If we don’t continue to pay for them, everything will become a subscription.

Let’s conduct an experiment: examine your bank and credit card statements and total up all the subscriptions you pay for each month or year.

After doing this myself recently, I was taken aback by what I found. I was aware of the various subscriptions I was paying for, but seeing all of them together made me realize the significant cost and made me contemplate what else I could do with that money, such as paying bills or purchasing gas.

Among the subscriptions I identified were services from Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, HBO, Nintendo, Sony, several websites, and more. This prompted me to reassess what I truly utilized versus what I was unknowingly paying for.

You may find yourself in a similar situation. It’s easy to fall into this trap; you agree to pay $10 a month for something, thinking it won’t strain your budget, but the cumulative effect can be significant. Personally, I’ve been spending an amount equivalent to a car payment every month on things I shouldn’t.

This trend is unlikely to stop, as companies realize they can repeatedly extract money from us instead of just once. They argue that it enhances convenience and ease, but this is often misleading. Claims of providing limitless content to enjoy are also largely false.

For the price of my monthly subscriptions to services like Tidal or Sony, offering catalogs filled with content I’m uninterested in, I could have purchased what I desired and still saved money. However, true ownership is elusive due to licensing and other barriers.

While my sentiments may resemble those of an irate elderly individual chastising younger generations, the reality remains unchanged. Companies entice us to continuously pay for their services and devise ways to extract additional fees from us. New subscription services emerge regularly; even Garmin is now joining the fray.

This practice underscores how insignificant we are to these companies; we are merely a source of revenue to be exploited until depleted. I never harbored the illusion that Google, for instance, held any genuine affection for me, but their relentless monthly nickel-and-diming is revolting. It should be outlawed in some manner.

I am putting an end to this. I have compiled a list of the entities extracting funds from me every month and am discontinuing all such payments. My Prime subscription will last until July, after which it will cease. I am cutting off media streamers like Netflix and Tidal. As for Apple TV, I cannot recall why I ever subscribed, but Mr. Cook can seek another patron.

The process continues, and if I do not find value in it, I am eliminating it. The burden of paying for utilities and insurance is already heavy enough, let alone paying for access to music or movies I will never consume.

However, not all subscriptions are wasteful; some do offer valuable services. For instance, I tried setting up a personal firewall and dedicated storage server connected to the internet to create my own universal storage system, but I found it cumbersome and opted to pay Google instead.

Similarly, I prefer not seeing ads on YouTube since I detest advertisements more than I dislike spending money. Nevertheless, if content creators persist in inserting sponsored segments in every video, my viewing habits will shift, and I may no longer feel the need to skip ads because I will avoid using the app altogether.

This decision will primarily alter my access to content. Individual cancellations may not concern companies, but if enough of us demonstrate similar behaviors, they may take notice.

This is not a call to arms, per se. Rather, I urge you to scrutinize your monthly expenditures on things you could own instead of renting, identify the ones you genuinely utilize, and bid farewell to the rest.

If a critical mass follows suit, change may be on the horizon.