Avoid Automatic Spending
Memberships and subscriptions used to eat away at our finances. They took only a small bite apiece, but many small bites can leave a substantial hole in the budget. Because they seemed insignificant when considered individually, we didn’t really take them into consideration.
Automatic spending
We came to realize that memberships and subscriptions are a form of automatic spending. Once we made the initial decision to join or subscribe, we continued to renew without giving it much thought. Often the renewal was automatic, unless we took some action to interrupt the automatic renewal process.
Typically, in the beginning, we made sure we enjoyed the full benefits of the membership or subscription. We read the entire newspaper and clipped and redeemed coupons. We read each issue of a magazine cover to cover. We visited the gym five times a week. We consulted the premium channel programming schedule and made sure we viewed all of the good stuff. We logged on to the web site and took full advantage of the premium content.
Somewhere along the line, our lives and interests changed. The newspapers began to stack up and most often received only a cursory, front page scan. We planned to get back to them later. Magazines piled up unread or, at best, we flipped through them while using the toilet. We dogeared the articles we planned to read later, then put the magazines back on the stack. We didn’t have time to browse the premium content of web sites or go to the gym. We discovered other programs on cable that caught our interest.
Irrational behavior
We’d changed. Circumstances had changed. Yet, we continued to renew memberships and subscriptions from which we no longer garnered any true value. Why?
I can identify several causes for this seemingly irrational behavior:
- We remembered the reasons and motivations for joining or subscribing in the first place, but didn’t question them at the time of renewal. We assumed they were still valid. We were acting unconsciously.
- The original benefits we expected to derive from those memberships and subscriptions retained a degree of importance for us. Renewal of the memberships and subscriptions affirmed our desire to have those benefits, even though we had no intention of pursuing them at that moment. They had acquired a sort of sentimental value.
- We assumed that the changes that had occurred in our lives that had precluded us from utilizing the memberships and subscriptions were temporary. Eventually, we’d make good use of the memberships and subscriptions once again. We were in denial.
We finally got honest with ourselves and admitted that we received only marginal pleasure and value from most of the memberships and subscriptions we held, and we canceled all but a few. Now we avoid memberships and subscriptions. Most offer only a marginal benefit, anyway, if we are brutally honest about it. Usually, if we are creative, we can get similar benefits at less cost on our own. We don’t need to receive a newspaper every day to read one when we feel like it. The same goes for magazines. We can exercise at home. We can live without premium content offered on web sites and cable TV. In fact, we live fine without cable TV.
Challenge the value when renewing
No more automatic spending for us. The memberships and subscriptions we have retained (Sam’s Club, for example) get careful scrutiny upon renewal. Are we using the membership or subscription? If so, are we getting our money’s worth with regard to the cost? Is there a better option available? Memberships and subscriptions must prove their value before we renew.
What has been your experience with memberships and subscriptions and other forms of automatic spending?
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