In this digital age, any given person can have dozens of active monthly subscriptions to e-newsletter, video streaming platforms, skin care boxes, weekly food delivery services, the list goes on. In the mess of it all, it is easy for even the most organized individual to forget to cancel one and continue paying for a service they don't even use for months on end.
For someone with ADHD, this can get out of hand pretty quickly. A combination of the difficulty involved in actually cancelling subscriptions and the lack of centralized ways to manage them can lead to hundreds of dollars being wasted every year without a second thought.
GOBankingRates surveyed 1000 Americans and found that on average each person was wasting approximately $350 per year on subscription services they were not using. That is far too much money going out the back door!
The List Goes On...
Unfortunately so, the term ADHD tax does not stop at monthly subscriptions. ADHD taxes also includes late fees on you name it, student loans payments, credit cards payments, traffic tickets etc.
In the app community, there are too many out there that require payment information and will automatically charge your card when your "free trial" is up. Your trial is not so free now is it, (insert app name). This tax has led to me accidently "purchasing" yearly subscriptions to things I tried out for two days and completely forgot I had, as well as the unwanted collection of boxes of shaving cream compiled in my office.
How We Try and Address This Problem...
It is important for us here at Brili to get in-front of this issue, it is for this very reason that we provide our community with 1 month of full access completely free. The Brili solution is to give you a full month to decide, to fall out of the rhythm and come back and ultimately conclude whether our app is right for you or not. You can even totally forget about downloading us and there is not penalty involved... just hurt feelings. As a company that caters directly to the ADHD community having an easily forgettable process of beginning your subscription would be a red flag.
In the light of providing solutions to this problem and saving you a whole lot of money each year, the first step is complete. The problem is identified. Now let us talk about some ways you might be able to organize a solution.
Trying to Find a Solution?
There are a few barriers to overcome as we begin addressing this problem...
ONE, remembering you passwords to access those subscription services. Yeah, using the "I forgot my password" and having to reset everything before you can cancel a subscription is a pain and it adds one extra reason for you to put off cancelling for another day/week/month/year.
TWO, the idea that you are already paying for it and you might actually want to get back to it. That usually lasts about 2-3 days for me and I end up forgetting about it again for awhile. If you haven't picked it up already, chances are you won't. But whatever, you know yourself better. The consistent prompts for "are you sure you would like to cancel?" and the switching of button order do not help for me whatsoever.
A solution you might find in Brili is having a routine once a week to check on your subscriptions across your various devices. Apple has made it much easier to check this, just access your phone settings, click on your name at the top of list and scroll down to purchases. You will be able to manage and cancel them directly from there.
Having a weekly scheduled routine of no more than 30 minutes to think about your various subscriptions, check you accounts for unknown charges and cancel/pay the bills you need is always a good idea.
Downloadable routine template available below, click link to download, edit and begin using in your Brili app (open on the device you have Brili downloaded or copy paste)!
You can use that routine to maintain a list on paper or in the notes section of your phone of your live subscriptions, their renewals dates as well as your live free trials and their subscription charge dates.
I myself now go through a checklist of cataloging my password and setting a reminder and calendar events in my phone for the day before any purchase is to go through, whenever I sign-up for something new. That way I can cancel before being charged. Brili reminds me to do this every Sunday afternoon.
If you have interesting tricks for remembering to cancel trials and subscriptions please email us and let us know so we can share with the community!