Posted in Essay — 04 Jan 2022

Subscription Creep

After some <a href="https://maique.eu/2022/01/03/subscriptions.html">inspiration from Maique</a> I thought I would take stock of things going out of my account. I am a sucker for trying out new apps and services, often forgetting to cancel them before the free trial expires. So, I got out my bank statements and checked my subscriptions page and made some adjustments.<h2 id="must-haves">Must Haves</h2><a href="https://www.apple.com/uk/apple-one/">Apple One</a> - We as a familly get a ton of value out of one subscription for £29.99. 2 TB of storage for photos, Apple Music for all of us, and we use Apple Fitness quit a lot too.<a href="https://www.headspace.com">Headspace</a> - we have been subscribing as a family for about 3 years now, and the £75 a year we pay is a bargain.<a href="https://ulysses.app">Ulysses</a> - My writing app of choice, and I’ve tried them all!<a href="https://www.pocketcasts.com">Pocketcasts</a> - I want to use something that has clip sharing in, but Pocketcasts is the perfect app for me. I have built up quite a few smart playlists, and the £9.99 a year for Apple Watch streaming, and other benefits is a bargain.<a href="https://www.adobe.com">Adobe</a> - I technically don’t pay for this, the business does, but it's the lifeblood of everything I do. Expensive but so worth it.<a href="https://www.netflix.com/gb/">Netflix</a> - Love it, watch loads of it for everything from documentaries to rubbish TV when I want to unwind.<a href="https://www.brain.fm">Brain FM</a> - Essential and <a href="https://gregmorris.co.uk/blog/brain-fm-always-playing/">my most used media app</a>. Lifetime subscriber, so I suppose doesn’t count as a cost any more.<a href="https://www.hover.com">Hover</a> - When I bought my domains and see little reason to move. No longer pay them for email services (done by iCloud) so the cost is minimal.<a href="https://www.digitalocean.com">Digital Ocean</a> - Tiny price (£10pm) for my blog and a few other bits that I run myself.<a href="https://micro.blog">Micro.blog</a> - Experimenting again with sharing smaller posts here, and for the minimal price it's a good service. <a href="https://micro.gregmorris.co.uk">Built a page that looks like my blog</a> and will see how it goes.<h2 id="gone">Gone</h2><a href="https://1password.com">1Password</a> - After a few years being a faithful subscriber, Apple Passwords now provides everything I need. So, I won't be renewing at the end of this month.<a href="https://glass.photo">Glass</a> - Technically still a subscriber, but I <a href="https://gregmorris.co.uk/blog/glass-feelings/">don’t use the app any more</a> and won’t be renewing in September when it is due.<a href="https://www.hey.com">Hey</a> - Nothing wrong with the app and service, just don’t want to give the company any money.<a href="https://getdrafts.com">Drafts</a> - Tried to get back into this recently, can’t find a use for it that I can’t do with Shortcuts.<a href="https://dayoneapp.com">Day One</a> - Can’t get into this whole journalling thing and if I did I don’t think I require another app to do it in. Some people seem to love it.I feel pretty good about the amount I have cut down in the last year or so. With more and most service being rolled out by iOS recently, I have saved a packet. So, I don’t feel so bad giving them £30 pm for Apple One.Most if the subscriptions I do pay are family plans paid annually, so they work out much cheeper and much better value with 5 of us using it.