Twitter Alternatives and Social Media Changes

[payn]

I recently sat down and ran my annual spending subs ended up accounting for 20% of my annual net income.

You do not own anything with subs and when I analyzed my usage per cost, it was scary how much I was over charging myself.

I could have purchased most of the things from the subs at a fraction of the annual cost.

You could purchase hundreds if not thousands of hours of media cheaper than an annual sub?

 

[Belen]

You could purchase hundreds if not thousands of hours of media cheaper than an annual sub?

I do not use that much, so yes. Buying the shows I actually watch is cheaper.

 

[payn]

I do not use that much, so yes. Buying the shows I actually watch is cheaper.

I believe you are a rare individual in that aspect.

 

[Scribe]

It is a hidden expense for many. Software, streaming, game passes, kindle services, phones….

It is draining wealth at an alarming rate.

Other costs are killing too but I am alarmed by how many items have moved to buy one time to subs.

Unless people are really looking, and watching or the cheques start to bounce (when's the last time I wrote a cheque) yeah people get caught all the time.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Except they also throw Costco and gym memberships into the mix which I don’t feel is especially helpful either.

My analysis of things I buy at CostCo is that with the regularity I use it, it pays for itself. I'll give you gym memberships; its easy to start that one, drift away, and keep telling you you'll come back.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I dont really see it as wealth draining, I actually see it as a really good deal. For example, I could have a monthly sub for music/movies/games that gives me access to unlimited amounts of streaming for the price of like 6 albums/films/games in physical form. Often, I dont have to pay anything, but do have to put up with limited access and commercial interruption. Things have never been cheaper!

The problem isn't a single streaming service. The problem is the people who have four or six. And its easy to fall into that.

Most subscription services are a decent deal if you use them regularly (see my comment about CostCo above), but people will either get more than they can in practice use, or (as the referenced gym membership) start one and not use it. And its not actually hard to fall into.

 

[payn]

My analysis of things I buy at CostCo is that with the regularity I use it, it pays for itself. I'll give you gym memberships; its easy to start that one, drift away, and keep telling you you'll come back.

Yeap, I find a few types of folks that roll with subs. Some, just want it available when it suits them. It just might not suit them all the time. Which is fine if you have the disposable income to let that slide. Others, manage it to need and only sub when using. Likely, one or two always subbed becasue they are always used, and then a litter of on again off again subs. YMMV.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I went through everything: streaming, iPhone payment plans, m365, adobe, music, kindle, DDB, network security, VPN, vehicle apps, game pass, ea play….

It was frightening how many I had that I just did not realize the cumulative cost.

It may not be the same for everyone but my company may be bought out soon so I needed to know what could be cut immediately and…..wow.

Its a question of value efficiency; if you've got a subscription you don't use regularly, the value isn't there. On the other hand, if you're using it constantly, and there's a variety of options, its very unlikely you genuinely could get it cheaper. And of course you've got a couple things on your list that are outright services; there's never been a way to get the equivalent of a network security program of full value or a VPN without a subscription. The only question is how easy is to bail, and if you can pay enough attention to figure out when you stop using them (which to be clear, is a non-trivial bit of temporal overhead for many people).

 

[Thomas Shey]

Yeap, I find a few types of folks that roll with subs. Some, just want it available when it suits them. It just might not suit them all the time. Which is fine if you have the disposable income to let that slide. Others, manage it to need and only sub when using. Likely, one or two always subbed becasue they are always used, and then a litter of on again off again subs. YMMV.

That's what I try to do. Only reason we didn't fall into the gym trap is about the time we were trailing off, COVID happened. I only have essentially three media subscriptions, and they serve different purposes (Disney+, YT and Amazon).

 

[Thomas Shey]

I believe you are a rare individual in that aspect.

Sadly, probably not. People are really prone to buying a subscription during a period when they are (or think they are) going to use a media subscription a lot, then either not doing it or trailing off. And worse, since everything is balkanized, wanting multiple subscriptions and not using any one of them enough to justify the price.