When it comes to saving money, relatively few people take the time to evaluate the many subscriptions they’ve signed up for. If they do, they may find that a product or service they’re paying for is not being used enough — or not at all.
For instance, in the case of a streaming service, money expert Clark Howard says there are some questions you can ask yourself:
“When you see one of those monthly subscriptions, think about it: Do you watch it? Do you go there? If it’s no longer of value to you, cancel that subscription!”
Can You Cancel These Subscriptions To Save Money?
In this article, I’ll list categories to look at to help you decide whether you can save money by canceling some subscriptions. (You may have even forgotten you have some of them!)
It’s worth noting that some subscriptions cost more if you pay monthly rather than for the whole year. If you want to keep the service, do the math to see if it makes sense for you to pay monthly or annually for a subscription.
Subscriptions Quick Links:
- Shopping Memberships
- Gym Memberships
- Cable or Live Streaming
- Credit Monitoring
- Cloud Storage
- Music
- Games and Other Paid Apps
I’ve chosen only those subscriptions that allow you to sign up again at any time.
Belonging to a shopping loyalty program can be a real money saver, but how many shopping memberships do you need?
Like me, you may have signed up for Amazon Prime to take advantage of the free shipping and other benefits. For $139 a year, Amazon Prime gives you a slew of perks, including exclusive deals on purchases online. But do you have to be a year-long member?
Every January, I cancel Amazon Prime for six months in order to save that $14.99 monthly fee. I typically re-up during the second half of the year when Prime Day, Black Friday and end-of-the-year sales are happening.
Here are some of the top shopping loyalty programs and the standard costs of their annual memberships:
- Amazon Prime: $139
- Walmart+: $98
- Costco: $60
- Sam’s Club: $50
How To Save When You Grocery Shop
You can still keep your grocery costs relatively low by practicing some tried-and-true saving strategies like:
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- Look for coupons on Coupon.com.
- Check out online sales flyers from your favorite grocer.
- Take advantage of rewards credit cards.
How To Cancel Your Shopping Membership
Most shopping memberships can be canceled through your online account, by phone or in person at the store.
Amazon says, “Paid members who haven’t used their benefits are eligible for a full refund of the current membership period. We’ll process the refund in three to five business days.”
Read our guide on how to decide whether Amazon Prime is worth it.
Walmart says it won’t refund canceled memberships. “If you cancel before the end of a paid period, you’ll have access to membership benefits until the end of that paid period,” it says on the store’s website.
To cancel your Costco membership and get an immediate refund, you’ll need to call Member Services on the phone at 1-800-774-2678 or speak to a team member at the front counter of the wholesale club near you.
Sam’s Club will give you a refund for immediate cancellation, the retailer says. You can also opt to have your refund issued on a Sam’s eGift Card. To start the process, just visit the store’s membership desk orcall 1(888) 746-7726.
Gym Memberships
Gym membership subscriptions may come in handy if you’re committed to staying in shape year-round, but what happens if you slack off at some point? News flash: Those monthly payments will continue to be withdrawn from your account.
Let’s look at some of the most popular gyms and how much they cost annually. Note that some gym memberships are not as cut and dry as others: Some fitness centers charge one-time initiation fees, while others require that you pay the first and last month’s dues when you sign up. Here’s what I would pay annually for these gym memberships where I live:
- LA Fitness: $419
- Gold’s Gym: $419
- Planet Fitness (Black Card): $299
How To Cancel Your Gym Membership
Gym memberships are among the hardest to cancel because they don’t typically have an opt-out method on their websites. In general, you have to state in writing that you wish to cancel your membership.
That’s what I had to do to get out of my LA Fitness membership. I had to go to the website, print the cancellation form and mail it to them via U.S. mail.
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The LA Fitness website says, “A cancellation postmarked at least 5 business days before your next billing date should result in no further recurring billing. If less than 5 business days, you may be billed one more time. If this occurs, LA Fitness will refund that additional billing.”
How to go about canceling a membership at Gold’s Gym depends on the location. Check with your local facility.
You may be able to cancel with Planet Fitness online depending on the type of membership you have. In other cases, you may have to fill out a cancellation form at the front desk of your home club or send a certified letter requesting cancellation, according to the company website. Because each Planet Fitness location is a privately-owned franchise, the cancellation process may vary from club to club.
How To Save Money on Fitness
Without a gym membership you may think that you’re bound to put on the pounds — but not necessarily. Here are some ways to trim your waist after you’ve trimmed your wallet:
- Get in some cardio by walking or jogging at your local park.
- If your employer has a gym, take advantage of this employee perk either before your day starts or when it ends.
- Build your home gym on the cheap.
- Got a dog? Take your dog-walking seriously and count your steps.
- Check out 15 Free Workout and Fitness Apps
Cable or Livestreaming
If you haven’t cut the cord already, you may be missing out on significant savings. Many of the best streaming services are much cheaper than what you’ll pay monthly or yearly for cable.
One thing I always do to save money is to cancel my YouTube TV subscription each February (when the NFL season ends) and sign back up around September when the season begins again.
Instead of paying about $876 for YouTube TV year-round ($73 a month), I’ll pay half of that to stream sports, live TV and more.
Here are some top streaming services and how much they cost annually for their basic ad-free packages:
- Netflix (Standard): $186
- Disney+ (Basic): $96
- Paramount+ (With Showtime): $119
What To Know Before You Cancel Your Streaming Service
- Pay attention to your billing date:Some streaming services will allow you to keep access until the conclusion of your billing cycle.
- Log in from a computer:It’s easiest to cancel from a desktop or laptop computer.
- Look for the discount email: Several days after you cancel, it’s typical for the streaming company to try to lure you back with a deal. In the case of YouTube TV, the service emailed me several deals to sign back up, but I resisted until football season.
“If you cancel with time left in your billing period, you can use Netflix until the account cancels automatically at the end of the billing period,” says the Netflix website.
That’s the same with Disney+ and Paramount+: When you cancel your subscription, instead of receiving a refund, you will be able to continue using the streaming service for as long as the subscription period lasts.
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Canceled Your Streaming Service? Here’s How To Watch TV for Free
Free TV is more than a buzzword; it’s a reality. Here’s how to watch and stream your favorite TV series and movies without paying for each piece of content:
- Invest in a TV antennae, which can be found on Amazon and other shopping sites.
- If you have a Roku app, the Roku Channel has tons of free content. Same for Tubi TV (Read our Tubi review).
Read our guide on the best websites and apps for free TV.
Credit Monitoring
There are several options for paid credit-monitoring services including Equifax’s Credit Monitor($4.95 a month), TransUnion’s credit-monitoring service ($29.95 a month) or Experian’s IdentityWorks ($24.99 a month). But, the common denominator with all of them is that you’re wasting money.
How To Cancel Your Credit Monitoring Service
To cancel your credit monitoring service, you’ll typically need to log in to your account.
In the case of Equifax’s Credit Monitor service, inside your myEquifax account, you can click on your name in the top right corner and select My Account then Cancel Subscription. Alternatively, you can call their customer care team at 1-888-Equifax (1-888-378-4329).
To cancel Experian’s paid credit monitoring service, IdentityWorks, you must contact the credit bureau by phone.
TransUnion says you can cancel by logging into your account and clicking on “Manage Account” or by calling customer service at (855) 681-3196.
None of these services offer prorated months or partial refunds.
Read our article on how to reach a real person at Equifax, TransUnion and Experian.
How To Save on Credit Monitoring
Clark has long recommended free credit monitoring services Credit Karma and Credit Sesame.
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Read our guide on how to sign up for Credit Karma’s free credit monitoring.
Cloud Storage
If you’re paying monthly for cloud storage with Google Drive, DropBox or iCloud, you may want to consider a free service instead.
But note that, once you end a paid cloud subscription, you won’t be able to access what you have stored on that service. So have a plan in place before you cancel.
If your device’s storage space is full or close to it, you may choose to download the files to another computer (which is what I do) and/or delete the ones you don’t want.
Read our guide on how to clear up storage space on your Android phone and your iPhone.
Here are some yearly prices for 2 terabytes with the top cloud storage services:
How To Cancel Your Cloud Subscription
To cancel your cloud subscription, you’ll have to log on to your service.
For Dropbox, you can cancel or downgrade your service by going to Settings, Plan, and then to Cancel Plan. DropBox says on its website that if you don’t see the Cancel Plan option, “you may have purchased Dropbox on your mobile device. If so, you’ll need to cancel your plan from the app store on your device.”
According to Google, “Google storage plan purchases are non-refundable. The amount of storage you purchased is yours for the length of the subscription, even if you decide to cancel it. In some countries/regions, you can end your subscription immediately and receive a partial refund.”
To cancel your iCloud subscription, the process is easiest on an iPhone. Here are the steps:
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- Go to Settings and tap on your name at the top.
- Tap on iCloud > Manage Account Storage > Change Storage Plan
- Tap on Downgrade Options and choose Free
“For iCloud, Partial refunds are available where required by law,” it says on Apple’s website. “If you recently changed your iCloud+ plan, contact Apple within 14 days for a refund.” You can request a refund on Apple’s report a problem page.
For pCloud, the cancellation process is based on how you signed up for the service.
By using several cloud services up to the free storage limit, you may be able to save money on storage options.
Read our guide on the best free cloud storage options.
Music
Music subscriptions are another thing that you should consider shedding. Here are the annual prices for the most popular:
- Spotify Premium: $132
- Apple Music: $132
- Tidal: $132
- Amazon Music Unlimited: $132 for non-Prime members/$99 for Prime members
Here’s How To Cancel Music Subscriptions
To cancel your music subscription, you will typically have to log on to your account and go to the settings.
To cancel Spotify Premium, for instance, log into your account, under your plan select “change plan,” scroll to cancel and click “Cancel Premium.” It’s that simple.
The way you cancel with each provider will vary slightly, but the commonality is that you shouldn’t expect any partial refunds. You will typically get to keep using the service in the meantime.
And, remember that if you ordered your subscription through a third-party provider or app, you may need to go there to cancel.
How To Enjoy Music Online for Free
Aside from YouTube.com, there are several online sources that offer free music to download or just listen to.
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Read our in-depth guide on the best free music sites.
Games and Other Paid Apps
It’s easy to forget about the mobile apps we pay for on a monthly basis. I recently canceled a Microsoft 365 Personal account, which cost $69.99 a year, which I’d forgotten about.
How To Find Your Paid Apps
You could look through your phone’s apps and manually see which ones you pay for, but there’s an easier way: On the iPhone, tap on Settings, then tap your name, and go to Subscriptions to see everything you’ve subscribed to on your device.
On an Android phone, the steps will vary based on the model and which version of the operating system you have. In general, you’ll need to open the Google Play Store app and tap the menu, where you should see Subscriptions or Payments and Subscriptions.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are many subscriptions you may be able to cut. Two strategies that will help you save money are:
- Canceling your membership for half the year: This can work for those services that have seasonal benefits. In my case, that would be YouTube TV and Amazon Prime.
- Downgrading from a “premium” service: If you find that you can’t cancel the subscription outright, perhaps you can downgrade to a lower tier to save money.
Remember to manage your subscriptions by asking yourself how much you use them and whether they’re worth it based on the time you spend on them. You might be surprised by how much money you can save when you cancel one subscription or several.
