Overwhelmed by subscriptions? Here are 8 tips to save money

The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday alleged in a lawsuit that Amazon had tricked people into subscribing to its Prime subscription service and made it difficult for them to easily unsubscribe. Amazon spokeswoman Heather Layman called the FTC’s claims “false on the facts and the law.” The company makes it “clear and simple” to sign up for and cancel Prime, Layman said.

(Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post. Interim chief executive Patty Stonesifer sits on Amazon’s board.)

Recently, the agency proposed a “click to cancel” rule that would require companies to offer a simple way to get out of hard-to-stop free trials, auto-renewals and subscriptions. For now, companies are largely free to design their own unsubscribe systems to try to keep customers from leaving.

Save yourself money and grief by regularly auditing your own subscriptions and making sure you’re only paying for things you use and love — like newspapers.

There’s a high probability you are paying monthly fees for things you’ve already forgotten you signed up for. The longer a free trial — like free months of Apple TV Plus with a new device — the easier it is to forget about.

You can go through your credit card statement to see which companies are charging you, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Most reoccurring payments are automatic deductions charged every month or as a lump sum once a year. However, a growing number of services bill through a third party, such as Amazon, Apple and Google, and can be bundled together as one charge, meaning they’re easier to miss on statements.

Go to your settings in each app store and review what you’ve signed up for, including free trials that you forgot are coming to an end.

On an iOS device, go to settings, tap on your profile on top, then tap “subscriptions” to see what you are paying for through Apple. Make sure the option for renewal receipts is turned on so you get emails reminding you that you pay for these services. On an Android device, go to the Play Store, then tap the menu icon (the box with lines in the upper left corner) and look for “subscriptions.” And on the Amazon website, use the “accounts and lists” drop-down menu next to the search bar to click on “memberships and subscription.”

Outside of the app store subscriptions, cancellation can get messy. Every company is different, but start with a straightforward search of their name and “cancel account” to find the online options to unsubscribe.

To ensure you aren’t tricked into another billing cycle, remove any credit card information from your account if you are able. You should still have access to the service until the date of the next payment. If you’re struggling, call a customer service representative and do not let sales pitches get in your way. If you are being charged for a suspicious subscription you don’t remember and can’t find their contact information, report them immediately to your credit card company.

If you have an app for a subscription service, remember that deleting it will not cancel your payments. You must do it manually.

If you’re specifically trying to end your Amazon membership, go to your account page and select the drop-down menu under Membership. You’ll see the option to get a heads-up before it renews, and can hit a button that says “End membership.” Scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Continue to cancel.”

To avoid being caught with unwanted payments in the future, keep track of all subscriptions. Check your bank statements regularly, keep a list or spreadsheet of all your subscriptions as you start them, and set a calendar reminder to cancel a subscription or free trial when you’re done with it (set it for at least 48 hours before you’ll be charged).

Many subscriptions are only good deals if you use a service a certain amount, especially when they’re not the only option for paying. For example, you don’t actually need a Prime subscription to order products from Amazon, and many things arrive quickly without one. (Use this quiz to calculate if you’re getting enough out of your Amazon Prime subscription.)

If you pay for something like Uber One, the company’s $9.99 a month subscription option, look through your last year of trips and orders to see if you used it enough to make the discount a better deal than paying a la carte. Same goes for memberships like Grubhub Plus.

Make sure you’re paying for the correct tier of subscription for each company and not more. For example, if you’re using Netflix, make sure you’re paying for the minimum amount you need now that the company cracked down on sharing.

Keeping or canceling aren’t your only options for saving money on things like subscriptions.

A surprising number of payments are negotiable, most notably cable and cellphone service fees, which can usually be lowered with a phone call and a threat to switch to another company. Car insurance and credit card interest rates can also be haggled down. The best time to bargain is after your initial contract is up.

Another way to pay less is to share your subscriptions — in the proper, legal way, of course. Look into any family plans and read the fine print for how that company defines family or household. Does your mom need to live at the same address to share a streaming account or just be your mom? If having more people on a streaming account lowers the cost for everyone, it might be worth switching.

Some companies, such as Spotify, allow you to pay more to add up to five family members, or just $3 more if you want to have a two-person account. And if you’re absolutely going to keep using it for a long time, many subscriptions offer discounted rates if you pay for an entire year upfront. (Set that calendar reminder for 11 months from now!)

If you’re on the fence about giving up an account forever, some companies will let you pause an account instead of canceling it. And services including Netflix make it possible to quit and come back without losing your watch history. You can also cycle through similar accounts, using one streaming service one month, then pausing it and switching to another.

The glut in grocery and restaurant delivery services means you have multiple options when it comes to paying someone to bring you a fresh or frozen burrito. The prices across apps can vary, even for the same restaurant or grocery store.

To find out what apps are best for your bank account, and for local restaurants, check out our breakdown of where your money goes with each service.

Before shopping for groceries, look at prices on apps such as Instacart or Amazon Fresh to see how they compare, calculating in any delivery fees. Also try the stores’ sites directly and see if they offer pickup or delivery. For restaurants, prices can also vary between apps, so open a few and check your favorite entrees before purchasing.

If possible, see if the restaurant is taking orders directly. Even if the prices aren’t lower, the business will probably be able to keep a larger share of your payment when not using an app like Grubhub. Some companies, such as DoorDash, that offer subscriptions are basically prepaying a delivery fee. If you don’t order enough through a single app to make this a deal, skip it.

Somewhere along the line you ran out of free iCloud or Google storage. Or maybe you signed up for multiple services and are paying for more space than you need. This is a two-step money saver that might also help streamline where all your important documents and photos live.

First, figure out how much storage you need. Audit your Amazon, Google, Apple, Dropbox and Microsoft storage (we’re talking personal files, not pro-level storage). They all have easy ways to see a visual breakdown of how much storage you are using and for what types of files. A photo or video collection is usually one of the biggest chunks of cloud storage. You could be surprised to find some unexpected space hogs, such as an automatic backup of all your text messages including photo attachments. Try backing up to a computer instead of the cloud, deleting past backups and clearing out old message attachments.

Prune where you can, then shop around for the best price for however much storage you’re using and reasonable upgrade options as you grow. In theory, you could spread your files across a few servicesfree, but that might lead to forgetfulness and heartbreak down the road. For some people, the right cloud storage option is whatever’s tied into their phone.

Consider swapping out paid entertainment with some free options. You can use your library cardfor free streaming services, e-books and more, all through the internet. We break down our favorite free alternatives to popular subscriptions here, from watching to listening.