When I tell people that I saved over £1,000 a year just by cancelling subscriptions, lots of people are sceptical. Yet you’d be amazed by the savings you can make by doing this – and thanks to the wonders of the free Little Birdie app, the whole process just got much, much easier.
There are lots of strange regular payments lurking on your bank accounts, credit cards and even on your mobile phone bill. Here’s my guide on the things you might have forgotten you were paying for, how to spot them and how to claim some cash back too.
The three different types of debits
There are three main types of regular payment that can be used to debit money from your accounts. Direct debits, standing orders and continuous payment authorities. It’s the last category that causes the most problems because these debits are the most widespread and hard to spot.
A direct debit (DD) is an agreement between you and a business that lets them debit money from your account. The business can vary this by date and the amount of cash they can take – but only if they give you advance notice if something is going to change. This is the most common payment for utility bills, insurance contracts and ‘big business’ payments.
A standing order (SO) is something only you authorise to allow a set payment to another business each month. You control it and get to cancel it.
A continuous payment authority (CPA) works in a similar way to direct debits and allows a business to debit money from your account, card or phone just by agreeing it on the phone, online or in person. You don’t need to do anything more than say yes or tick a box to do this. While this makes agreeing contracts super easy, it is also open to exploitation. An unscrupulous business can tell your bank that they have your permission when they don’t, for example.
Most regular payments leave your account monthly, but increasingly businesses (including some very big brands) are debiting your account early. That means it’s much easier for you to miss a one-off payment.
In the past, you’d have to trawl through all of your accounts for 13 months to find all of these missing payments. It’s still a good idea to do this as some debits are very sneaky – Little Birdie is working on ways we can track down all these payments for you. But now you can find loads of your regular payments just by using the Little Birdie app – and it only takes minutes to set up.
The things you might be paying for that you don’t want or need
Whenever I talk about cancelling subscriptions, people panic and think that I’m going to get them to get rid of Netflix or Disney + but fear not! There are many, many other options that you can cancel without cutting out the fun stuff. Here’s my guide:
Standard subscriptions
The big savings aren’t the obvious ones, but it’s a good place to start. From magazines to gym memberships, we waste thousands of pounds each year on subscriptions we don’t want or need. So be honest with yourself. What can you ditch? A gym membership alone can save you £400 or more a year. That’s a lot of cash to spend if you’re going once every month.
Subscriptions are sneaky because they’re often for small amounts. These are known as ‘micro payments’ You might not think too much of a £5.99 debit, but that works out to over £70 a year.
Prices have increased across the board over the last year, so that regular magazine or newspaper payment might have hit a level that makes it worth switching to an online subscription instead.
Cash savings
Just by cancelling a few subscriptions you can save anything from a couple of hundred pounds to over £1,000 a year.
Cloud storage, streaming and anti-virus software
Some subscriptions work by playing on our fears of the unknown. Most of the people I know pay a little extra to store data on ‘the cloud’ – though most of us aren’t really sure how this works in practice. We tend to sign up to cloud storage when we buy laptops, phones, tablets, anti-virus software, and anything linked to the internet, chances are you’re paying for more than one service – which you don’t need.
The same goes for music streaming. You might have succumbed and ended up paying for YouTube or Spotify ad free, or stuck with Apple Music because it seemed to be the easiest way to listen to music. Pick one streaming service and settle for adverts.
As for anti-virus software, it’s vital, but do you know some firms charge you three times more when your deal auto-renews? My software almost cost me a whopping £95 a year, until I spotted it the upcoming renewal via Little Birdie.
Cash savings
Cloud storage prices can range from £1.99 to £9.99 a month and more. Save upwards of £120 per year, for each storage system you cancel.
Music streaming services all start at around £9.99 – cancel two and save £240 a year.
Anti-virus software ranges from £20 to £100. Most people can claim back £100+
Dating websites
The path to true love can be costly, especially if you’ve signed up for a free trial of ‘premium’ services and ended up being charged. Dating sites charge extra for more ‘swipes’ or profile views, the ability to send or receive pictures, extra messaging and more.
Because dating in the real world has been unrealistic over the pandemic, you may not have checked the websites you’re signed up to and therefore might not even be aware you’re paying extra each month.
Cash savings
Prices range from £7.99 to £50+ a month. If you forgot you’re paying for two, then cancelling could save you £200+
Mobile phone and gadget insurance
Don’t assume that businesses will behave responsibly. Mistakes occur and when you switch services, you might find that not everything gets cancelled.
Whenever you buy a new phone or upgrade, the business will often try to sell you a new mobile phone insurance policy. Though it should be obvious to businesses that you don’t need your old policy anymore, they often don’t remind you to cancel.
I helped one woman claim back over £800 for four forgotten policies she had on her bank account. Look for gadget insurance and other small value policies you just don’t need or want.
Cash savings
Mobile phone and gadget insurance can range from £10 to £20 a month, saving you between £120 to £240 for every unwanted policy each year.
Subscription traps
Subscription traps are regular payments that appear after you sign up to a free trial, most commonly online. A lot of these deals come from businesses abroad and are either rubbish deals or out-and-out cons. After the trial ends, you may suddenly start being debited considerable sums for non-existent or poor-quality products.
Because many of these businesses are dodgy, tracking down these subscriptions can be tricky. So it’s always worth checking in with Little Birdie regularly and also checking your account statements for anything that doesn’t look right.
Best of all, if you haven’t authorised the specific payment amounts, you can ask your bank or card provider to claim back the cash. You’ll need to tell them that you did not authorise specific payments or you didn’t get the goods or services. It’s for the firm to prove they can debit you for each transaction. If they can’t, they should give the money back.
Cash savings
Subscription trap refunds can run to hundreds of pounds. Though I hope you don’t find fraudulent debits on your account, if you do you should be able to get back some or all of the cash, depending on how long they’ve been debiting you.
Over to you!
I’d love to hear your stories about the app subscriptions you didn’t realise you were paying for – and the cash you’ve managed to save. If you’d like to share your stories, get in touch!
Haven’t downloaded the app yet? Download – it’s quick and you can start saving and better managing your subscriptions and recurring payments TODAY! Little Birdie is free to download & use!
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