For example, if home maintenance and housing expenses are on the upswing, simplifying your budget by moving into an independent living community like LifeStream at Glendale may go a long way toward bringing your finances in order. Selling a car you no longer use or leveraging senior discounts for travel and entertainment can also help you find big cost savings.

But stewarding your retirement resources isn't only about large savings. Small spending can add up over time, especially automated payments related to subscriptions. Find out more about how subscription services impact your monthly spending and how you can apply a keep, cancel or pause approach for savings.

What Are Subscriptions?

Subscriptions refer to any good or service you receive on repeat and pay for periodically. Decades ago, subscriptions mostly related to things you received in the mail, like magazines or monthly wine boxes. Today, subscriptions can include:

• Streaming services, like Netflix, Disney+ and Paramount+
• Music platforms like Spotify, Pandora and Apple Music
• News and magazines, both digital and paper, like The New York Times and The Washington Post
• Meal kit deliveries, like HelloFresh and Blue Apron
• Book subscriptions, like Kindle Unlimited and Audible
• Subscription goods boxes, like FabFitFun, Dollar Shave Club, Birchbox and book boxes
• Medication delivery programs, like CVS CarePass
• Travel and roadside assistance memberships, like AAA
• Cloud storage services, like Google Drive and Dropbox
• Fitness and wellness apps, like Calm and MyFitnessPal
• Online learning platforms, like MasterClass
• Software subscriptions, like Microsoft 365 or Adobe Creative Cloud

That list may look overwhelming, but the kicker is that it's far from complete. It seems like every app or digital content provider out there is pushing a subscription service.

The Slippery Slope of Auto Renewals and Payments

The sheer number of subscriptions available creates the risk of a slippery slope that leaves you paying hundreds per month you didn't mean to.

Years ago, mail-based subscriptions like magazines tended to come with paper invoices. Once a year — or whenever your current subscription was about to expire — you received a reminder in the mail to renew and pay. This created a point where you could evaluate the subscription, decide whether it was worth your money and choose to pay for it again (or not).

Today, most subscriptions operate with auto-renewals and automatic payments. You sign up once, offer up your credit or debit card and the service hits you for a monthly, quarterly or annual fee with nary a reminder. Some providers send emails, but those can be lost in promotional inboxes or spam folders.

With so many subscriptions to manage, people of all ages find it difficult to keep up with the charges. And with rising prices, subscription payments add up fast. Average costs range from $5 to $25 a month, so you don't need many to end up spending $100 a month, which is $1,200 or more a year. For older adults on fixed incomes, unnecessary spending like that can make budgeting more difficult.

How to Find All Your Subscriptions

That's not to say subscriptions are a bad thing. If you're reading half a dozen books or more through your $12 Kindle Unlimited subscription every month, that's a good value. However, to ensure you're not throwing good money after unnecessary subscriptions, it's a good idea to do an inventory periodically.

Follow these steps to find all your subscriptions:

• Gather a list of all your payment methods. This includes bank accounts, credit cards and payment apps like PayPal or Venmo.
• Review a month of activity. Look at your statements or payment activity. Write down every payment made to a subscription service.
• Review more statements if needed. Reviewing a month of activity lets you find all monthly subscription payments. You'll need to look at more statements if you think you have annual or quarterly subscription payments.

Keep, Cancel or Pause?

You've probably heard of decluttering. During this practice, people divide their physical belongings into piles: Keep, Sale, Donate and Trash. You can do the same with your subscriptions, deciding whether to keep them, cancel them or pause them.

Keep Subscriptions You Enjoy and That Provide Value

If a subscription truly enhances your daily life and you use it often, it may be worth keeping. For example, if you rely on a medication delivery service to support your wellness or a productivity app to keep you organized, you get real value from those purchases. Taking time to honestly evaluate whether you're actively using and like what you're paying for can help you categorize subscriptions.

Cancel Subscriptions You Don't Use or That Are Too Expensive

If you haven't logged into a streaming service in months or you're paying premium prices for something you can get free somewhere else, it's probably time to cancel your subscription. Eliminating one $10 subscription frees up $120 a year that you can use on necessary expenses or something you'd actually enjoy.

Pause Subscriptions If You're Not Sure

Some services let you pause instead of cancel, which is a helpful option if you’re on the fence. Use this option if you're not sure you're getting the value you need. Put a follow-up reminder on your calendar for 1 or 2 months from now so you can evaluate whether you want the subscription or didn't need it after all. Then, you can reinstate it or cancel it.

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