Karen Bennett | (TNS) Bankrate.com
Many smartphone users rely on digital subscriptions as a source for entertainment, physical fitness and connecting with others. You can sign up for most streaming services, exercise clubs or dating apps in a matter of minutes — or seconds — and they conveniently charge you monthly or annually.
But those automatic payments can add up to a hefty bill. The average consumer spends $219 per month on subscription services, according to a 2022 survey by C+R Research, a Chicago-based market research firm.
Though each subscription probably seemed like a good idea when you signed up, you might now be paying for some that you no longer use. You could review your credit card statement and cancel them one by one — but a time-saving alternative is a subscription-trimming app that helps manage them. These subscription management tools can help you save money and time.
Rocket Money is an app that monitors your credit card or bank statement, and it allows you to view and manage your subscriptions from a single dashboard. You can choose to cancel subscriptions on your own, or Rocket Money can do it for you if you’re signed up for its paid service.
You can also choose to pay for other Rocket Money services, such as a subscription cancellation concierge, real-time account balance updates and unlimited budgeting categories.
Cost: The app is free to use, but if you want Rocket Money to cancel subscriptions on your behalf, you’ll need to sign up for a premium subscription option, which costs between $6 and $12 a month.
Availability: Google Play (4.3 stars), Apple App Store (4.2 stars)
The PocketGuard budgeting app can be connected to your bank account, credit cards, loans and investments. It uses these to provide a snapshot of your income and expenses. You can also view a list of your bills and subscriptions, which can be used to identify and cancel any memberships you’re no longer using.
Another feature the app offers is a calculation of how much money you have left over after your monthly bills are paid, which can help you stick to your budget and save money.
Cost: Use of the app is free to view your credit card or bank account transactions. Additional features are available for a price, such as the ability to set savings goals and create unlimited budget categories. Paid memberships are available at $12.99 a month, or $155.99 billed monthly. You can save 50% if you opt into getting billed annually, so you’d get charged $74.99 once a year instead.
Availability: Google Play (3.8 stars), Apple App Store (4.6 stars)
Unlike many other subscription management tools that offer various additional budgeting features, Bobby’s sole purpose is to keep track of your recurring subscription costs. You can choose from popular subscription services, or add custom ones — and the prices of popular ones automatically show up in the app. You can make the list easier to read by setting the color of each item, as well as ordering the items any way you like. The app can also remind you when a bill is due.
Bobby doesn’t yet offer a version for Android users.
Cost: You’ll have access to a limited number of subscription listings for free. There is a $1.99 in-app purchase.
Availability: Apple App Store (4.7 stars)
Subby is an Android app that lists your subscriptions, the associated monthly charges and what credit card is billed for each one. You can add an unlimited number of subscriptions to the list. The app lists a grand total of your monthly charges, and you can have it alert you when bills are due. You can back up your subscriptions to the cloud using a Google Drive account.
Cost: Free, but you’ll have to put up with display ads. An ad-free version costs $2.99.
Availability: Google Play (4.0 stars)
Trim looks through your bank or credit card records to find recurring subscription charges and cancels any unused subscriptions for you.
Trim analyzes your transactions and automatically identifies your subscriptions in a linked account. Once you connect the account where your subscriptions are charged you can easily monitor your subscriptions. Trim, owned by OneMain Financial, says more than 3 million people have used its services.
Cost: Trim doesn’t charge for services, but some services and options might be limited to OneMain Financial and Brightway customers.
Availability: Trim isn’t available through Google Play or the Apple App Store. You can sign up using Google or Facebook logins, or you can enroll on the Trim website with an email address, using it on your computer or your phone’s browser.
Once you’ve chosen the best app or service for you and signed up for it, get a clear, complete picture of your monthly subscriptions by making sure all of them are listed in the app. Decide whether you want to take advantage of any add-on features for a fee, such as the ability to have the service cancel subscriptions for you. Review your list periodically to make sure new subscriptions are added, and to determine if there are any subscriptions you no longer use.
An app that provides a comprehensive list of your digital subscriptions can help make you aware of any that you’re no longer using, and it can save you the time of combing through your bank or credit card statements. Many are user-friendly and available free of charge, while some come with additional money management features for a nominal fee. Even when using a subscription managing app, it is still imperative to regularly review your bank account and credit card transactions.
___
(Visit Bankrate online at bankrate.com.)
©2024 Bankrate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
