Households are wasting $25.34 a month on unused subscription services, while a third consider canceling their plans, new figures show.
The average home in the US has 4.4 paid subscriptions worth $52.97 per month, according to a survey of 1,106 people by credit-building company Self-Financial.
With red-hot inflation hurting household budgets, experts are now calling on households to take stock of their monthly expenses to save money.
The data showed that Disney+ was the most unused video streaming subscription, with 29.3 percent of people who paid for it claiming they hadn’t used it in the past 30 days. The costs for Disney+ memberships start at $7.99.
It was followed by Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, which each saw 22.3 and 22.2 percent of users say they hadn’t watched them in the past month, respectively.
The average home in the US has 4.4 paid subscriptions worth $52.97 per month, according to a survey of 1,106 people by credit-building company Self-Financial
Meanwhile, the top five least used subscriptions included: Amazon Prime, Walmart+, Dollar Shave Club, Chewy and Instacart Express.
Overall, more than 30 percent of subscriptions go unused each month — the equivalent of 1.4 subscriptions or $25.34 per month.
Subscription services became hugely popular during the pandemic as households went into lockdown – meaning they had more time to stream series and have goods delivered to their homes.
It led to what experts called the “subscription economy,” with restaurant owners and grocery services offering monthly subscriptions to have products delivered to customers’ homes.
And the trend continues to grow. UBS Wealth Management estimates that the digital subscription economy is worth $650 billion and will reach a market size of $1.5 trillion by 2025.
But experts say the numbers are likely to be dampened by high inflation, which is putting unprecedented strain on household budgets.
Statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that annual inflation is now at 4.9 percent — down from the high of 9.1 percent in June 2022.
While it was the first time the US had seen an increase of less than five percent in less than two years, it still remains well above the Fed’s target rate of two percent.
According to the Self Financial survey, 36 percent of households planned to cancel their subscription.
In addition, many are considering deleting their Netflix accounts, specifically amid the crackdown on account sharing.
According to Netflix’s rules, people who don’t live in the same household can’t stream from the same account.
While this has always been a rule, the streaming giant is introducing a new device verification feature that allows viewers to prove where they’re watching from.
Experts say the numbers are likely to be dampened by high inflation, which is putting unprecedented strain on household budgets – which now stand at 4.9 percent.
It then charges for ‘sub-accounts’ – although the costs vary by country.
The scheme has been rolled out in Chile, where it charges sub-account holders $2.99 per month.
But in Canada, the fee is $7.99 per member – the equivalent of $5.95 in US dollars.
The crackdown has yet to be implemented in the US after the rollout in Spain and Canada led to a drop in subscriptions.
As a result, Netflix postponed the implementation of the new rules in the US from the first quarter of the year to the second.
It means account sharing is expected to be banned in the next three months, though no official date has been given.
About 36 percent of respondents said they planned to cancel their Netflix subscription because of the suppression.
Lauren Bringle, a financial advisor at Self Financial, said: “With inflation still high and popular subscription services, such as Netflix, cracking down on password sharing, it’s more important than ever to keep an eye on the paid subscriptions you have. hold.
Check your paid plans each month to decide which ones you can’t live without, which ones you can delete, and which ones you can swap and change on a regular basis depending on your needs.
“$10.99 a month may not seem like much, but in a year that will be more than $130, which can quickly double or triple if you pay for multiple subscriptions.”