WebUser – 21 August 2019

Bean helps you save lots of beans by
cancellingsubscriptionsyou can’t afford

‘Cancel’ your Netflix membership if you

wantto stoppaying for a few months

Switch to a monthlyPrime membership

beforeChristmas – then cancelit!

EE customers can claim asix-month ‘free’

subscription to Apple Music

TrackMySubs lets you manageup to 10
subscriptionswithout adding yet another

Slash the cost of subscriptions

Discuss online subscriptionsatwww.facebook.com/webusermagazine 21 Aug - 3 Sept 2019 49

The best option for UK subscribers is
Bean (usebean.com), which connects
with your bank or credit card account
(using 256-bit encryption and read-only
access) to analyse transactions from the
past12 months and identify recurrin g
payments. If you then opt to cancel an
unwanted subscription, Bean contacts
the company on your behalf. It also
alerts you to upcomingpayments, price
changes and contract renewals, and
offers free Android and iOS apps. Bean
makes money by recommending
services from its partners, but you can
opt out of receiving these.
If you’re nervous about granting a
third-party tool access to your bank,
TrackMySubs (www.tra ckmysubs.com)

lets you compile a list of all your

subscriptions, including details of their

cost, freq uencyand auto-renewal, to

receive email reminderswhen they’r e

due and view the total amount you’re

forking out. TrackMySubs isfree to use

for up to 10 subscriptions (with no need

to enter any card details), and from $5

(£4.10) per month for more.

Alternativ ely, you can manageyour

monthly payments from your mobile

device using an app such as Subby for

Android (bit.ly/subby482) or Bobby for

iOS (bit.ly/bobby482).

Downgradeyour

subscription plan

R

atherthanditchinga service

completely, you canoften save

mone y by downgrad ing yourplan to

one thatbettersuitsyourneeds.For

example,ifyou listento Spotify

Premium only occasionally and aren’t

bothered by ads, offlin e playback or

unlimitedsk ips, you canstillstrea m 50

milliontr acks(aside from certain new

releases), and save £9.99a month,by

movingto its freetier. Seebit.ly/

spotify482for deta ils.

Netflix recently incr eased the cost of

all its plans except the Basic, £5.99-per-

month subscription, but if you only

stream to one screen at a ti me and don’t

mind standard-definition quality, you

can save £36 a year by switchin g to

Basic from the Standard plan, or £72

from Premium. Alternativ ely, if you’re

going on holiday or have watched

everythingyou want to see for the ti me

being, Netflix lets you suspend your

subscription by going into your account

settings and clicking Cancel

Membership. You won’t be billed until

you resume streaming, and your viewing

preferences will be saved for 10 months.

If your £79 annual Amazon Prime fee

is looming, consider changingto the

£7.99-per-month plan, then cancel ling

after a few months – preferably just

after Christmas! You can do this by

visi ting your ManagingYour Prime

Membership page (bit.ly/prime482) and

choosing the Monthly payment option.

Amazon will tell you when your new

subscription begins (and your annual

one ends), but rememberthat if you

forg et to cancel , you’ll end up paying a

total of £95.88in a year.

Subscribethrough

a mobile contract

R

atherthanpayingseparately

for yourphone co ntractand a

streamingservice,shop aroundfor a

dealtha t co mbines the two.Many UK

mobileprovidersoffer plansthat

includea ‘free’subs criptionto Spotify,

AppleMusic, Prim e Video,Netflix orBT

Sport,althou ghthere’ s usua lly a catch.

Thiscould bethatthe freetrial expires

after a few months, islimited to

high-data tariffs orisavailableonlyto

new custom ers. Still, ifyou’rethinking

of shopping aroundfor a new co ntract,

it’s wo rth seei ngwhat ’s onoffer.

Ifyou watch all yourTVonNetflix,

Now TVand Prim e Video thes e days,

and only use the ITV Hub and All 4

catch-up services, you can

save £154.50 a yearby

cancellingyourTVlicence.

However, you stillneed a

licence to watch anything

onBBC iPlayer, live TVon

any channelor service,and

programmes you recordat

the timeof broadcas t.This

appliesto any device,

including yourphone,

tabl et, games co nsoleor

CANCEL YOUR TV LICENCE

set-top box suchasSky+ orVi rginTV

V6. Seethe TVLicensing we bsite for

moreinfo(www.tvl icensing.co.uk).