Cancel vs subscribe 2024
For the past few years, I've been doing this thing where at the beginning of every year, I take a hard look at my subscriptions and decide if I should consider canceling or continuing to subscribe, and in some rare case, start subscribing to new services. I want to share my list below and figure out what the total is and maybe this will give you inspiration to take a look at your services too!
Subscribing
First let's look at new services I'm adding to the list this year:
- Obsidian Sync, this is $10 / month. I have been using Obsidian for over a year but recently I've really used it! I use it for writing posts like these, for organizing work, for jotting down quick notes. It's becoming a full replacement for all my notes apps.
- Kagi, $10 / month. Search should be good, Kagi makes search great. No ads, no SEO bullshit, and I love the customization options.
- MacroFactors, $80 / year. I use this app for tracking food. This has been helping me gain my weight back. It's also one of the best UX when it comes to tracking food.
I'm adding about $27 / month of services to my list of all services (see below).
Canceling
- The first service to get the axe this year has been Youtube Premium. I was using it a lot but we were paying the $30 / month price that is charged if you pay through the App Store. It's plain malicious that they charge 30% more just because you go through the app store, blame Apple, blame Google, it doesn't matter at this point. I was able to get rid of this by joining my brother's family plan (I added him to my Spotify plan).
- SimpliSafe. I was never using their cloud features that cost $10 / month.
- Hulu. This is an expensive service that I was only using once in awhile, at $17.99 a month it's an easy one to let go.
In total, I'm canceling about $58 / month worth of services this year. This is exactly double of what I'm adding this year so I think this was a good list of services to get rid of.
All services
| Service | Monthly Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Spotify | 16.99 | I actively use this, has 5 total members. $3.40 per person is a great deal. |
| ChatGPT Plus | 20 | Considering canceling this one at some point this year |
| Ghost Hosting | 20 | Two blogs on here, this one and KeyChronicles. |
| Kagi | 10 | Search engine on all my devices |
| Obsidian Sync | 10 | Notes for everything in my life. |
| Peloton | 60 | For exercising, definitely not worth $60, I can tell you that. This would be more palatable at $25-30 / month. |
| Tonal | 60 | Another exercising service, I think it's worth $60. |
| Apple TV+ | 7.99 | There are a few shows that I watch on here but if the price jumps once, I'm canceling it. |
| Netflix | 22.99 | Probably the last price hike I will live through with this subscription, when the next one happens, I'm gone. |
| Disney+ | 13.99 | I get credit through my Amex BCP for $7/mo so it's really 6.99 but let's count the full price. |
| Github | 4 | Probably the best bang for your buck in terms of features available and how much it costs. I use Github almost every single day and I get a lot of work done using Github too. |
| Tesla Premium | 10 | I miss the days when cars didn't need a subscription to play radio or use basic services. This is a rip off and just one step away from extortion. |
| Fastmail | 3.89 | Just like search, email should be ad-free and surveillance free. I've been happily using Fastmail for almost 5 years now. |
| PIA VPN | 2.03 | When all else fails, get a VPN. At almost 2 bucks a month, it's a no-brainer to have and use. |
| MacroFactors | 6.66 | For tracking food and nutrient intake. |
| Total | $268.54 | per month |
At almost $270 / month, this list is pretty pricey. The two exercise services and the extremely expensive Netflix are under my radar for this upcoming year. Let's hope it doesn't get much worse next year.
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