Diana Clement: Are you getting value from your subscriptions?

Don't keep paying for a subscription service you are not using anymore. Photo / 123RF

Inflation has focused New Zealanders' hearts and minds on the cost of living. One very modern cause for leaks in our household budgets is subscriptions. If you're paying for one you no longer use or only use occasionally, you are being bled dry financially.

We pay subscriptions for everything from movies to software. How many of us have multiple entertainment subscriptions from the likes of Sky, Netflix, Neon, Disney+, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video etc?

The margin for many of these companies is the people who don't use what they pay for, those who fail to get around to cancelling the direct debit.

We used to buy apps/software for our phones or computers and use it until it was so badly out of date that it didn't work. Sometimes that could be stretched for eight or 10 years.

Today, almost all the software we buy is an annual subscription. It started for me with Microsoft Office and anti-virus software. Now almost any software or app I want to buy requires a subscription with a direct debit attached.

I find it slightly ironic that budgeting apps now want you to set up direct debits, although they need to make money. I preferred the days when I could buy a one-off version of the software.

When it comes to software there is often a free alternative. Plenty of people get by just fine with Linux freeware instead of Microsoft operating systems. I'm not so sure about Apple.

I've finally given up my Microsoft subscription. Yes it was a work expense. But it was still money out of my pocket month in, month out, when I could retrain myself to use Good Docs for free. And I did.

The old gym direct debits are legendary for throwing away money. Independent trainers have caught the subscriptions bug as well. Twice in the past few years I've been asked to set up direct debits for exercise classes.

Every time I missed a class, the anxiety and multiple emails to get the direct debit paused probably did way more damage to my long-term health prospects than the good from the exercise.

Chiropractors are another one that can go into hard sell mode to sign up for a direct debit. I have never quite understood this one. Why not go to an osteopath who treats the root cause then discharges you, not just adjust the spine for a temporary fix requiring never-ending visits?

Now dentists want us to sign up as well. Lumino the Dentist, for example, charges $29.92 a month for one full check up and two hygienist visits a year, plus 10 per cent off work. It would be easy to forget to book those appointments.

Charities do it as well, although I know they do good with that money. I'm often amazed that the people who come door-to-door or stop you in the street refuse to take a one-off donation.

My teenage son walked in while I was writing this article. I've harangued him repeatedly about the cost of his PlayStation Plus subscription.

It must have sunk in. He has finally cancelled it and wanted me to quote him: "When you are a student and are paying $39.95 for PlayStation Plus, that's roughly two hours of work after tax on minimum wage. It's wasted time and opportunity cost. Following this lesson I cancelled my Disney+ as soon as I stopped using it.

A PlayStation subscription is only fun as long as you are using it enough. Photo / Supplied

"The repeating bill payments are designed to make it common to forget about the subscription and continue payment," he says. "They want people to be paying without using them.

"It's a waste of time and a waste of money. If I invested that money in my KiwiSaver or Sharesies instead I would keep the money and it would be compounding at 7 per cent on average."

Finally, having subscriptions isn't necessarily the issue. The point is to make sure you're using them and review them regularly.