How do you better track and manage paid subscriptions?

Many Americans spent the previous year indoors and signed up for virtual workout memberships, food kit delivery, and streaming services. Peloton, Blue Apron, and Netflix make our lives easier and more pleasurable. But these monthly bank account withdrawals may pile up quickly, especially if we need to cancel that one free trial (or two or three). Some subscriptions are missed, which is typical. In a recent Chase poll, two-thirds of consumers admitted missing at least one recurring payment last year. Luckily, several programs help handle regular payments and negotiate costs for you. A subscription tracker can help you find undesirable subscriptions you forgot to pay for.

Select: examined over a dozen mobile applications and websites to find the finest options. The most potent choices offer free versions or trials, but you usually have to pay to get the most out of them. We also added two free credit card alternatives from issuers that might be beautiful perks to look for when searching for a new card. To rank our top picks, we chose trackers that individuals may access by SMS, app, or credit card issuer notifications. We compared price, features, availability, and usability.

What are paid subscriptions?

The subscription business model provides product or service access. Customers securely save credit card information with subscription service providers. They are then automatically charged monthly, quarterly, or annually for the service. These costs often continue until the subscription is terminated.

Examples of popular subscription services:

• Games and cloud storage services
• Browse beauty product subscriptions and book services.
• Subscription meal plans
• Fitness Classes Online
• Subscription services for software and gifts.

Are Subscription Apps Useful?

Check account statements for reoccurring transactions; even though many ignore these costs, almost half the customers know when and how to terminate a subscription. In 2021, Deloitte reported that 46% of streaming service users had discontinued at least one in the preceding six months, and 43% terminated the day they realised they didn’t want it. For those who are slower to cancel, a subscription manager can remind you to unsubscribe and spare you the effort of examining each bank account (although reviewing account statements is a healthy money management practice). Many applications include budgeting capabilities, although they’re mainly identical to those in mobile banking apps. Budgeting apps effectively link all your bank accounts and label and track spending categories.

Top 5 Budgeting Apps to Better Track and Manage Paid Subscriptions

Truebill

Truebill was one of Forbes’ 50 most innovative fintech startups in 2021. The firm offers free essential services and a sliding scale for premium services. Truebill will deactivate premium subscriptions, but non-payers must cancel manually. Truebill requires downloading the app, linking a checking account from one of the 15,000 participating banks, and choosing a monthly payment amount. Not evident, but $0 is an option. The free service tracks your VantageScore 3.0 credit score regularly. Like other app features, you’ll need to supply additional information or authorisation to use it—a soft credit draw. Even for unpaid services, you may need to furnish your Social Security number and grant limited power of attorney. High-end services Budgeting tools and credit reports cost $3–$12 monthly. Truebill representatives will cancel subscriptions for you by contacting service providers.

Hiatus

Use the Hiatus app or web browser to access the platform. Subscription monitoring and the app’s budgeting function, which records expenditure by category, are free. Premium customers pay $10 a month for an agent to negotiate monthly bills and terminate subscriptions. Hiatus says negotiations may result in modifications that don’t enhance your payment arrangement. Premium service costs extra, but this is perplexing. You may choose a $7-$21 or $36 annual premium subscription pricing. Like TrueBill, spending more doesn’t offer you more features.

Trim

Trim doesn’t have an app, but customers may register on its website. Trim’s savings account pays 0.001%. Trim subscribers may receive 4% yearly rewards with a $2,000 balance.

Users should know that bill negotiation may take two billing cycles to lower rates. Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, D.C. do not offer medical bills or bank account negotiation. It declares that it shares users’ income, credit history, account history, and Social Security numbers with other financial organisations and advertisements. To enable Trim to contact other parties on their behalf, you must provide limited power of attorney and appoint Trim as your agent and attorney-in-fact—trim limits users’ financial obligation, which is good. The Trim website states that if you report an unlawful account activity within two days, you can lose no more than $50. Losses up to $500 may apply otherwise.

TrackMySubs

TrackMySubs differs from other subscription managers. The Australia-based firm tracks ten memberships for free, and you may pick how early to be notified before a subscription payment. The firm provides Netflix and other account cancellation instructions. TrackMySubs subscribers must manually input each subscription and payment due date, regardless of payment amount. Manage more than ten memberships for a cost. The website pricing is in Australian dollars (AUD); thus, they may not match other currencies.

Upgrading costs around USD:

• $3.37 gets 20 unlimited alert memberships.
• $6.74 gets 50 unlimited alert memberships.
• $10.11 gets unlimited notifications and subscriptions.

Users may register on the company’s website or via the Chrome extension. However, the Chrome extension isn’t working. TrackMySubs may be the most excellent subscription management tool for security-conscious users. Manually inputting subscriptions protects your bank account numbers and login details. Additionally, the firm does not sell or share personal data. However, creating an account may render the service worthless. TrackMySubs says, “Many of our users have told us that just by going through this process they identified subscriptions they didn’t want and canceled them immediately.”

PocketGuard

Budgeting software PocketGuard offers free subscription management. Users must create a LinkedIn, Google, or Apple profile to use the app and allow data sharing. Linking financial accounts will enable you to utilise several financial tools; however, not linking accounts requires manual subscription entry. PocketGuard offers free accounts with tips on how to cut subscriptions and other fees, but if it negotiates a rate reduction for a customer, it charges 40% of the savings. Users may upgrade to Pocket Guard Plus for $7.99 monthly (or reduced annual pricing) to obtain more financial capabilities, including debt payoff tracking for connected accounts, but no subscription management services.

Conclusion

Although paid memberships have changed how we use services, they can also strain our finances if not managed properly. Take inventory of your subscriptions, assess their need, set up notifications, utilise dedicated payment methods, budget your spending, combine services, and watch price hikes to recover control over your subscription expenditures. Save money and prioritise your most valuable subscriptions with these seven ideas. To improve your finances, be alert and proactive while managing your subscriptions.

FAQs

How do I manage subscriptions?

Visit the subscriptions page on Google Play on your Android device. Choose the subscription to pause—payment pause. Set the payment pause time.

What subscriptions do I pay for?

Searching your bank and credit card transactions over the past month is one of the best methods to check what you’re paying for. While scrolling through may be tedious, each monthly subscription will be displayed at least once.

Find all my streaming subscriptions; how?

• Find your orders, bookings, and subscriptions.
• Tap Google in Settings. Google Account Management.
• Select Payments & subscriptions at the top.
• Tap Manage purchases, subscriptions, or bookings.
• Select an item for information.