How to stay on top of your subscriptions

AS households continue to face cost-of-living pressures while inflation chews into incomes, a growing number of people are turning their attention to a deceptively simple area of spending: subscriptions.

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Once hailed for convenience, recurring payments can quietly erode budgets while remaining unnoticed.

We hear from budgeting experts on the best way to manage your subscriptions and save money.

Get a clear view

The first step in reclaiming control is clarity. It sounds straightforward, but for most of us, it's anything but.

The sprawl of subscriptions - from TV services and cloud storage to mindfulness apps that you accidentally purchased a year ago - often traverses banks, devices and even family members.

"The best way to check your subscriptions is through a budgeting app or budgeting tool," says Plum finance’s head of money, Rajan Lakhani.

"These kinds of tools should show a list of your outgoings all in one place so you can see which outgoings are subscriptions and which provider you're paying."

For those who prefer a manual route, he suggests to, "instead check your outgoings on your bank statement and manually make a note of the subscriptions".

If you're starting from scratch, the experts suggest going digital.

"The most efficient way is through a digital tool or app that automatically identifies and categorises recurring payments," explains CEO of Marygold & Co, Matthew Parden.

"Rather than combing through statements or relying on memory, these services provide a consolidated view of your subscriptions in one place.”

High price of ignorance