Source : Perth Now news
Australian consumers are being warned they could be burning a hole in their hip pocket by wasting more than $1600 per year on unused subscriptions.
Compare the Market (CTM) research shows 50 per cent of Australians are paying for subscription services they do not use, with gym memberships and streaming services among the main sources for wasteful spending.
Those who were not actively using their gym memberships suffered the most, wasting $93 per month on average or $1116 per year.
Netflix was at the top of the list for streaming services, with 57 per cent of survey participants admitting they do not use their subscription. This was followed by Disney+, Amazon Prime, Spotify and Stan.
CTM surveyed more than 1000 Australians on their spending habits.
Phoebe Dolan, 29, was spending as much as $150 per month on two gym memberships and streaming services before the costs started to impact her budget.
When she reviewed her expenses, she began to share some subscriptions with her housemates and cut down her individual spending to about $25 per month. She said realising the amount she was spending was not easy.
“When you sit down and you look at how much you spend on (subscriptions) you don’t use, it’s actually mortifying,” the Brisbane-based marketing professional told NewsWire.
“I think it actually goes unnoticed (until) you look at what you’re paying for on paper.
“That money is enough to fund a holiday.”
Ms Dolan said her busy day-to-day routine meant she didn’t have a chance to browse all of her streaming services for something to watch.
“I only have time to watch one (show or movie) at a time … and by the time I get home after work or go to the gym, it’s like that time just completely disappears,” she said.
“And sometimes one platform will (have better options) than the other. Two platforms get abandoned but you’re still paying for all three.”
Curtin University school of economics instructor Elson Goh said consumers could also be susceptible to “subscription traps”, which make it easy to sign up to a service but are difficult to cancel.
He added no one particular age bracket or demographic was more or less affected than others.
“Even though you might not need (the subscription), it might be at a good deal now, and then you subscribe hoping that it would encourage you to take it up later,” the financial planner said.
“I think the market has come to a point where (companies) are very good at segmenting different people into different lifestyles and stages of life. There is a subscription for everyone.”
CTM economic director David Koch said consumers should look closely at a range of household expenses to avoid being stung.
“It’s usually easy to cancel a subscription and may only take a few minutes, but it could save
you hundreds down the drain every year in total,” he said.
“The team at Compare the Market often find that people pay for private health insurance inclusions they don’t need anymore, such as pregnancy cover, so it’s worth reviewing your bills.
“This is an easy cost-of-living win amid an uncertain economic period.”
Mr Goh said consumers could create a shared calendar to keep track of their subscriptions and talk to a certified financial planner if they were concerned about their expenses.
“If you sign up for something, pop it into a separate calendar straight away so you can monitor (every subscription),” he said.
“Even having a chat with your partner to go through all your subscriptions is more than enough to be able to cull at least half of what you have.”
