Challenge Everything: Cancelling Subscriptions

Not sure how things are where you're at, but pollen is EVERYWHERE over here. As much as I hate dealing with allergies, I'm happy that spring is here.

With a new month, it's time to share our progress with our Challenge Everything project.  Challenging our bills is helping us get closer to our goals.

It's been a while since I've written about it (sorry!), but I have been working on it. Actually this month's review was a doozy – we went through all of our subscriptions.

Why We're Simplifying Our Expenses

Simplifying our finances this year means we’re examining all of our expenses and seeing if:

• they are necessary
• we’re getting value from them
• if there is a better deal out there for us

While it may look like we're just trying to cut expenses, we're seeing this as a way to make sure more of our money is going to what matters to us.

Evaluating Subscriptions

We have quite a few subscriptions pulling from our accounts:

• Local CSA Delivery
• Netflix
• Lynda
• NY Times
• Skype
• Amazon Subscribe and Save
• Birchbox

Looking at this list, I was surprised at how much of our money is already allocated.

Our local CSA delivery service is awesome. Every week we get local sourced produce and some add-ons delivered to us. It's a time for sure, but I had to check if it made financially.

By comparing prices with local stores, I found things competitive UNTIL I looked at add-ons like bacon or cheese. Our local Trader Joe's has better deals on those.

From now on, we're going to cut back on the extra and just make a trip to Joe's to grab those tasty treats.

With Amazon I found that we could adjust what was on our subscription list. There are some items we can get cheaper at the local dollar store and now that our baby girl is becoming a toddler, we could also drop down on the frequency of some supplies.

I highly recommend using Lynda.com if you're looking to hone your technical skills. I've had gotten enormous value from the subscription which gives you access to thousands of classes.

However my schedule right now is full enough so I cancelled my subscription, at least for the time being. I'm pretty sure in the I'll sign up again when I have some more time.

As for the NY Times I went ahead and switched to a digital only subscription. I love opening up a paper and reading, but it was a waste of resources.

I'm keeping Skype as I use it frequently for work (podcast interviews) and it's the best price around.

Birchbox is  for a splurge, but we use many of the products we get so right now we're keeping it.

Go Ahead and Trim Your Expenses

I highly recommend trying this out yourself. You may be shocked at how much money you're spending.

Pressed with time? Trim finds the subscriptions on your credit card and cancels the ones you don't want. You can sign up for free.

Stash the Cash

All in all we're saving about $75/month with reviewing our subscriptions.

Since  saving isn’t really saving unless you stash it away. I’ve adjusted the monthly transfer into savings.

We like to use Capital One 360 to build our stash since they have a competitive interest rate and no maintenance fees.

I’ve also found local credit unions (like Coastal in my area) and banks tend to offer some better rates, so if you’re unhappy with where you money is at, don’t be afraid to move it.

REVIEWING EXPENSES

Have you been able to knock down or out some of your bills? Which ones?