Financial Wellbeing

Creating a Subscription Inventory: Know What You Pay Each Month

Creating a subscription inventory is a practical approach to managing monthly expenses effectively. By regularly assessing which subscriptions truly benefit your life and adjusting your budget accordingly, you can eliminate unnecessary expenses and enhance your financial well-being.

The article encourages readers to start today by reviewing their spending and making informed decisions to achieve greater financial freedom. 

The Challenge

30-Day Subscription Clean-Up Challenge:

• Week 1 - Setup and Organization:
  Each day, gather your financial statements and digital payment records. List all your subscriptions and categorize them by type (entertainment, education, utilities, etc.). Reflect on your initial feelings about the number and types of subscriptions you have.
• Week 2 - Usage Evaluation:
  Dedicate this week to monitoring how frequently you use each subscription service. Note your findings daily, assessing whether each subscription adds real value to your life or if it's merely an ongoing expense.
• Week 3 - Decision Making:
  Focus on deciding which subscriptions to keep and which to cancel. Aim to make one decision per day, considering the usage and value assessments from the previous week.
• Week 4 - Financial Adjustment:
  Implement changes to your budget based on the decisions made in Week 3. Adjust your spending plans and reallocate funds from canceled subscriptions to savings or other financial goals. At the end of the week, plan a quarterly review to maintain this newfound financial clarity.

Share your progress, decisions, and financial impact using the hashtag #30DaySubscriptionChallenge. Let’s start optimizing our expenses and enhancing our financial wellbeing together! 

In today's subscription-based economy, it's easy to sign up for multiple services and then forget about some until the bills start coming in. Have you ever noticed that you have two Netflix subscriptions? Are you still paying for Tinder? Creating a subscription inventory can help you keep track of what you're paying for and assess whether those services are genuinely worth your hard-earned money.

Setting Up Your Subscription Inventory.
Gather all your financial statements—bank statements, credit card bills, and digital payment histories—to get a complete picture of where your money goes each month.

List and Categorize Subscriptions.
Once you have your data, list every subscription you pay for. Don’t overlook those that might not seem obvious, like software tools or annual memberships. Next, categorize them into groups such as entertainment, education, utilities, and wellness. This organization helps you see what types of services you spend the most on and whether you might be overspending in any area. 

Assessing Subscription Value.
Evaluate how often you use each service. A study by West Monroe Partners found that 84% of people underestimate what they spend on subscriptions, primarily because they aren’t fully utilizing them. If a subscription isn’t being used regularly, it might not be worth the cost.

Cost vs. Benefit.
Consider the benefits of each subscription. Does this service enhance your life or work? If the answer is no, or if you're using it less than anticipated, it might be time to cancel.

Making Decisions and Adjustments.
With your usage and benefits assessed, decide which subscriptions are worth keeping. Remember, every dollar saved can be redirected toward savings or spending on things that matter more to you.

Adjust Your Budget.
After trimming unnecessary subscriptions, adjust your budget. This might mean reallocating funds to more important areas or boosting your savings. Regular reviews of your subscription inventory, like once every three months, can keep your budget on track and prevent wasteful spending.

Conclusion.
Actively managing your subscriptions can lead to substantial financial savings and help you regain control over your monthly budget. Start today, and you might be surprised at how much you can save by simply keeping track of your subscriptions.