You could be losing money to subscriptions you don't even use. This popular budgeting app can help you cut costs. Getty Images/Rocket Money/Amy Kim/CNET
No one likes losing money, yet many of us are allowing dollars to drain from our bank accounts without realizing it. The average US consumer spends around $200 a year on subscriptions they don't even use, according to a recent CNET study.
It's easy to see why. You sign up for a free trial or service and forget about it, but the subscription provider keeps charging you each month. Since the money is automatically deducted from your account, you don't pay much attention to it. Or maybe you've thought about canceling, but you keep putting it off because you don't want to deal with the hassle.
Whatever the reason, you don't have to let unwanted subscriptions siphon away your hard-earned cash. After hearing numerous podcast ads touting Rocket Money's ability to save me on subscriptions, I decided to test out the budgeting app to see if the hype was warranted. After it saved me $400 in 15 minutes, I'd say it is.
Rocket Money Not only can it help you rein in your spending, but Rocket Money can also help you find and cancel unwanted subscriptions. Details CNET editors choice winner for best budgeting app See at Rocket Money
How Rocket Money slashed $400 from my budget in 15 minutes
Rocket Money is a budgeting app that monitors your income and expenses, helps you set savings goals and tracks your subscriptions in one place, whether you use the free or paid version. It's also CNET's Editors' Choice for best budgeting app. Rocket Money's paid version, which costs $6 to $12 a month, can also find and cancel some subscriptions for you.
You can try this service by navigating to the Recurring tab on the app menu. You'll see subscriptions coming due in the next seven days, ones coming due later and how much you spend on these subscriptions in a year.
The first thing I noticed was that my subscription to HGTV Magazine, which costs $50 for a year, was up for renewal in four days. Given my enormous pile of unread back issues, canceling this subscription was a no-brainer.
Rocket Money gave me two options: The app could cancel this subscription for me or I could call the number they provided to cancel it myself.
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