Subscriptions on Purpose

The story: Sam’s mystery charges

Sam scrolls a banking app and finds six monthly subscription charges that add up to a lot over a year.

1. Narrator: Sam checks a banking app and finds six monthly charges. Sam forgot about some of them.
2. Sam: A music app, two streaming apps, a game pass, cloud storage, and a fitness app I never open.
3. Narrator: Each one looked small. Together they’re $58 a month. That’s $696 a year.
4. Sam: The fitness app started as a free trial. I forgot to cancel, so it turned into a paid plan.
5. Narrator: Sam decides on each one: keep it, cancel it, or switch to a cheaper plan. Sam saves every cancellation confirmation.
6. Narrator: Every subscription needs a reason.

What you’ll learn

1. Small charges add up

   A subscription is a recurring charge: it bills on a schedule until you cancel. One small charge is easy to miss. Multiplying by 12 shows the yearly cost.

   Example: $9 a month × 12 = $108 a year.

2. The free-trial trap

   Many free trials auto-renew into a paid plan unless you cancel in time. A reminder a few days before the trial ends gives time to decide if it’s worth paying for.

3. Monthly or yearly?

   A yearly plan often costs less per month. But it’s paid up front, and stopping early may not bring money back. Monthly costs more over a year but is easier to stop. On a shared family plan, know your share.

4. Cancel and keep proof

   Cancel the way the company’s terms describe, and save the confirmation email or a screenshot. Then check the next statement for any new charge. Cancellation rules vary by state and change over time; the fact card has the latest.

Key words

subscription

something you pay for on a schedule until you cancel

recurring charge

a charge that repeats on a schedule, like every month

free trial

a free start that often turns into a paid plan

auto-renew

when a plan restarts and charges again on its own

Common questions

Is a yearly plan always the better deal?

It often costs less per month. But it’s paid all at once, and stopping early may not bring money back. It fits things you’re sure you’ll use all year.

Remember this

Every subscription needs a reason.

Try it: Audit 6 subscriptions

1. Use the sample teen’s 6 subscriptions, or list your own.
2. Write the yearly cost of each one.
3. Mark each one keep, cancel or downgrade, with a reason.

Audit the sample teen’s 6 subscriptions, or list your own.

Live facts

Numbers that change over time, with when they were last checked and where they come from.

• Free trials, auto-renewals and canceling

  Source: FTC(opens in a new tab)