Save Money by Canceling Unused Subscriptions

• Each year, millions of people purchase streaming services such as Spotify or Apple Music. Many use the services daily, making the monthly subscription fee worth it.
• However, there are other subscriptions where people do not use them regularly, causing the monthly subscription fee to eat away at one’s finances. 
• Below are some ways to help you get rid of your unused subscriptions.

Millions of Americans use different streaming services, such as Apple Music, Spotify, or Netflix, that they regularly use, making the subscription price worth it. However, some monthly subscriptions are rarely used, and people still pay the monthly fee. As a result, the money spent monthly is not going towards any practical use, causing your finances to suffer. 

Here are some ways to level up your personal finances and cancel your unused monthly subscriptions. By canceling unused subscriptions, you’ll be able to improve your money management.

How to Effectively Cancel Unused Subscriptions

It is essential to know how to cancel subscriptions as the monthly subscription fees can eat away at your bank account. Below are a couple of ways to check if you have any outstanding unused subscriptions that you are still paying for each month. 

Check your Bank Statements

Review your financial statements to detect any subscriptions you may be paying for. Your bank statements list your monthly transactions, detailing the different amounts of money used for each product or service you purchased. 

By going through the different transactions, you can determine which subscription services you wish to keep and which ones you would like to cancel, resulting in you saving money. In addition, by going through your financial accounts regularly, you can also check to ensure that none of the transactions made are fraudulent. 

If you see that a transaction of yours may be fraudulent, contact your bank’s customer service immediately to try and report the situation. 

Go to your Phone’s App Store

Another way to check if you have any outstanding, unused subscriptions is by going onto your phone’s App or Google Play store. Both of these apps have a list of all of the active subscriptions that you are currently paying for, and you can choose to cancel any of them at any time. 

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If you wish to check if you have any active subscriptions that you are paying for but are not using, here is the step-by-step process of managing your subscriptions on iPhone and Android.

iPhone:

1. Go into the App Store.
2. Click on your profile icon in the top right corner.
3. Click on the Subscriptions button.
4. Select an active subscription that you wish to cancel.
5. Click on the subscription button, and press “cancel subscription.”
6. Lastly, press confirm to finalize the cancellation of your subscription.

Android:

1. Go into the Google Play store.
2. Click on your profile icon in the top right corner.
3. Click on the Payment and Subscriptions button.
4. Click on Subscriptions, and select an active subscription.
5. Press “cancel subscription.”

Why Should I Cancel My Unused Subscription(s)?

When an unwanted subscription is not canceled, there is one main adverse effect–recurring charges. You are responsible for monthly recurring payments, which will add up over time. When several subscriptions are not being used, you are paying for services that aren’t being used. This causes your monthly income to decrease because you are responsible for the charges, even though you are not using them.

How to Prevent Future Unused Subscriptions

It is essential to cancel unused subscriptions and prevent paying for future subscriptions you won’t use. One way to make sure this does not occur in the future is to sign up for a free trial of a service you wish to use. However, instead of using a credit card as your form of payment once the free trial expires, put in the billing information of a prepaid card. 



Companies do not charge a card that has been used to receive a free trial until the free trial period has passed. Therefore, they will not know how much money this card has until the first time they try to charge the card. 

As a result, if you would like to continue your free trial, you must evaluate whether the service is worth the price. If you believe the service is worth its price and you will be using it regularly, then change the payment to a regular debit or credit card, and if not, do not renew your subscription.  

Another way to prevent unused subscriptions is to set a reminder on your phone the day before your free trial ends. This way, you’ll remember to either cancel your subscription or choose to keep it.

The Money Wrap-Up

Subscriptions like music streaming services or movie streaming services can make your life easier or more enjoyable. However, it is crucial to keep in mind that when these services are no longer needed, you should cancel them to prevent being charged for something you do not need or want.

Main image credit: Ivan Marc / Shutterstock.com