‘You end up wasting a lot of money’: From Netflix to toilet paper, Americans love subscriptions — but 30% are spending much more than they realize

The average American currently carries an average of 5.2 subscriptions and spends about $69 a month — roughly $830 a year — on them, according to Bango. But many people underestimate — or are simply not aware of — exactly how much they’re actually paying.

In fact, one analysis found nearly 30% of consumers often believe they’re spending less than $100 a month when their true subscription costs can exceed $200. Over time, those small recurring charges can quietly eat away at a household budget.

And subscriptions aren’t just for entertainment anymore. These days, you can subscribe to everything from meal kits and razor blades to pet food, coffee and even toilet paper.

That’s part of what makes them so easy to overlook. A $9.99 charge here and a $14.99 charge there rarely feels like a financial decision worth thinking twice about. But after months — or years — of automatic renewals, those seemingly small expenses can add up to hundreds of dollars that might otherwise have stayed in your pocket.

Why subscriptions seem to be everywhere

It’s not hard to see why subscriptions have become the business model of choice.

Instead of hoping customers come back and make another purchase, companies get a steady stream of revenue landing in their accounts every month. That’s good for cash flow, good for forecasting and often good for investors, who tend to like businesses with predictable income.

For consumers, the benefits of subscriptions are in their convenience. Sign up once, save a little money and never worry about running out of whatever you’re buying. But those deals don’t always work out the way people expect.

“I don’t think there’s a single thing you can sign up for at this point that isn’t trying to give you a subscription,” Shonit Kaluri, a lender for a healthcare-focused bank, told The New York Times. “You end up wasting a lot of money through subscriptions because you think you’ll save money up front.”

And it’s no longer just Netflix, Spotify and other digital services competing for a spot on your monthly credit card statement.

Even toilet paper has joined the subscription economy. According to Market Reports World, nearly a quarter of global toilet paper sales now happen through e-commerce channels, with recurring delivery programs growing in popularity among shoppers who value convenience.

The catch is that what feels like a smart, money-saving decision at checkout can quickly become another monthly charge that you potentially stop noticing. Once it’s on autopay, it’s easy for it to fade into the background, even if you’re no longer getting much value from it.

Getting rid of subscriptions isn’t always easy, either. Under the Biden administration, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a “click-to-cancel” rule that would have required companies to make canceling a membership as simple as signing up for one. But a federal appeals court blocked the rule over procedural issues.

For now, many consumers are still stuck navigating cancellation pages, retention offers and customer-service runarounds just to stop a recurring charge — assuming they haven’t forgotten all about the charge to begin with.

How to get rid of unwanted subscriptions

If your monthly subscriptions have started to feel a bit out of hand, you’re not alone. The good news is that a quick cleanup can free up more money than you’d expect.

Start with a simple subscription audit: Pull up your bank and credit card statements from the last few months and go line by line. You’re looking for anything that repeats — monthly, yearly, even those once-a-year charges that are easy to forget about until they show up again.

Cancel properly, not halfway: It’s not enough to just delete an app or remove a card. You usually have to go into the account itself and actually hit cancel. It’s worth keeping the confirmation email or screenshot, just in case.

Don’t forget the “hidden” stuff: A lot of subscriptions live in places many people don’t think to check, like mobile app stores and digital wallets.