PeopleImages/istockphoto
Signing up for a subscription seems like a small commitment, but it can be a huge pain and a hit to your wallet. Not only are some pricey, they can renew for much more than you initially wanted to pay — and it's up to you to stay on top of the automatic renewal.
Here are some that Redditors and others found to be worth the money.
While joining your local library is a very low lift (it's free, and some libraries have eliminated fines for late fees), if you haven't been in a while, know that you can check out movies, cake pans, art supplies, art work, and more. It's worth the price (did I mention it was free?).
While this is just $15 a year (the NYT Cooking is $50), anyone who has ever slogged through a recipe they've found on the internet may appreciate this. This Redditor surely does: "It’s an app that lets you copy the URL of online recipes, and then converts them to a clean sheet that’s either usable on your phone or printable. Plus lets you convert measurements, increase or decrease portion size, and make your own edits for the recipe."
Though a lot of Redditors said the gym was a subscription they put to good use, one suggested an upgrade. "Agree with the gym, but raise it to a health club — my insurance offers discounts and I get my membership to Life Time for $99/month… it’s my home away from home. Sometimes I just go lounge in the pool/spa area."
While you can watch YouTube for free, to get rid of the annoying commercial breaks, Redditors recommended springing for the premium service. One person says that "the time saving from ads [being blocked] is definitely worth it."
While the annual fee went up a whopping $5 last year, coughing up $65 to have access to a warehouse of wonders is chump change. And if you don't have room for mammoth toilet paper buys or forty pounds of cat kibble? Hey, what's the trunk of your car doing?
Gyms aren't just for lifting weights — more than one Redditor pointed out that many gyms have free child care for up to one and a half hours and deep discounts for members at the on-site cafe.
While some Redditors suggested a retirement savings account as a joke, it's not a bad idea. Putting $100 a month into an IRA from the age of 25 to 65 can add up to $218,107 or more, depending on the rate of returns. As one Redditor put it, "Pay your (older) self first!"
There were several fans of this comedy streaming service. At only $6 a month, Dropout is one of the cheaper streamers, though one Redditor did recommend people view the site's content on YouTube before signing up for it.
Though there were some complaints about the app design, most found the music recommendations worth the money, especially when it came to rare or little known content.
For gamers, GamePass was lauded for having day one games (access on the first day a game is available for sale) and a huge amount of choices. PlayStation+ and Humble Bundle Choice were also given props.
If you like classic, old movies, this service will be a good investment. As one Redditor noted, "So many good movies waiting to be discovered there. I can pick almost anything in the collection and it’s going to be awesome."
This suggestion is not only a money-saver, it's good for the environment, too. "I am losing weight, and I don't want to pay for clothes that won't fit me in six months. For under $100 a month (less than what I would pay for a good quality dress), I rent six clothing items and then return them at the end of the month. My house isn't cluttered with clothes, and I don't have to waste money buying clothes for all different events."
While some Redditors argued they can get car tow service through their insurance, others were still fans of AAA for the occasional jump. The piece of mind is priceless.
Only one Redditor called this one out, but for junk food fans it sounds like a no-brainer. "If you live in the greater western Philadelphia. region there's a gas station called Sheetz that has a subscription to unlimited french fries for $9.99 a month. You can get a bag size of fries every two hours. They are good french fries, also."
Though AMC A-List also gets kudos, AMC Premiere gets raves for the ease of hitting the $5 in rewards. But you need to be a big fan of seeing movies in the theater to make either plan worthwhile.
While Clear gets a big thumbs down (which I will second), Global Entry includes TSA Precheck, meaning you can whiz through TSA without taking off your shoes. That's definitely worth it.
This actually started a lot of chatter among Redditors. While paying the full price was frowned upon, more than a few people suggested quitting a subscription to get a cheap renewal rate ($4 a month vs. $25 a month). While there was also some debate about funding journalism, you can choose accordingly.
If you live in a cold climate, washing your car in cold weather is more than a cosmetic issue. Getting the road salt off your car can help your vehicle stay road-worthy for years.
While the Redditor suggesting this says it's best to wait until Black Friday to grab it, it's worth waiting. "For about $60 a year you get six accounts, with 1 TB of cloud storage EACH, and the entire Office suite for five PCs and five mobile devices PER ACCOUNT."
The family plan was a selling point for one Redditor (I'm a fan, too). While the free version is great, too, paying a minimal fee makes lessons easier to access. "I've always wanted to learn Swedish but the yearly subscription actually put me off. I share the Family Plan with five others... That gives me the incentive to actually learn that beautiful language." In the U.S., the subscription for six people is $72, making learning a bargain.
For more smart money tips, please sign up for our free newsletters.
