There’s something you’re paying for that you’re not getting your money’s worth on. You know exactly what it is because it’s the first thing that’s coming to mind as you’re reading this.
Maybe it’s an online service. Or an app. Or a membership. It’s probably a relatively insignificant amount. So small that every month, you sort of notice the charge there again on your credit card statement and then forget it until the next statement comes in.
The company hopes you keep doing just that. Recurring fees add up to a nice profit boost for them. Especially when some customers aren’t fully using the service they’re paying for, or using it at all.
I hope you quit that one thing. Because I believe it could pay out-sized dividends for you. Especially if you let yourself do it without any pressure to turn it into a Big Plan to “quit everything extraneous” on a “one-thing-a-day-for-a-year” schedule (and then write a book about it) or anything like that.
There’s a place for “Go Big,” serious new direction plans. There’s also a problem with them. The problem is that they’re hard to stick with. After a hopeful start, months or years can go by without anything happening in that area at all.
Henry David Thoreau famously wrote in Walden: “Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.” But then he went and lived in the woods. That wasn’t practical for most people in 1854 and it certainly isn’t practical for most people today.
If you can quit one thing and save that $4.95 or $19.95 or $44.95 a month or whatever the amount is, it probably won’t make a huge difference to you financially. If it was a real drain, chances are you would have dealt with it by now.
What you’re looking for is a small win you can feel good about. You’ll have done it. You won’t have to think “I really ought to quit that” anymore.
That success might make you more likely to consider other recurring fee items you’re paying for but not fully using. If you ultimately find a few to quit, the savings actually could start adding up.
It may also make you think twice the next time the chance to join something comes up – reminding you to see if there’s a no-strings-attached, free way to get what you might hope to get from a paid option. Something you won’t have to take the time to quit if you lose interest.
Often there is. Libraries have an impressive variety of resources, online and offline.
So do local businesses. Do you really need that supposedly more convenient auto-delivery or subscription plan item shipped-to-your-house … or could it be just about as convenient and possibly less expensive to find a local store that sells that item and stopping in every now and again to stock up on some?
Knowing all your options might lead to different choices. A friend was one button away from signing up for a highly-rated daily exercise app that cost $14.95 a month. But then an Internet search showed there were multiple free apps offering daily exercises. When she never got around to even downloading a free app, she realized that idea probably wasn’t right for her. In retrospect, she was delighted she hadn’t pushed the “Join now! 30 days free!” button on the fancy, fee-based app.
There are so many interesting and amazing opportunities in our world. But it takes time and effort to take advantage of them. Even if you’re not “frittering your life away,” there’s one thing that’s exactly the same in 2019 as it was in 1854. There are still only 24 hours in a day. Look for quick, easily-achievable ways to streamline – saving some money and some time. Even Henry David Thoreau would approve.
Nick Maffeo is the President & CEO of Canton Co-operative Bank in Canton. “Smart About Money” is a regular column he writes for the Canton Citizen. Have a financial question you’d like to ask? Email to info@cantoncoopbank.com.