$72 a month you never decided to spend.
Toggle off anything you would not re-subscribe to today, and look at the yearly number.
- Music streaming$10.99/mo
- Video streaming$18.99/mo
- Second video service$12.99/mo
- Game pass$11.99/mo
- Cloud storage$3.49/mo
- Fitness app free trial (ends soon)$14.99/mo
Subscriptions are designed to be invisible — small, automatic and easy to forget. The yearly number is the honest one.
Recurring charges are designed not to be noticed
Small amounts, automatic renewal, no checkout, no decision. That is not an accident — it is the business model. The defence is equally simple: look at the list on purpose, once, and price it by the year.
- A free trial that requires a card is a subscription with a delay.
- Annual plans are cheaper per month and harder to leave. Both are true.
- Cancelling and re-subscribing later usually costs nothing.
Quick check
Answering every check in this lesson completes it automatically.
Scam or legitimate?
Online spending and online scams arrive through the same screen.
- "Your subscription failed — re-enter your card here" via text link
- A renewal receipt in your email, matching a service you use
- A store selling a $900 console for $180, paid by e-transfer only
- "Congratulations, you won a gift card — just pay shipping"
- An in-app prompt to confirm a price increase before it applies
Ava's card gets charged $14.99
Ava sees a $14.99 charge for a fitness app she signed up for during a free trial two months ago and has not opened since.
Check your understanding
Answering every check in this lesson completes it automatically.
Four rules for spending online
Tap each one.
One more
Answering every check in this lesson completes it automatically.
Price every subscription by the year, and treat urgency as the warning it is.
0 of 3 checks answered