Do you pay for any subscriptions?

[monstermonster]

Subscriptions are always one of the key targets people look at when cutting budgets, so I'm curious which ones mustachians find worth paying for. What subscription services do you pay for, aside from phone and internet?

I pay for:
$2/month for Flickr pro subscription
$6/month for Microsoft Office (I consider canceling it every month, but excel is just much better than R for some things)
$150/year for web hosting and DNS services
$30/month for 3 months a year for the gym

I used to pay $6/month for an Economist subscription and I've recently been quite keen to renew it's hard to hit the trigger. When the new YNAB comes out, I might pay the $40/year for it, though I love the desktop version.

[LeRainDrop]

Besides phone and internet, $7.99 per month for Netflix.

[FrugalFan]

$7.99 for Netflix and $8 for New York Times (we have an academic discount and split with DH's parents).

[turketron]

Netflix - $8.43/mo
Google Music All Access - $8.43/mo, but the Google Opinion Rewards app gets me a couple bucks off each month
Amazon Prime- $99 billed yearly but I budget monthly

I feel like I get good value out of all 3 of them, but if I was in a situation where I had to trim some fat I think Prime would be the first to be dropped.

[BlueMR2]

- E-mail and DNS.  Just jumped from $20/yr to $80/yr.  Not happy about that, but oh well...
- Farm Bureau.  I forget how much it is, but it saves me more on my insurance just by having it than it costs...

That's all that comes to mind, since we're not counting Internet (and I'm not counting licenses that expire every few years or insurance type products, etc).  I've made a big point to drop all the subscriptions I could.

[alsoknownasDean]

Currently there's:

Netflix -  $11.99 a month
Spotify -  $11.99 a month
Google Play Music - $11.99 a month
Apple iCloud data -  $1.49 a month

The iCloud will be cancelled once I wipe my old iPhone and delete all backups (switched to Android), I could probably get away with cancelling Netflix, and I need to choose between Google Play Music and Spotify.

I'm a long term Spotify user,  but a few things about Spotify give me the shits.

I've run out of Dropbox data,  so I've tossed up the idea of going to their premium account, but I might just move everything to OneDrive or Google Drive instead.

Twelve bucks a month for a music streaming service is worth it to me :)

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

[NoraLenderbee]

Internet service
Landline phone
Cell phones (Puppy wireless is a pretty good deal)
Netflix
Several magazines, all of which I enjoy reading

That's all I can think of. Oh yeah, my husband has a premium membership on Strava.

[Villanelle]

Netflix (steaming only), Amazon Prime, an online chess site (giving it up when the annual subscription expires, but it was a fairly small amount for a whole year--$50, maybe?).  I also have a free American Library Association membership that I may renew for a cost when my free year is up.  (I'm in library school and may find it useful.)

[Sailor Sam]

Hmm, I'm not exactly sure where the line between utilities, and subscriptions lies. Either way, here's me:

Cell phone is $80/month

Internet is $39.99/ month

Netflix is $7.99/month

Credit check is $5.50/month

Audible is $16.36/month. Used to be $14.99, until they started taxing me, the bastards.

[thedayisbrave]

Hulu Plus = $7.99/mo

Massage Envy = $59.99/mo

Though I am going to cancel my Massage Envy membership as my favorite therapist is leaving and before him, I got so many inconsistent therapists (some good, some terrible) that I really just want to go to another place I know of that is more expensive, but consistently good experience.  It'll be about $10-$15 more but I'll happily pay that for good therapists who know what they're doing.

[Kriegsspiel]

Would you be willing to pay $50 less for someone who didn't know what they were doing?

[lbmustache]

$6/month for Office??? I thought you buy it once and it's free... what are you paying for?

Netflix - $7.99
Spotify - $9.99
Gym - $37
Amazon Prime - $8ish a month ($99/year)

[FIRE me]

$9.98 monthly to Easynews for usenet. Like Netflix, only better for my purposes. Take care with this if you are running a Microsoft OS and are not accustomed to usenet. You could easily download a virus.

$72 to $99 annual for Amazon Prime. It pays for itself with lower prices than I could get locally on certain items. I don't allow it to auto renew. I let it expire and renew it on my next order.

I rarely use the “free” (with the Amazon Prime purchase) Amazon Prime Video, and I have never even once used the “free” music streaming and photo cloud storage.

I do read lots of free Kindle books on my Android phone (I don't own a Kindle, and I never will). I'm pretty sure the free Kindle books are only for Amazon Prime subscribers. (Not counting free public library loans of Kindle format books through Overdrive).

I have had a $30 annual subscription to Consumer Reports website. It is nice for its reliability ratings of autos, appliances, and HVAC systems. I don't allow it to auto renew. I only subscribe before a major purchase, and only if I can't get the information I want elsewhere for free.

I have a Roku box for my TV, but I don't subscribe to any pay channels.

I consider my cell phone and internet to be utilities. But if anyone cares, I pay Ting $11 to $14 and Time Warner Cable $40 monthly. No land line phone and no cable TV or satellite TV. HD broadcast TV gets the job done for me.

So, all of my subscriptions total under $20 monthly.

[redbird]

Other than internet, no. My cell phone is a pre-paid one so no monthly bill.

[shelivesthedream]

£6.95/month for a bag of coffee beans through the post. My husband drinks coffee every day. I drink it maybe a couple of times a week. We appreciate the convenience and the different flavours. It's the same price as we would pay in the shop we used to go to. I've been considering signing up for another subscription service for some kind of food but haven't found anything we'd use with such regularity that won't go off quickly and is approximately the same price as we pay now. (Veg boxes would definitely be a disaster of rotting food! I have a very irregular work schedule and a tiny freezer.) It's a shame because I quite like the lucky dip aspect.

I get a subscription to Vogue every Christmas from a relative. If/when it stops it would be a very hard decision whether to pay for one myself or not.

[Syonyk]

Rhapsody, Pandora, Google Apps for Business (for email/docs/drive/etc), and some virtual machines (mix of EC2 and GCE).

[YK-Phil]

We have two cell phones with Wind-mobile for $65/month total which includes "unlimited" data. This takes care of our telephone and Internet needs. For movies and books, we use the public library. Once I stop working in the next 10 months (I currently work in Yellowknife, about 1,600 km north of home, so we need to stay in touch by phone), we'll cut all cell phone plans and switch to a cheap pay-as-you go voice/text plan. Maybe home internet.

[jengod]

Me:
New York Times - $15/mo
Mother Earth News - $1/mo
Hulu with ads - $9/mo

DH:
Spotify - $9/mo
HBO Now - $15/mo

We also have Amazon Prime, which is subscriptionish. I just canceled Flickr Pro (renewing March) b/c of this thread. Hopefully they don't delete photos of my babies? Ugh. We shall see.

[justajane]

Sirius - $2-3 a month (we just call and threaten to cancel every few months and they give us a great deal)
Netflix - $7.99
Hulu plus w/ no commercials - $12
Amazon prime - $99 a year

We have a Sling TV free trial at the moment but won't continue past that point.

We subscribe to the Week paper magazine as well, but it's given to us every Christmas. I think we also have a cheap subscription to Taste of Home and a few kids' magazines, but we know someone who works for the distributor and only pay like $10 a year for all of them.

I've considered Microsoft Office, mainly because I edit on the side and like the fact that you can login on multiple computers. But I haven't pulled the trigger yet.

[negativecharlie]

I'm shocked that anyone here is paying for Microsoft Office without at least trying free alternatives such as LibreOffice first. With two minutes of tweaking it can be set to save in all the common Microsoft Office formats, and it'll work seamlessly with pretty much anything that Microsoft can create. And it doesn't change in mysterious and incompatible ways every few years.

(As a Microsoft Partner I get MS Office 2013/2016 effectively for free. I still prefer LibreOffice for real work.)

[arebelspy]

Currently: TrustedHouseSitters.com website for $100/yr (though probably won't renew).

Planning on signing up for a paid VPN (likely privateinternetaccess.com), but using free ones for now (TunnelBear and betternet).  That should run $40/yr.

That will probably be our only FIRE subscription.

[vhalros]

I pay for Netflix streaming. I have Amazon Prime, but only because I got one year free with my phone; probably will not renew.

[justajane]

I'm shocked that anyone here is paying for Microsoft Office without at least trying free alternatives such as LibreOffice first.

I am required to use the most recent version of Microsoft Word for my freelance editing, which earns me far more than the cost of the software. If I didn't work in this field, I would happily explore other free or low cost options otherwise.

[TravelJunkyQC]

Cell phone: 65$ a month (don't get me started on over-priced canadian cell service)
Internet: 1/2 of 45$ a month
I have Texture (formerly Next Issue) through my work (I work in digital media and publishing), and we also receive almost every possible magazine imaginable, and we can borrow them whenever we want. This is a big advantage as I used to spend about 10 or 15$ a month buying magazines.

[shelivesthedream]

I'm shocked that anyone here is paying for Microsoft Office without at least trying free alternatives such as LibreOffice first.

I am required to use the most recent version of Microsoft Word for my freelance editing, which earns me far more than the cost of the software. If I didn't work in this field, I would happily explore other free or low cost options otherwise.

But what's the subscription for? I just bought it (on a CD, I think) and now I have it. Boom. No extra money.

[jeromedawg]

Let's see:

Costco
Amazon Prime
Cellphone
Internet
VPN
Crashplan
Does HOA count? LOL

I'm too lazy to lookup all the exact pricing on everything... this is a good exercise to review what I should and shouldn't renew at least. There are probably more than what I've listed too haha.

[justajane]

I'm shocked that anyone here is paying for Microsoft Office without at least trying free alternatives such as LibreOffice first.

I am required to use the most recent version of Microsoft Word for my freelance editing, which earns me far more than the cost of the software. If I didn't work in this field, I would happily explore other free or low cost options otherwise.

But what's the subscription for? I just bought it (on a CD, I think) and now I have it. Boom. No extra money.

Microsoft is dramatically limiting the number of computers on which you can upload the software. Gone are the days when you can share an access code and get it for "free" or upload it on multiple computers  I believe that the current version I have from my husband's work for a reduced rate only allows one computer. It's a real pain to transfer it, and sometimes they will refuse outright. So, if your laptop crashes and you have to buy a new one, then you have to pay the full amount again. For me, if I have a deadline and my primary laptop crashes, with the subscription I could login to another computer, retrieve the file, and finish the project on time. I have lost money on multiple occasions because I haven't been able to access Word on my computer.

I wouldn't be surprised with the most recent version that is expected next year that they will go to subscription only. That's the direction they are moving. I'm not happy about it, because I guess it's payback for all the years I never paid for Office software and just borrowed a friends' code.

[FLBiker]

We pay ~$45 per month for internet, ~$65 for two cell phones.  I think that's it.

[okits]

$1.50/month for iCloud storage space.  A magazine subscription I bought two years ago just expired, I think it was $36/24 months.  Nice to have but not going to bother renewing. 

ETA: DH has a couple of online sports-related subscriptions.  Maybe $200 a year?  For what he's getting and the cost of alternatives I think it's acceptable value.

[windypig]

Amazon prime (10/mo)
Costco 10/mo (2% back tho - makes up for it)
Sling TV (20/mo)
Gym (2.50/mo)
Netflix ($8/mo)
Internet (60/mo)
Spotify (10/mo)

All of this minus the gym is split between two people.
I honestly feel like this is a lot but Im not sure what I would be willing to drop. Probably will drop SlingTV after football season. 

[monstermonster]

I'm shocked that anyone here is paying for Microsoft Office without at least trying free alternatives such as LibreOffice first. With two minutes of tweaking it can be set to save in all the common Microsoft Office formats, and it'll work seamlessly with pretty much anything that Microsoft can create. And it doesn't change in mysterious and incompatible ways every few years.

(As a Microsoft Partner I get MS Office 2013/2016 effectively for free. I still prefer LibreOffice for real work.)

LibreOffice doesn't work with a bunch of the proprietary file formats I need for excel. I use R and SQL for a bunch of my data work, but excel still is much better for files I'm sending to other people. I went without excel on my personal computer for a few years to save money, and it was always a pain. Having excel at home makes my life muuuch easier.

[monstermonster]

I'm shocked that anyone here is paying for Microsoft Office without at least trying free alternatives such as LibreOffice first.

I am required to use the most recent version of Microsoft Word for my freelance editing, which earns me far more than the cost of the software. If I didn't work in this field, I would happily explore other free or low cost options otherwise.

But what's the subscription for? I just bought it (on a CD, I think) and now I have it. Boom. No extra money.

It's $150 for the CD (not that I even have a CD drive), and there's no getting a new update when they come out with the new office for mac- the $7/month with the 3 months free I got means I'd need to keep the excel for 2 years before it would be less than the subscription.

[fallstoclimb]

We pay for what I consider to be a lot of subscriptions, but they are all high value to us:

Spotify @ $5.99/mo -- student rate for my husband  (I use the free version)
Zwift @ $10/mo -- an indoor cycling program which I am loving.  much cheaper than a gym and I can already tell next season will be my strongest yet.
Hulu @ $12/mo -- we splurged for the commercial-free version.  Dropped this for a while to use the free version but missed premium.
Netflix @ $13/mo -- 1 DVD & streaming
Evernote Plus @ $25/yr -- for paperless record management
Amazon Prime @ ~ $50/yr -- we signed up as students seem to have locked in that rate.

Plus internet & cell phone service, which I don't really consider subscriptions.

I know these things are not exactly frugal, but they all complement the lifestyle many in my generation are adopting:  cable-free, car-light (free shipping), minimalist.