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CNET
3 days ago
- Business
- CNET
Does Rocket Money Work? I'm Convinced After Saving $400 in Subscription Costs
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. I chose to have them do it for me. The app asked for some basic information, including my name, billing address and the reason I wanted to cancel, then confirmed that it was working on it. The process was fairly painless but I have one complaint. I didn't know until after I'd submitted my cancellation request that it could take two to seven days for Rocket Money to complete the cancellation -- I found out from the pop-up confirmation I received after submitting. Fortunately, I was able to respond quickly to the email confirmation Rocket sent me and I received a response within minutes from a customer support rep who said they'd fast-track my cancellation. The next business day, my subscription was canceled. I was hooked. What else was I spending money on without realizing it? I reviewed my other subscriptions and identified a handful I no longer needed: HP Instant Ink: $4.34 a month (for a printer I don't even have anymore) $4.34 a month (for a printer I don't even have anymore) New York Times Digital: $4 a month (the number of free articles I get is usually enough for me) $4 a month (the number of free articles I get is usually enough for me) Wall Street Journal: $4 a month (same as above) $4 a month (same as above) Pandora: $10 a month (a recent switch to Amazon Prime Unlimited made this service unnecessary) $10 a month (a recent switch to Amazon Prime Unlimited made this service unnecessary) Spotify: $10 a month (same as above) I'll admit I barely noticed these small amounts when they hit my bank account each month. I'd grouped them under "Miscellaneous" in my budget and never really thought about them because that category tended to stay within my spending goals. But viewing them all grouped together, it was easy to see how quickly they could drain my budget. By canceling these subscriptions, I saved myself $32.32 a month going forward, for a total annual savings of $387.84. Add that to the savings on my HGTV Magazine subscription and that's an extra $437.81 in my pocket annually. Better yet, even though I'd only installed the app a few months earlier, Rocket Money pulled in subscriptions from years past, allowing me to catch ones that were coming due even though I hadn't paid for them since installing the app. In total, reviewing my subscriptions and having Rocket Money cancel six of them took me about 15 minutes. Not bad to get more than $400 in savings. You can also save on subscriptions with Rocket's free version Rocket Money's free version only shows subscriptions -- it won't cancel them for you. To access the cancellation service, you'll need the paid version, which costs $6 to $12 a month. You choose your amount, and you'll enjoy the same features regardless of how much you pay. If you don't want to pay extra for the convenience of having Rocket cancel your subscriptions for you, you could just as easily use the free version to identify your subscriptions and then cancel them yourself. You can also try using Rocket's bill negotiation service, which can help lower your monthly costs, but you'll pay 35% to 60% of your first year's savings if it's able to save you money. Other ways to cut subscription costs I used Rocket Money to trim my subscription costs because it's the budgeting app I regularly use anyway. I'd rather save a few minutes, especially if it doesn't cost me anything extra. But you can always cancel your subscriptions yourself by calling a customer service line or logging into your online account. These tips can also help you maximize your savings: Note your renewal dates. Whenever you sign up for a new service, note when it's due to renew. Then, set a reminder on your calendar for the week before so you can decide if it's worth renewing and cancel if not. If you sign up for a free trial, use a virtual card to make canceling a breeze. Review your budget regularly. Going over your budget weekly can help you spot subscription charges that have already hit your account and cancel them before they cost you more. But don't just take a cursory glance. Look at each transaction, even the minor ones. I was keeping a general eye on my spending, but I wasn't always doing it line by line to evaluate if each expense was truly worth it. Rotate your streaming services. You can only watch so much content in a month. One of the easiest ways I've found to keep my subscription costs down is to only subscribe to one streaming service at a time. For example, when one of the shows I love dropped its new season on Netflix, I canceled my Hulu and signed up for a month of Netflix. I watched everything that interested me on Netflix before the month was up, then I canceled it and moved on to another service. Take advantage of complimentary subscriptions. Some subscriptions give you free access to other services. For instance, Walmart Plus members get a free Paramount Plus subscription. Amazon Prime membership comes with perks like a free Amazon Music subscription and a free year of Grubhub Plus. Take a look at your existing subscriptions to see if they offer any free perks you can take advantage of. Visit your local library. Many library systems offer free access to newspapers, magazines and movies and TV series on DVD. Check out your local library to see what you can enjoy for free.
Qatar Tribune
19-07-2025
- Business
- Qatar Tribune
Tech tip: ‘Click-to-cancel' is over, but there are other ways to unsubscribe
Agencies A 'click-to-cancel' rule, which would have made it easier for consumers to end unwanted subscriptions, has been blocked by a U.S., federal appeals court days before it was set to go into effect. But there are ways to end those subscriptions and memberships, even if they take some work. The rule would also have required companies to disclose when free trials and promotional offers would end and let customers cancel recurring subscriptions as easily as they started them. But even without the new federal guidance, here are some ways to stay on top of subscription and membership fees. Experts at the Consumer Federation of America recommend setting calendar reminders for whenever a free trial period ends, to alert yourself to cancel promotional offers before the real recurring costs kick in. The auto-enrollment process, in which the company does not remind the consumer via email that a trial is about to end and higher monthly payments will begin, was also at the heart of the FTC's rule. 'No subscription business model should be structured to profit from a gauntlet-style cancellation process,' said Erin Witte, Director of Consumer Protection for the Consumer Federation of America, in a statement on the click-to-cancel rule. Regularly reviewing your credit card and debit card bills can also help you keep track of any recurring charges — including price increases you may have missed or that you didn't anticipate when trying out a new membership or subscription. 'Companies make it easy for consumers to click to sign up and easy for the companies to automatically withdraw funds from consumers' accounts,' said Shennan Kavanagh, Director of Litigation at the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) in a statement on the FTC's click-to-cancel rule. 'People should not (have to) spend months trying to cancel unwanted subscriptions.' Given the FTC's vacated rule, though, companies may still legally require that customers cancel memberships or subscriptions by phone, even as they permit signing up, enrolling, and paying bills online. Consumer advocates say this places an extra burden of time and energy on the consumer to stop an unwanted recurring fee, but sometimes knowing the terms of the subscription and getting on the phone is worth the trouble. Apps like Rocket Money and services like Trim, which is accessed through a browser, can keep track of your recurring monthly fees and subscriptions, for free — or for a fee — and can help you catch new ones or even unsubscribe from some services. For parents, especially, a service like Trim could help inform them that a child has started a new subscription, game or membership before the fees recur. And Rocket Money will actively work to end unwanted subscriptions for you, for a monthly price. If the company can't successfully end or cancel the subscription or membership, it will give the customer the information needed to do so. Trim also provides this service, in its premium form, for an additional fee. The FTC is currently moving forward with preparations for a trial involving Amazon's Prime program, which accuses the retailer of enrolling consumers in its Prime program without their consent and making it difficult to cancel subscriptions. Often, when a consumer tries to cancel a subscription for something like Prime, which offers free delivery and streaming video, the company will offer a month or more of the subscription at a promotional rate — half off, or at other, better-seeming values, to entice a customer to stay. Staying strong in the face of what may appear to be a good deal can help you stop recurring monthly fees before you forget to cancel them again. Agreeing to yet another trial or promotional rate, which is another on-ramp to auto-enrollment, just continues the cycle, according to consumer advocates. The FTC's rule would have required businesses to obtain a customer's consent before charging for memberships, auto-renewals and programs linked to free trials. The businesses would have also had to disclose when free trials and promotional offers would end. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said this week that the FTC made a procedural error by failing to come up with a preliminary regulatory analysis, which is required for rules whose annual impact on the U.S. economy is more than $100 million. The FTC said that it did not have to come up with a preliminary regulatory analysis because it initially determined that the rule's impact on the national economy would be less than $100 million. An administrative law judge decided that the economic impact would be more than the $100 million threshold, and the court decided to vacate the rule. Former President Joe Biden's administration had included the FTC's proposal as part of its 'Time is Money' initiative, which aimed to crack down on consumer-related hassles.
Japan Today
18-07-2025
- Business
- Japan Today
Tech tip: 'Click-to-cancel' is over, but there are other ways to unsubscribe
FILE - The logos for streaming services Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus and Sling TV are pictured on a remote control on Aug. 13, 2020, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File) By CORA LEWIS A 'click-to-cancel' rule, which would have made it easier for consumers to end unwanted subscriptions, has been blocked by a U.S., federal appeals court days before it was set to go into effect. But there are ways to end those subscriptions and memberships, even if they take some work. The rule would also have required companies to disclose when free trials and promotional offers would end and let customers cancel recurring subscriptions as easily as they started them. But even without the new federal guidance, here are some ways to stay on top of subscription and membership fees. Experts at the Consumer Federation of America recommend setting calendar reminders for whenever a free trial period ends, to alert yourself to cancel promotional offers before the real recurring costs kick in. The auto-enrollment process, in which the company does not remind the consumer via email that a trial is about to end and higher monthly payments will begin, was also at the heart of the FTC's rule. 'No subscription business model should be structured to profit from a gauntlet-style cancellation process," said Erin Witte, Director of Consumer Protection for the Consumer Federation of America, in a statement on the click-to-cancel rule. Regularly reviewing your credit card and debit card bills can also help you keep track of any recurring charges — including price increases you may have missed or that you didn't anticipate when trying out a new membership or subscription. 'Companies make it easy for consumers to click to sign up and easy for the companies to automatically withdraw funds from consumers' accounts,' said Shennan Kavanagh, Director of Litigation at the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) in a statement on the FTC's click-to-cancel rule. 'People should not (have to) spend months trying to cancel unwanted subscriptions.' Given the FTC's vacated rule, though, companies may still legally require that customers cancel memberships or subscriptions by phone, even as they permit signing up, enrolling, and paying bills online. Consumer advocates say this places an extra burden of time and energy on the consumer to stop an unwanted recurring fee, but sometimes knowing the terms of the subscription and getting on the phone is worth the trouble. Apps like Rocket Money and services like Trim, which is accessed through a browser, can keep track of your recurring monthly fees and subscriptions, for free — or for a fee — and can help you catch new ones or even unsubscribe from some services. For parents, especially, a service like Trim could help inform them that a child has started a new subscription, game or membership before the fees recur. And Rocket Money will actively work to end unwanted subscriptions for you, for a monthly price. If the company can't successfully end or cancel the subscription or membership, it will give the customer the information needed to do so. Trim also provides this service, in its premium form, for an additional fee. The FTC is currently moving forward with preparations for a trial involving Amazon's Prime program, which accuses the retailer of enrolling consumers in its Prime program without their consent and making it difficult to cancel subscriptions. Often, when a consumer tries to cancel a subscription for something like Prime, which offers free delivery and streaming video, the company will offer a month or more of the subscription at a promotional rate — half off, or at other, better-seeming values, to entice a customer to stay. Staying strong in the face of what may appear to be a good deal can help you stop recurring monthly fees before you forget to cancel them again. Agreeing to yet another trial or promotional rate, which is another on-ramp to auto-enrollment, just continues the cycle, according to consumer advocates. The FTC's rule would have required businesses to obtain a customer's consent before charging for memberships, auto-renewals and programs linked to free trials. The businesses would have also had to disclose when free trials and promotional offers would end. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said this week that the FTC made a procedural error by failing to come up with a preliminary regulatory analysis, which is required for rules whose annual impact on the U.S. economy is more than $100 million. The FTC said that it did not have to come up with a preliminary regulatory analysis because it initially determined that the rule's impact on the national economy would be less than $100 million. An administrative law judge decided that the economic impact would be more than the $100 million threshold, and the court decided to vacate the rule. Former President Joe Biden's administration had included the FTC's proposal as part of its 'Time is Money' initiative, which aimed to crack down on consumer-related hassles. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Los Angeles Times
18-07-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
‘Click-to-cancel' is over, but there are other ways to unsubscribe
A 'click-to-cancel' rule, which would have made it easier for consumers to end unwanted subscriptions, has been blocked by a federal appeals court days before it was set to go into effect. But there are ways to end those subscriptions and memberships, even if they take some work. The rule would also have required companies to disclose when free trials and promotional offers would end and let customers cancel recurring subscriptions as easily as they started them. But even without the new federal guidance, here are some ways to stay on top of subscription and membership fees. Experts at the Consumer Federation of America recommend setting calendar reminders for whenever a free trial period ends, to alert yourself to cancel promotional offers before the real recurring costs kick in. The auto-enrollment process, in which the company does not remind the consumer via email that a trial is about to end and higher monthly payments will begin, was also at the heart of the FTC's rule. 'No subscription business model should be structured to profit from a gauntlet-style cancellation process,' said Erin Witte, Director of Consumer Protection for the Consumer Federation of America, in a statement on the click-to-cancel rule. Regularly reviewing your credit card and debit card bills can also help you keep track of any recurring charges — including price increases you may have missed or that you didn't anticipate when trying out a new membership or subscription. 'Companies make it easy for consumers to click to sign up and easy for the companies to automatically withdraw funds from consumers' accounts,' said Shennan Kavanagh, Director of Litigation at the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) in a statement on the FTC's click-to-cancel rule. 'People should not (have to) spend months trying to cancel unwanted subscriptions.' Given the FTC's vacated rule, though, companies may still legally require that customers cancel memberships or subscriptions by phone, even as they permit signing up, enrolling, and paying bills online. Consumer advocates say this places an extra burden of time and energy on the consumer to stop an unwanted recurring fee, but sometimes knowing the terms of the subscription and getting on the phone is worth the trouble. Apps like Rocket Money and services like Trim, which is accessed through a browser, can keep track of your recurring monthly fees and subscriptions, for free — or for a fee — and can help you catch new ones or even unsubscribe from some services. For parents, especially, a service like Trim could help inform them that a child has started a new subscription, game or membership before the fees recur. And Rocket Money will actively work to end unwanted subscriptions for you, for a monthly price. If the company can't successfully end or cancel the subscription or membership, it will give the customer the information needed to do so. Trim also provides this service, in its premium form, for an additional fee. The FTC is currently moving forward with preparations for a trial involving Amazon's Prime program, which accuses the retailer of enrolling consumers in its Prime program without their consent and making it difficult to cancel subscriptions. Often, when a consumer tries to cancel a subscription for something like Prime, which offers free delivery and streaming video, the company will offer a month or more of the subscription at a promotional rate — half off, or at other, better-seeming values, to entice a customer to stay. Staying strong in the face of what may appear to be a good deal can help you stop recurring monthly fees before you forget to cancel them again. Agreeing to yet another trial or promotional rate, which is another on-ramp to auto-enrollment, just continues the cycle, according to consumer advocates. The FTC's rule would have required businesses to obtain a customer's consent before charging for memberships, auto-renewals and programs linked to free trials. The businesses would have also had to disclose when free trials and promotional offers would end. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said this week that the FTC made a procedural error by failing to come up with a preliminary regulatory analysis, which is required for rules whose annual impact on the U.S. economy is more than $100 million. The FTC said that it did not have to come up with a preliminary regulatory analysis because it initially determined that the rule's impact on the national economy would be less than $100 million. An administrative law judge decided that the economic impact would be more than the $100 million threshold, and the court decided to vacate the rule. Former President Joe Biden's administration had included the FTC's proposal as part of its 'Time is Money' initiative, which aimed to crack down on consumer-related hassles. Lewis writes for the Associated Press.
CNET
15-07-2025
- Business
- CNET
Subscriptions Could Be Killing Your Budget. Here's How I Saved $400 in 15 Minutes
Rocket Money saved me $400 on unwanted subscriptions. It even canceled them for me. Getty Images/Rocket Money/Amy Kim/CNET The last thing anyone wants to do in this economy is lose money. But you may be bleeding cash without even realizing it. A recent CNET study found that the average US consumer spends around $200 a year on subscriptions they aren't using. I've done it myself. It's all too easy to sign up for a free trial or service and forget about it. Subscription companies are happy to take your money each month, whether or not you're actually using the service. And the recent blockage of the FTC's "Click to Cancel" rule could make it harder to cancel unwanted subscriptions. The good news is that there are apps that can help you find the subscriptions you're wasting money on and cancel them for you. I tested Rocket Money to see what it could do for me, and it helped me cut $400 worth of subscriptions in just 15 minutes. Here's how it works. 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 Rocket Money saved me more than $400 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 my pick for the best Mint replacement app and won CNET's Editors' Choice award. 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. I chose to have them do it for me. The app asked for some basic information, including my name, billing address and the reason I wanted to cancel, then confirmed that it was working on it. The process was fairly painless but I have one complaint. I didn't know until after I'd submitted my cancellation request that it could take two to seven days for Rocket Money to complete the cancellation -- I found out from the pop-up confirmation I received after submitting. Fortunately, I was able to respond quickly to the email confirmation Rocket sent me and I received a response within minutes from a customer support rep who said they'd fast-track my cancellation. The next business day, my subscription was canceled. I was hooked. What else was I spending money on without realizing it? I reviewed my other subscriptions and identified a handful I no longer needed: HP Instant Ink: $4.34 per month (for a printer I don't even have anymore) $4.34 per month (for a printer I don't even have anymore) New York Times Digital: $4 per month (the number of free articles I get is usually enough for me) $4 per month (the number of free articles I get is usually enough for me) Wall Street Journal: $4 per month (same as above) $4 per month (same as above) Pandora: $10 per month (a recent switch to Amazon Prime Unlimited made this service unnecessary) $10 per month (a recent switch to Amazon Prime Unlimited made this service unnecessary) Spotify: $10 per month (same as above) I'll admit I barely noticed these small amounts when they hit my bank account each month. I'd grouped them under "Miscellaneous" in my budget and never really thought about them because that category tended to stay within my spending goals. But viewing them all grouped together, it was easy to see how quickly they could drain my budget. By canceling these subscriptions, I saved myself $32.32 per month going forward, for a total annual savings of $387.84. Add that to the savings on my HGTV Magazine subscription and that's an extra $437.81 in my pocket annually. Better yet, even though I'd only installed the app a few months earlier, Rocket Money pulled in subscriptions from years past, allowing me to catch ones that were coming due even though I hadn't paid for them since installing the app. In total, reviewing my subscriptions and having Rocket Money cancel six of them took me about 15 minutes. Not bad to get more than $400 in savings. Rocket Money's free version can still help you cut subscription costs Rocket Money's free version only shows subscriptions -- it won't cancel them for you. To access the cancellation service, you'll need the paid version, which costs $6 to $12 per month. You choose your amount, and you'll enjoy the same features regardless of how much you pay. If you don't want to pay extra for the convenience of having Rocket cancel your subscriptions for you, you could just as easily use the free version to identify your subscriptions and then cancel them yourself. You can also try using Rocket's bill negotiation service, which can help lower your monthly costs, but you'll pay 35% to 60% of your first year's savings if it's able to save you money. How to save on subscriptions without Rocket Money I used Rocket Money to trim my subscription costs because it's the budgeting app I regularly use anyway. I'd rather save a few minutes, especially if it doesn't cost me anything extra. But you can always cancel your subscriptions yourself by calling a customer service line or logging into your online account. These tips can also help you maximize your savings: Note your renewal dates. Whenever you sign up for a new service, note when it's due to renew. Then, set a reminder on your calendar for the week before so you can decide if it's worth renewing and cancel if not. If you sign up for a free trial, use a virtual card to make canceling a breeze. Review your budget regularly. Going over your budget weekly can help you spot subscription charges that have already hit your account and cancel them before they cost you more. But don't just take a cursory glance. Look at each transaction, even the minor ones. I was keeping a general eye on my spending, but I wasn't always doing it line by line to evaluate if each expense was truly worth it. Rotate your streaming services. You can only watch so much content in a month. One of the easiest ways I've found to keep my subscription costs down is to only subscribe to one streaming service at a time. For example, when one of the shows I love dropped its new season on Netflix, I canceled my Hulu and signed up for a month of Netflix. I watched everything that interested me on Netflix before the month was up, then I canceled it and moved on to another service. Take advantage of complimentary subscriptions. Some subscriptions give you free access to other services. For instance, Walmart Plus members get a free Paramount Plus subscription. Amazon Prime membership comes with perks like a free Amazon Music subscription and a free year of Grubhub Plus. Take a look at your existing subscriptions to see if they offer any free perks you can take advantage of. Visit your local library. Many library systems offer free access to newspapers, magazines and movies and TV series on DVD. Check out your local library to see what you can enjoy for free.
