As tariff troubles and recession fears mount, many Americans are taking a look at their financial situation and reevaluating some spending habits.
One area that can eat up a surprising amount of budget is subscriptions. In fact, there’s a growing phenomenon known as “subscription creep.”
“Subscription creep happens when you rack up a laundry list of subscriptions without realizing how much is actually being spent, which can lead to budget strain,” Courtney Alev, a consumer financial advocate with Credit Karma, told HuffPost. “With so many products and services operating under a subscription model these days, it’s easy to fall victim to subscription creep, whether you forgot to cancel a free trial, lost track of recurring payments or didn’t notice a price hike.”
She noted that consumers often subscribe to a service they wind up using rarely or only use for a short time and then abandon, but then they don’t remember to cut off payment. And each individual cost can feel negligibly low on its own ― unless you add them up.
“It’s sneaky,” said Bola Sokunbi, the founder of Clever Girl Finance. “You slowly start collecting subscriptions like streaming, apps, meal kits, fitness memberships, software, you name it. Most subscriptions are low-cost upfront, which makes them easy to justify. Plus, they often start with free trials or limited-time discounts, so you sign up thinking you’ll cancel later. Life gets busy, and these little charges just slip under the radar. It’s not about being irresponsible ― it’s just how the system is designed: convenient to sign up, inconvenient to cancel.”
