You’re spending more online than you think
Here are four ways to save money
SAN FRANCISCO — First, we stopped paying for things. Gym memberships, movie tickets, Ubers, restaurant bills, fancy clothes. But as the pandemic carried on and more of our lives switched from in person to over screens, we started racking up new costs. Streaming services, delivery apps, online fitness classes, virtual learning apps, the Zoom account that lets you talk longer than 40 minutes.
Those small digital charges add up. And in a struggling economy, finding even small ways to save money can be a huge help.
There are plenty of tools to help figure out where money is being lost, like budgeting apps Mint and subscription tracking apps like Truebill, which connects with your bank accounts and lets you pick how much to pay. Another option, Bobby, is free but requires more work to set up.
Truebill CEO Yahya Mokhtarzada said that the number of users has risen during the pandemic and that users’ spending habits have changed. The shift to automated payments has made it easier for companies to make money and harder for customers to keep track, he said.
Schedule a subscription intervention
You probably don’t need all of your new subscriptions, but finding them isn’t always easy, and canceling some can be a chore.
There’s a high probability you are paying monthly fees for things you’ve already forgotten you signed up for, whether it’s a free trial of CBS All Access you got to binge “Star Trek: Picard” or a subscription to the Noggin kids’ app you agreed to in a moment of work-fromhome panic.
You can go through your credit card statement to see which companies are charging you, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Most reoccurring payments are automatic deductions charged every month or as a lump sum once a year. However a growing number of services bill through a third party and can be bundled together as one charge, meaning they’re easier to miss on statements.
Go to your settings on each app store and review what you’ve signed up for.
On an iOS device, go to settings, tap on your profile on top, then tap “subscriptions” to see what you are paying for through Apple. Make sure the option for renewal receipts is turned on so you get emails reminding you that you pay for these services. On an Android device, go to the Play Store, then tap the menu icon (the box with lines in the upper left corner) and look for “subscriptions.” And on the Amazon website, use the “accounts and lists” drop-down menu next to the search bar to click on “memberships and subscription.”
Keep track going forward by checking your statements regularly, keeping a list or spreadsheet of all your subscriptions as you start them, and by setting a calendar reminder to cancel a subscription or free trial when you’re done with it.
Share, negotiate or take a break
A surprising number of payments are negotiable. The most well known are cable and cellphone service fees, which can usually be lowered with a phone call and a threat to switch to another company. Car insurance
and credit card interest rates can also be haggled down. Mokhtarzada says the best time to bargain is after your initial contract is up: “There’s often retention offers that they have available, but they’re not going to reach out and tell you about them.”
But you can also try bargaining down less obvious payments, such as expensive software you use for work. Companies including Adobe have allowed some customers to pay less during the pandemic.
Another way to pay less is to share your subscriptions. In the proper, legal way, of course. Look into any family plans and read the fine print for how that company defines family. If having more people on a streaming account lowers the cost for everyone, it might be worth switching. And many subscriptions offer discounted rates if you pay for an entire year upfront.
Comparison-shop on delivery apps
The boom in grocery and restaurant delivery during the pandemic means you have multiple options when it comes to paying someone to bring you a fresh or frozen burrito. The prices across apps can vary, even for the same restaurant or grocery store.
Before shopping for groceries, look at prices on apps such as Instacart or Amazon Fresh to see how they compare, calculating in any delivery fees. Also try the stores’ sites directly and see if they offer pickup or delivery. For restaurants, prices can also vary between apps, so open a few and check your favorite entrees before purchasing.
Bring cloud storage bills down to earth
Somewhere along the line you ran out of free iCloud or Google storage. Or maybe you signed up for multiple services and are paying for more space than you need. This is a twostep money saver that might also help streamline where all your important documents and photos live.
First, figure out how much storage you need. Audit your Amazon, Google, Apple, Dropbox and Microsoft storage (we’re talking personal files, not pro-level storage). Try backing up to a computer instead of the cloud, deleting past backups and clearing out old message attachments.
Prune where you can, then shop around for the best price for however much storage you’re using and reasonable upgrade options as you grow. Until recently, Google Photo’s unlimited storage for slightly compressed photos was the biggest steal, but now it’s only 15 GB for free, then $1.99 a month for 100 GB. Amazon still offers unlimited full-resolution photo storage for Prime members. Dropbox is up to 2 GB for free, then jumps to $9.99 a month for 2 TB. Apple’s iCloud storage offers up to 5 GB for free or 50 GB starting at $0.99 a month.