The Sunday Money Reset ~ Stop Paying for Stuff You Don't Use
Small monthly payments don't look like much — until you add them all together!!!
A Sunday seems like a great day for a bit of financial housekeeping.
Nothing too strenuous mind. I'm not suggesting spending six hours building spreadsheets or analysing every penny you've spent since 2019.
Oh fluff no ... instead, here's a very simple challenge...
Take 30 minutes and find out what you're STILL paying for.
I did this earlier today while having my morning coffee and was a bit surprised as to what I found hidden away!!!
Subscriptions have become so normal that it's remarkably easy to forget just how many of them we have.
£4.99 here.
£8.99 there.
£12.99 for something you haven't opened since last fluffing New Year.
Individually, they don't always look particularly frightening.
But all added up Together? ... That's when things can get interesting.
Step 1: Find your subscriptions
Open your banking app or online banking and go through your recent transactions.
Don't just look for obvious names...Look for anything that appears regularly.
That might include ...
... Streaming services ... Music subscriptions ... Gaming memberships ... Cloud storage ... Mobile apps ... Software ... Gym memberships ... Newspapers and magazines ... Delivery memberships ... Premium shopping memberships ... Extra mobile-phone services ... Website subscriptions ... Free trials that stopped being free months ago 😅
It's also worth checking your credit card if you use one.
The important question isn't ...
"Is this only £5.99?" It's ... "Do I still actually use this?"
Step 2: Cancel, downgrade, switch or keep?
I wouldn't suggest cancelling absolutely everything.
The point isn't to remove every little pleasure from life just so your bank balance looks prettier.
Instead, put each subscription into one of four categories.
❌ CANCEL
You barely use it or had forgotten you even had it.
Get rid of it. Get the fluffer gone!!!
⬇️ DOWNGRADE
You use the service, but perhaps you're paying for more than you need.
Do you really need the biggest cloud-storage package?
Are you paying for a family plan when you're the only fluffer using it?
Could a cheaper tier do exactly what you need?
🔄 SWITCH
Maybe you still want the service, but there's a cheaper alternative.
This is particularly worth investigating with things like broadband, mobile contracts and insurance...
And think of the cashback you could gain by swtiching...
✅ KEEP
And yes — you're allowed to keep things! Imagine trying to tell your missus that you got rid of something that she swears blind she uses daily!
If you watch a streaming service every evening and get loads of enjoyment from it, that's very different from paying £10.99 every month for something you last used six months ago.
Saving money should be about getting rid of waste, not getting rid of everything you enjoy.
Step 3: Hit the cancel button
This is the satisfying bit.
Find something you genuinely don't use anymore and cancel it.
But remember that cancelling a payment through your bank isn't necessarily the same thing as cancelling a contract with the company.
If you've agreed to a fixed-term contract, check the terms first and cancel the actual service properly.
For straightforward monthly subscriptions, though, it can often take only a few minutes.
And once you've cancelled one...
Keep going.
You may be surprised how quickly the total starts adding up.
🧮 £5 a month doesn't sound much...
But here's why I like looking at the annual figure.
Cancel something costing...
£5 per month = £60 per year
Cancel three forgotten subscriptions averaging £8 each...
£24 per month = £288 per year
Find £50 a month across subscriptions, mobile costs and other recurring bills and Bob's your uncle that's ...
£600 a year.
Suddenly those little monthly payments don't look quite so wee at all!!!
📱 Don't forget the bigger bills
While you're looking through your accounts, check the larger regular payments too.
Things like:
- Mobile phone
- Broadband
- TV packages
- Insurance
- Breakdown cover
Ask yourself ...
Am I still in contract?
Has the price gone up?
Am I paying for features I don't use?
Could I get the same thing cheaper elsewhere?
These are sometimes where the much bigger savings are hiding. Don't auto renew either, spend a few minutes comparing, you'll be glad you did!
💰 Step 4: Put the money somewhere better
This part matters.
Otherwise the £20 you've saved can mysteriously disappear into coffees, snacks and Amazon parcels without you ever noticing. 😂
Decide what you're going to do with it.
Why not do one of these, or two or more if it was a good find!
- Build an emergency fund
- Put it towards Christmas
- Save for a holiday
- Pay off debt
- Put it towards household bills
- Add it to your investments
- Save for something you've actually been wanting
- Or simply give yourself a little more breathing room each month
You don't necessarily need to become richer.
Sometimes having fewer unnecessary payments going out every month is a win in itself.
🐝 The MMOnline Sunday challenge
So here's today's challenge.
Give yourself 30 minutes.
Open your bank account and Go subscription hunting.
And try to find at least ONE thing you're paying for that you no longer need.
Then work out the annual saving...
£6.99 a month doesn't sound terribly exciting ... but ...
£83.88 a year suddenly sounds a bit more worthwhile.
And if you find several?
Ya fluffing dancer you end up saying!!!
What have you discovered?
Have you ever found a subscription you'd completely forgotten about?
Or something you realised you'd been paying for for years without using it?
Tell me in the comments.
I'm expecting a few ,,,
"What the actual fluff ... I'm STILL paying for that?!"
moments. 😂
You can read the full post on MMOnline here
For more real-world UK money-saving ideas, ways to earn a little extra and the things I'm testing myself, you can also find me at:
👉 https://makemoneyonline.live/
MMOnline — Make money. Save money. And try not to let forgotten subscriptions eat it all first.
