The theme for this week is: Small Changes. Big Results.

You know, when you make changes in your life, they don’t always have to be massive, earth-shattering, blow up your world kind of changes in order to make a difference.

Sometimes, small changes can have massive results too. And actually, because small changes are so much easier, we can circumvent the brain’s freak-out-what-have-you-done-to-me! reaction, making it more likely that we’ll stick with our small changes in the long-run.

And today’s small changes, big results topic is: Subscription Boxes.

Stitch Fix, Birchbox, HelloFresh. I mean come on, who doesn’t love opening a curated box of clothes, goodies, or pre-prepped food.

But have you ever stopped to wonder why subscription-based services are everywhere these days? They’re creating income and loyalty on auto-pilot.

I have been tempted by Spotify premium for a long time now. I’m well-versed in the benefits because they barrage me every 3rd song. Only 10 bucks a month gets me unlimited skips, no ads, and I can take my music anywhere.

Must. Resist.

So you justify it. Ah, it’s just $10 here. Another $5 there. $19.99 over thata way. Then before you know it, you’re blowing $50 a month on little luxuries that you don’t use, need, or appreciate that much.

So I’d like you to try 2 things:

1. Next time you’re tempted to buy a subscription for something and give someone else your money on auto-pilot for eternity, wait a month. Just think about it some more and ask yourself, is this really worth it! Because once you have it, even if it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, it’s much harder to let it go.
2. Audit all of your subscriptions at least once a year. If you listened yesterday, I talked about how important it is to track your spending and create a budget. One of the many great benefits of a budget is that is allows you to see not just what you spent, but WHO you spent it with. Take inventory of all of your subscriptions, what you paid for those on an annual basis, and then ask yourself if it really enhances your life.

That’s it for today! Thanks for listening. Tomorrow we’re going to talk about the trickery of free trials.

My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, budgeting, personal budget, kaizen, subscription boxes, subscription services