I’ve started to make a habit of auditing all of my subscirptions annually to ensure I have a good feel for what I’m paying for and if there is anything I need to drop. It’s always eye-opening to get an overview of what you’re paying for magazines, apps, streaming services and more. Let’s take a look.

Still around:

A large chunk of it is about information. News and analysis I trust enough to pay for directly. Local reporting from the AJC. National outlets like The Atlantic, the New York Times, Wired, Jacobin, and The New Republic. NPR filling the house during the day. Feedbin and Overcast pulling it all together without algorithms yelling at me. This is me choosing a slower, more intentional information diet.

Another big category is entertainment, especially sports. YouTube TV, NFL Sunday Ticket, RedZone, MLS Season Pass, and Five Stripe Final for Atlanta United content. Add in Netflix, Max, Peacock, Paramount+, and the Disney bundle and it is hard to pretend I am a minimalist. I have essentially rebuilt cable one subscription at a time, but at least this version reflects what I actually watch. While I get to watch a ton of great content, I also get to pay through the nose to get it. If you are a Liverpool supporter, you end up having to subscribe to YTTV for Premier Leage matches, but also Peacock because NBC is gonna do their thing. Champions League & Carabao Cup are both a Paramount+ joint, and then you need EPSN+ to watch FA Cup matches. All told, my fandom in various teams costs us well north of $150 a month. Don’t tell my wife.

Then there is control and ownership. Emby for home media. Apple One and a handful of small, focused apps like Carrot Weather, Day One, Parcel, Albums, and the aforementioned Overcast. These are tools that support daily life without constantly trying to expand their footprint. They are quiet subscriptions, which might be why they last.

A few subscriptions exist mostly as aspiration. AllTrails, Peloton, Amazon Kids+. They reflect who I want to be or how I want our family to operate, even if real life does not always cooperate. These are usually the first to get questioned during the audit.

Out:

I got rid of a number of things I wasn’t using any longer:

• Ivory. I just don’t post on Mastodon that much any more. Love the Tapbots guys, and can’t wait to give them my money for a Bluesky client.
• Instapaper. The sub price has doubled and the features that come along for a sub just don’t make sense for me. If there were tiers, I’d absolutely pay for the lesser version but alas.
• Foodnoms. This is more on me, but I found I was tracking my calories and not actually changing my behaviors. I’ve simplified things a bit by using Streaks instead. Seriously though, if you’re looking for a good calorie tracker, I’ve never used a better one in my life.
• Plex. I moved to Emby for my home media needs. Plex is trying to become something entirely different than I’m interested in using.

In:

I also added a few new things:

• Kaji. I’m sick and tired of Google’s search results becoming increasingly filled with AI slop. Kaji’s results are better, it’s more customizable, and
• Sofa. I decided to drop my Goodreads account, so this was a good way to save and track books, but also for things like video games and tv shows as well.

Hot takes:

• Lately I have been thinking a lot about music streaming. Apple Music works quite well, but I am not sure it feels like value in the same way it used to. I miss owning my music, curating a library, and knowing it will still be there regardless of licensing deals or pricing changes. I am not ready to go back to that world yet, but I am thinking about it more often than I expected.