Reflection: How much do we spend on online subscriptions and do we really need them all?

I dare say that if you want to have the most pleasant experience possible while browsing the internet today, you can’t do without paying. For example, with the current amount of ads, YouTube seems almost unwatchable to me, and the previously completely free Mapy.cz (now Mapy.com) have locked many features behind a paywall. I hope I don’t have to argue with anyone about watching movies and series on pirate servers being immoral (not to mention that these websites are usually riddled with the most annoying kind of ads). If you feel the same way I do, you’ll get Netflix here, Disney+ there for a while, and end up with several monthly payments around your neck.

Tame your subscriptions before they control you

I was prompted to write this text by an email with an invoice and a notification from my banking app, informing me that my premium membership for the Strava sports app had been subscribed for another twelve months. I forgot to verify my student status, so instead of five hundred crowns, a thousand crowns were debited. 

I simply have quite a few subscriptions already, enough that I can’t easily keep track of them. While I won’t regret another year with Strava too much (at most, that I unnecessarily paid more than I had to), this event still made me pause for a moment to think about how many online services I actually pay for. And whether I really need them all.

My collection of active subscriptions looks like this (I hope I haven’t forgotten anything):

• YouTube Premium Student – 129 CZK/month
• Google One Standard (200 GB) – 79.99 CZK/month
• Creator support on HeroHero – 3 €/month (depending on the current exchange rate, around 80 CZK)
• Creator support on Patreon – 140 CZK/month
• SkyShowtime (Ad-supported Standard) – 159 CZK/month
• Strava – 999 CZK/year (previously 499.50 CZK/year)

All in all, if I didn’t cancel any of the subscriptions, my annual spending would amount to roughly 8 thousand CZK. I myself was slightly taken aback by this amount, and that’s not even counting services I have access to but someone else pays for (family Netflix, company tools, etc.). 

You quickly develop a dependency on comfort 

All subscriptions, in some form, bring greater comfort, on which it’s easy to develop a dependency. Once you get used to watching series on a paid streaming platform, you might very well abandon pirate sites for good and rather get a subscription just for one title (I speak from personal experience, I got SkyShowtime for the series The Day of the Jackal). 

Another problem can arise when you use your subscribed benefits so much that they are no longer enough for you. Then you might opt for a more expensive package, just like I did with Google One.

Trial periods are treacherous

Last but not least, I would like to point out the phenomenon of trial periods. You know how it is. You install an app, and immediately upon launch, it offers you a trial period for the premium version. It’s free for a week, but you have to enter your credit card information, and if you don’t cancel the subscription just before the free period ends, you’ll be charged the full amount. I hope I’m not the only one who subscribed to Voyo (now Oneplay) for three months this way because I was too lazy to cancel it…

Do we really need them all?

If you’re thinking you’d like to get a new phone, treat yourself to slightly better accommodation on your next summer vacation, or make someone close to you happy, and you’re wondering where to get the money for it, maybe it’s time to consider whether you’re accidentally subscribing to services you don’t use. And also ask yourself if even those you truly aren’t paying for just out of negligence, you really necessarily need. 

What services do you subscribe to?