I was listing to one of my go to radio shows. It’s on satellite radio, called Urban View, ‘The Karen Hunter Show’. A subscription based radio. She’s a writer so I hope she never critics this. The host was talking about all the platforms their currently watching different shows on. You know the list; Netflix, Hulu, Prime video, Paramount, on and on…. I was thinking while she was naming all these episodes she was suggesting to watch, that I don’t really want to pay to listen to you! They have value that comes from different segments of their show. But, lets be honest, I could probably get it somewhere else for free. But, I’m not!
The world is changing to a subscription based society. On one hand that’s good so you can keep up with people or topics you are interested in. However, it seems like those people and interest will want you to pay for a subscription at some point. I’m all for a profit being had, but it doesn’t seem feasible to keep up with the trending topics if you can’t keep up with so many platforms that you have to pay for in order to participate. I remember not to long ago thinking satellite tv and cable were outrageously expensive, then their were upgrades to that! Now we get a choice in what platform we want to pay for at a lower cost, yay! Except it’s still not fair. Don’t be a Dwayne ‘Rock’, Kevin Hart, Jason Statham, Collin Ferrell, or countless others fan. You will need all the platforms to keep up with their shows or movies! For the average person this is not sustainable for good finances.
Now, I’m going to try not to go into a rant on why we watch to many videos on all the platforms. How we put more effort in watching cat videos and cooking shows while we stopped doing our own hobbies and actually cooking! I’m not pointing fingers, I’m in the same boat. I watched so many home fixer upper shows and wonder why my house still needs fixing up!
I want to say, how i think it’s ironic how many things we can be sold as easy payments, only xyz a month. Yet none of those places are telling you how to afford those things! And, of course, we fell for we need it same day or next day on top of cereal being delivered automatically. Yes, we may be taking the steps to order or go pick up something from the store more convenient, but this stuff can truly add up for the average American family, making you a dependent slave to these wants!
Try it out! Go add all your automatic payments and see what your yearly budget on it is. Add all your prime, +’s, entertainment platforms. Don’t worry, I’ll wait… Most people wont do it because it’ll make you sick! I worked hard and slaved for all these billion dollar companies! Yup, you did! And all they did was make a bite size way to eat at your budget. The bright side is the wall street investors are happy… hope our consumer selves are too? Studies show we are less happy every year, yet we have more conveniences today than ever before in history. But guess what, there’s a higher price to be paid for convenience! Go by the exact same milk at a corner store rather than grocery store. You would think their robbing you without a gun! All they had to do was make it easy ( market it on the corner ) for you to hand your dollars over. Once in a while, ok. Weekly habit, crippling to our financial goals. We not even going to talk about the car payments and fast food addictions in this post!
Now, I’m not against many subscriptions. However, I think it needs to be put in a priority based mindset. What do I need and what’s just wasting my time. If Prime or Walmart plus are helping you save time on getting groceries, I think that’s great. I don’t think you need both. You may say, but I get free shipping on both. To that, I will let you know, I do not have prime and I get free shipping! Some people forgot that was even a thing. Yes, as of the writing of this article, if you spend $45 dollars or more on eligible items, you get free shipping. In todays money, that’s not hard. In my family of five I always need toilet paper. And, if I’m not going to reach $45 or because I’m not going to get it next day, I drive my butt to the nearest store and pick it up. How many times have you not planned ahead for stuff you need? I don’t think many, so not worth the extra money. Also, be conscious that these companies play the long game. Money you may not have spent normally feels better if you think you are getting over on them. That’s why banks own most of the skyscrapers down town, peoples interest payments, mainly from credit cards. Not because you saved all those airline miles. Why is Amazon’s warehouses growing so rapidly in the big cities? It’s not because there loosing out on that little prime fee. It’s because they found it easier for people to spend more and get more of something if they don’t go get it themselves.
In conclusion, only you can evaluate if subscriptions are hindering you from achieving your financial goals. Maybe you save a lot ( at least 15% ) despite these things or make way above the average American wage and this doesn’t appear on your concern list ( I hope to join you soon ). It is wise to be a good steward of what we have because we can’t always control what comes in, but we can control a lot of what’s going out!
Average Joe Chronicles 