A subscription audit saved me €293 — here’s how I did it
A subscription audit saved our reporter Nicole Glennon almost €300
We’re all looking to find ways to cut costs where we can this summer, as soaring energy bills and rising food and fuel costs have left many of us worse off than this time last year.
A recent flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, suggests prices in Ireland have risen by an estimated 9.6% in the last twelve months, meaning many of us are feeling the squeeze — myself, included.
That’s why I was intrigued when I came across a TikTok from a financial blogger about a ‘subscription audit.’ A subscription audit means taking some time to sit down and identify recurring paid subscriptions coming out of your wallet each month. These could be subscriptions to streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, NowTV, Audible and Spotify, or even a monthly fee you pay to the gym or to your favourite content creator online via platforms such as Twitch and Patreon.
Set aside some time and get out your bank statements — or in my case, my banking apps. I went through my online transactions on my Bank of Ireland app, my Revolut app, and had a look in the subscriptions section of my Apple account to get a full view of any recurring payments coming out of my pocket each month.
A survey carried out by Censuswide on behalf of Pure Telecom last year found that the average Irish adult spends €22.57 on streaming and online TV services per month — which works out at just over €270 a year. While this isn’t a figure to be scoffed at, truthfully, I expected it to be a good bit more.
When I went through my own statements, I saw I had a total of four rolling subscriptions. I was spending €9.99 a month on Spotify, €4.77 (£3.99) a month on Amazon Prime, €11.49 a month on Audible and I had a yearly subscription to Calm at a total cost of €49.99, working out at approximately €4.20 a month. In total, that means I am spending around €30.45 a month on my subscriptions, or over €365 a year. Time for a cull.
It sounds obvious, but when I turned to Daragh Cassidy of money-saving website Bonkers.ie for advice on how to audit your subscriptions, he said he’s often amazed at how many people have subscriptions coming out of their accounts they weren’t even aware of.
"People can forget about subscriptions,” he explains, and the first step is deleting those streaming services you’re paying for, and not even using.
After that, you might find you are subscribed to a streaming service like Netflix or Amazon Prime, but you haven’t used it in weeks.
“There are no sign-up fees to these services, and many are monthly fees.
“If there’s a chance you won’t watch anything on these services for the next few weeks or even months, cancel it. You can sign up again when you want to watch something, and with most of these platforms, all of your account data will be saved.”
As my partner and I are currently rewatching a nine-season sitcom on Netflix, I decide it's time for Amazon Prime to go, at least for now.
In a similar vein, Daragh advises making the most of streaming platforms' with no-cancellation/no-sign-up fees and rotating your subscriptions.
If there's a specific series you want to watch, why not pay for the cheapest platform it’s hosted on this month and cancel your subscription at the end of the month if you want to start something new on another platform?
“Make sure you’re not paying for a streaming service twice,” Daragh advises, “for example, if you're a subscriber to Sky Cinema, you can get Paramount for free.”
It’s also worth scoping out whether you can get the services you use in a bundle deal. If you’re a Sky customer, for example, you can get both Sky and Netflix for €30 per month. If you’re currently paying €25 a month for the basic Sky package plus €8.99 a month for Netflix’s basic package, that’s a saving of €47.88 per year.
Free trials can seem like a great idea, but it’s easy to forget when they’re coming to an end. Make sure to set reminders for yourself to cancel as not all outlets will remind you when your trial period is over, and you could find yourself paying for something you didn’t really want in the first place.
One of my favourite cost-saving tips is to see whether you can get a similar service to the one you’re paying for, for free elsewhere. For example, I was spending €11.49 a month on Audible, an online audiobook and podcast service. All my favourite podcasts are on Apple (free) or Spotify (which I am already paying for), and with my library card, I can sign up for free to BorrowBox, an eBooks and Audiobook platform. Just like your local library, you can read or listen to books for free with this service, and I rarely re-listen to books so I have no issue returning them when my loan has come to an end.
With this in mind, I cancelled my Audible subscription and my Calm subscription. While I was paying €49.99 a year for the meditation service, I often just type whatever kind of meditation I am looking for into Youtube, where many users have great meditations on their channels, completely free of charge.
You may have noticed I mentioned I cancelled my Amazon Prime subscription because I am currently watching a series on Netflix but hadn’t included the streaming service in my initial subscription audit. That’s because I use a family account — something many of us are already doing.
“Family subscriptions are often cheaper, and you don’t need to be family, you can share it with friends,” Daragh advises.
Alongside Netflix, other popular services like Spotify also offer such services. The music streaming service has a €17.99 per month bundle for family members (people living under the same roof), which can be shared with up to six people. So, if you have six people to split the bill with, that could mean paying just under €3 per person, compared to the €9.99 I am currently forking out every month.
At this point, I enlist my boyfriend and my younger brother into my Spotify gang, saving me €47.92 a year.
One of the perks of a monthly subscription to a service like Disney+ or Amazon Prime is that you can cancel at any time without penalty. But, if it’s a service you use regularly and you have no plans to cancel your membership, switching to an annual membership could save you a few euros.
For example, a Disney+ subscription costs €8.99 a month or €89.90 a year, a saving of €17.98.
One of Daragh’s last tricks is to pretend you’re going to cancel your subscription – and see what you’re offered.
“You may be surprised at some of the tactics they’ll use to try and win you back.
“Now TV will often offer you a half-price subscription for three months if you try to cancel,” he explains.
After my subscription audit, I cancelled my Amazon Prime subscription, saving me €57.24 per year, and my Audible subscription in favour of the free BorrowBox app, saving me a further €137.88 a year. I also decided I could live without my Calm app, so that will be a €49.99 payment that won’t be coming out of my account next year. Finally, switching from an individual Spotify plan to a shared plan saved me €47.92 per year.
At the end of it all, I only kept my Spotify subscription, now €72 a year, meaning overall, I’ve just saved myself €293.
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