card companies, including American Express and Discover, can auto-sort your monthly billing statement by location (was the purchase was made at a grocery store? Gas station? Online subscription service?). From there, you can note which subscription services you’ve been paying for in a spreadsheet, to tackle them one-by-one.
- Disable Auto-Renewal
The #1 reason why so many Americans make recurring payments for subscription services they aren’t even aware of or no longer desire is that most service providers require you to enter credit card or payment information upon enrollment to even qualify for a free trial. The only way to mitigate ongoing problems from this marketing tactic is to disable auto-renewal the moment you subscribe for a free trial or online service. Otherwise, you may be better off researching one-time payment options and not worrying about recurring online charges. Most subscriptions even offer discounts to customers willing to pay a one-time fee upfront.
- Set a Reminder to Cancel Free Trials Before They Expire
Finally, if push comes to shove and you find yourself subscribing and providing payment information to multiple vendors expecting monthly fees, your best bet is to set a calendar or phone reminder to cancel your subscription just before your renewal date. In the event that your account is billed for a service you have requested to cancel, you can always dispute the charge through your credit card provider, so long as you have documentation (such as a screenshot or email thread) of your request for cancellation.