I recently updated my Notion database which I use to track my subscriptions.
I have 42 subscriptions. Subscriptions are for apps (Ulysess, 1Password etc), services (email, Next DNS etc), streaming services (netflix, tidal etc). A number of these services are shared with the family. The most expensive was Apple Premier Plan and the cheapest one is Sleep Cycle (grandfathered into the old plan $2 a year)
Anyway, the total came to USD1306 a year.
Honestly, It felt like a lot of money and even after going through the entire list, there isnāt one thing that I would cancel. Perhaps, Sleep Cycle because I do not use it anymore but it is only $2 a year
Probably depends on what you count as a āsubscriptionā, but I get $1800/yr. I didnāt include Blue Apron, my ISP and other utilities, but did include the cost of my web domains and websites and print magazines.
I got depressed from calculatingā¦that I had to stop calculatingā¦I just hit $2,687/yearā¦and there are still things missing from the list such as Fantastical, Ulysses, Slack, Adobe, Backblaze, Synology C2 and Wasabi that I use for NAS backup services. I think I am going to be sick.
I know this part is a bit extra. I am just always back and forth on the interface and structure. I have playlists in both and I canāt seem them to get a way to sync properly.
Spotify - great for discovering new music, algorithms, etc. My gripe is the way it connects to HomePod speakers, it messes up frequently.
Apple Music - When it comes to ādecadesā genre (70s, 80s, etc), Apple seems to bring up more classical things I grew up hearing and surprised it doesnāt come up in Spotify. However, some of its lists are not dynamic enough, doesnāt discover new music, etc. However, I do like the ability that plays better on HomePod mini
It seems we are in the same boat. however, I am subscribed to Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal and Youtube Music (part of Youtube Premium). My problem is that all these are family accounts and each member of my family is also somewhat undecided so they are using either Spotify or Apple Music. Family plans are extremely sticky.
The answer is too much, then again I am rigid in ending one when I donāt use it enough or find a better alternative (for which I am always on the lookout as I like trying out new stuff).
I do believe for most app developers and content providers, subscriptions are the way to go to achieve a regular income and cash flow.
My counter on that is the value assessment I do before renewal for which I have a separate project in Omnifocus, so I donāt get caught by surprise by an auto-renewal.
For all critical services, I have a backup service and data retrieval/mobility plays a key part in any commitment.
I take lifetime deals when I see them and have had a few great ones: Roon, Vox, pCloud, Hushed and Degoo
Software:
Day One
Fantastical
1Password
Airmail (like the integrations)
Drafts (like the integrations)
Setapp
Adobe Creative Cloud
Microsoft Office 365
Microsoft Windows 365 (best windows on M1)
Carrot Weather
iVPN
Omnifocus/Omnigroup
Overcast
Textexpander
Media:
Amazon Prime (incl
Disney +
Apple ONE (incl. Music, News, iCloud and more)
Netflix
Qobuz (integration with Roon)
RelayFM / MPU
Pressreader (via local Library > great value for magazine reading)
Club MacStories
Cloud:
AWS
MacStadium
Dropbox
3CX
Hover
Squarespace
Backblaze
Gave up:
Evernote (moved to Devonthink)
WeatherNerd (preferred Carrot)
Spotify (overlap with Apple Music which has lossless)
Tidal (overlap with Apple Music lossless)
Various individual magazine subscriptions (following Apple News and Pressreader)
Disney+ - Family
Hulu + - Wife
Netflix - Wife
YNAB - Wife
Productive - Wife
Quicken - Me
Drafts- Me
Apple One - Family
Darkroom - Me
Movie Explorer - Me
Infuse - Me
Scores App - Me
Copyāem - Me
Parcel - Me
Deliveries - Me
Tweetbot - Me
1password - Family
Office 365- Family
On the Chopping block:
Airmail - Unless they have another major update Iām likely done.
Evernote - tried to like it but just donāt trust it
1Blocker - moving to different security platform
History Vault - Wife
Tidal - Me
Fantastical/Cardhop - Me
Likely future Subs:
Readwise
Untangle NG Firewall
Craft
The Helm - Personal Secure Mailserver
Day One
Micro.blog or Ghost
Roon
this looks intriguingā¦will be keen to see how well it works.
Curious, why you are subscribed to both parcel and deliveries? I previously used Deliveries but despite switching to a subscription model, their updates have been slow. Parcel on the other hand has been rocking it and the amazon integration is awesome.
Iāve seen the same with Parcel vs Deliveries. Deliveries is a beautiful app but I keep going back to what someone said on these boards which was along the line of āwhat apps increased their updates significantly after going subscription?ā
Deliveries is a prime example of the pricing model changing but not the frequency and quality of the updates IMO. Iāll probably cancel my Deliveries subā¦itās truly redundant. Parcels to me is superior in notification speed and features.
I hope to order my Helm in a month or so and hope I donāt have to wait the full 8 weeks for delivery. Iām trying to decloudify. Getting a Synology or QNAP this year to start consolidating files to RAID-5 storage.
Iām glad you hipped me to Next DNS. Iām also going to investigate tools like Cloudflare etc to tighten up my security.
Mine is about $1903.40. Would have been more expensive if I live in the US since most of this has regional pricing and my sister shares her HBO Max, Hulu and Disney+ account. Iām SHOOKT just seeing how much I spent on productivity and entertainment. Biggest expense is 3 Squarespace website.
I think Iām going to steer away from calculating how much I spent on Switch games and physical books from 2021.
