The State Of My Subscriptions In 2023

As a means of follow up to my post in early 2022, I decided to think about my subscriptions yet again. I’d like to say that things are different now, but it seems worse. Every service seems to have changed to a subscription and those that have already seem to be hiking the prices, some by quite a bit!

There have been some adjustments in my usage and also returns of apps I ditched.

Must Haves

Ulysses - still my favourite wiring app, don’t see this going anywhere, perhaps ever.

Adobe - Still don’t pay for it technically, still essential. Nothing will ever replace it, but it costs a fortune. Not interested in replacements.

Brain FM - Never ever giving this up, gets more work done than any other subscription I pay for.

Micro.blog - I was experimenting last year, and this year it's my blog. Love this service.

Day One - Canceled this last year, but I’ve started journaling in a big way, and it has quickly become a must-have.

Changed

Apple one - replaced with the family plan following the price increase. Don’t use News nor Fitness+ so saved £120 a year.

Digital Ocean - Still acts as my playground a little and hosts gregmorris.co.uk, but may ditch this later in the year.

Gone

Pocketcasts - Replaced with Overcast, purely to save a bit of money.

Netflix - Very little on that make the cost worth it any more.

Headspace - Still meditating, but doing it with some Brain FM background noise. The app became a real chore to use and far too busy.

Over the last couple of years I have become really aware of the subscriptions I sign up for and the value they give. I’ve cut around 10 out and saved no end of money. I agree that developers should get the money they deserve but the costs of some really put me off. Glad I did the experiment and cut down my spending.