3 Ways To Track Subscription Payments Coming Out Of Your Acc, To Take Better Control Of Ya $$
by By Bianca Davino
It’s easy to throw your bank deets around the internet pretty dang haphazardly.
We don’t blame you – we’re constantly drowned in tailor-made ads to keep you buying and signing up to things you probably don’t even need half the time.
Considering the trail of your bank account deets might be in vast nooks and crannies of the World Wide Web, there could be a whole wealth of subscriptions swiping cash from ya wallet you may have forgotten about, or didn’t even realise were happening.
It’s natural that in the wake of all of *gestures vaguely at the world* we’ve all become a little more suss about where our money is going – and that’s a good thing.
When you’ve got a better sense of where your money is actually going and at what rate, it makes it way easier to budget and recognise when you might have that little extra to play with.
We’re not saying you should throw away anything that may be beneficial to you, but giving your list of subscriptions a bit of a Marie Kondo treatment could save you heaps each month, even if you feel like you’re copping a bargain on a $8/m fee.
So, here’s a few banking no-brainers to help you track how much cash you’re shelling out each month because these things add up.
Really Suss Ya Bank Statement
We know it might be a dream-haunting task, but please, schedule in regular check-ups with your bank statement. Whether it’s fortnightly or monthly, you’ll be able to visualise where all of those random and not-so-random direct debits are going.
Between gym memberships, streaming subscriptions, your phone bill and more, you’ll probably recognise that a good chunk of your paycheck is being spent on things you didn’t even hit the “pay now” button for. So, do some hard thinking and really asses what you do and don’t need.
Instead of forking out $4.99 a month for extra cloud storage, take the time to delete a few videos or, switch to a basic membership on ya fave streaming service and cut off your mooching friends from logging in on their devices.
If you’re absolutely hell-bent on keeping your Creative Cloud subscription in the hopes of becoming a graphic design master or just want to stay organised, create a separate account for your direct debit payments and divide these costs by four, so debits come out in instalments rather than bigger hits.
Companies make it so simple to sign up for their services nowadays, and it’s even easier to forget you’re still signed up – this is about as “stick it to the man” you can get in iso, but getting on top of these payments is a real finger to the machine.
Restrict In-App-Purchases
I know it seems like a rather Boomer mistake to make, but in-app purchases are so easy to get sucked into. Generally, this happens with any app that’ll help you with organisation, meditation or health-tracking of sorts in order to utilise their full services.
Since this is all connected to your Apple ID or GooglePlay account, your Face-ID recognition could have you signing up to an $18/ a month calendar app that provides you with astrological affirmations daily, that you use once in an attempt to better yourself. Head to your settings and switch to always requiring password entry before signing up to any apps to create a barrier before ducking into your wallet.
These in-app purchases are also usually a little trickier to get out of, even if you’ve deleted the app because they’re connected to your Apple ID that’s had your bank deets forever, so do a little extra digging around about how to cancel if you’re serious about saving.
Set Up Debit Notifs On Your Banking App
Watching your money disappear into the ether in real time can either be calming or nauseating.
But, the best way to keep track of ya outgoing cash is to set up notifications every time an outgoing transaction is made. It literally implants the idea of spending into your psyche constantly, keeping you in the know of what’s happening in your bank account all the time.
Banks like Bankwest will literally alert you straight away if any outgoing payments are made.
If you see anything else happening on the sly that you want to be sorted ASAP, you can also freeze your card via their app and, contact them through their 24/7 messaging service, to help you get to the bottom of things sooner rather than later too.
Heaps of subscription services will also hike up their prices without even letting you know, so if you want to suss whether Netflix has pulled a swifty on you in real-time, transaction notifs are the best way to go.
Image: Seinfeld