Diana Clement: How much are you spending on TV and streaming subscriptions?

Bank statements are often littered with subscriptions, as many as 30 or 40, for Netflix, Prime, Dropbox and more. Photo / The Spinoff

Are you suffering financial death by a thousand micro subscriptions each month? Most of us are paying $3 here, $10 there on everything from streaming services to dental plans. These silent spenders can add up to thousands of dollars a year and are becoming the scourge of money management.

Trying to keep payments to these online companies down to stem the money leak is like playing Whac-A-Mole. As soon as you manage to cancel one, another “must-have” pops up. That’s $9.99 a month thanks.

Just like gym memberships were in days gone by, subscriptions are eating away at people’s discretionary spending to the detriment of saving, or paying down debt.

Businesses are always looking for ways to squeeze more money out of us. The software or entertainment as a service industry was a brilliant invention for that. It has really taken off since it was born in the late 1990s. The businesses give us an introductory price or limit the features for a free subscription and we’re hooked. Soon we’ve signed up for the paid-for version.

When I interviewed Rupert Gough of the Mortgage Lab not long back he said clients’ bank statements are often littered with subscriptions. As many as 30 or 40. Netflix, Prime, Dropbox and so on. I was gobsmacked that anyone could have that many subscriptions.

I did take notice of a survey of New Zealanders by Finder in late 2022 that found one of the most annoying pieces of financial advice people like me are prone to give is to cancel subscription services.

So, to the 53 per cent of you that said that I’m not going to ask you to cancel your subscriptions. Enjoy them. But if you want to keep an eye on your outgoings, review them from time to time. Add up the cost, and multiply it over a year and then 10 or 20 years. The point is not Netflix, Prime, or Disney+. It’s the total cost.

Can you get rid of the ones you’ve forgotten about or know you don’t need to use? If, in your heart of hearts, you know you’re throwing money down the gurgler, then get that Whac-A-Mole mallet out and knock some of them on the head. Is there a free option? Everyone’s different, but I find sufficient of interest on TVNZ+, Beamafilm, and Tubi, all of which are free.

Here’s a confession. The $3 a month I pay Microsoft for storage is a waste of money. All I need to do is spend a few hours sorting out the tangled mess of duplicated data I have across multiple devices.

Of course, $3 is less than a cup of coffee a month, but it still adds up to a whole lot of lost money over time. Invested in KiwiSaver with a 7 per cent annual return and 28 per cent tax, it would add up to a figure of around $1200 after 20 years. Conversely, paid against $10,000 debt at 12 per cent interest over the same number of years, an extra $3 per month in repayments, amounts to $1929 saved.

Beware that some subscriptions make it nigh impossible to cancel. AVG AntiVirus has form for that, which is one reason I switched to another provider last year.

If cancelling on time is a problem for you, there are apps to remind you to cancel, although some charge for the service. I haven’t used any, but names that come up regularly include TrackMySubs, Rocket Money and Billbot. Or use your diary and reminders to avoid paying another year.

Finally, for the record, I know people complain about having to pay for premium to read my articles. As a freelance, I even have to pay for premium access myself, but don’t quibble because I get real value out of reading my colleagues’ work. I also subscribe to other media, and provided I’m reading what I pay for, I’m happy. It costs money to publish news, television services, anti-virus protection and so on.