How much am I really paying for subscriptions per year?
Add up what you pay each month by kind of subscription, and see the yearly total, the share of your take-home pay, and what the same money would be worth if it were invested.
WHAT YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS COST A YEAR
$1,680/yr
At these amounts your subscriptions come to $140 a month, $1,680 a year, 1.5% of your take-home pay. The largest is gym and fitness at $540 a year (32% of the total). Over 31 years that is $52,080; invested each month at the 3.9% a year this site plans with after inflation, the same money would be $99,405 in today’s dollars.
A month
$140
Share of take-home
1.5%
Largest
$540
Invested, 31 yrs
$99,405
UNDERSTAND YOUR RESULT
What each kind costs a year
Gym and fitness
$540
Video streaming
$420
Software and apps
$300
News, magazines and reading
$144
Music and audio
$132
Everything else
$108
Cloud storage and backup
$36
Gym and fitness is the largest at $540 a year, 32% of the $1,680 total; cloud storage and backup is the smallest at $36.
What you spend, and what the same money would grow to, in today’s dollars
Invested insteadSpent
After 31 years you will have spent $52,080; the same money invested each month at 3.9% a year after inflation would be $99,405 in today’s dollars. That is an assumption, not a forecast.
Every kind, per month and per year
| Kind | A month | A year | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gym and fitness | $45 | $540 | 32% |
| Video streaming | $35 | $420 | 25% |
| Software and apps | $25 | $300 | 18% |
| News, magazines and reading | $12 | $144 | 9% |
| Music and audio | $11 | $132 | 8% |
| Everything else | $9 | $108 | 6% |
| Cloud storage and backup | $3 | $36 | 2% |
Together $140 a month or $1,680 a year. A plan you pay for once a year should be entered as its yearly price divided by 12.
What moves the needle
Each row re-runs the calculation with one change. Click to apply.How it's computed
FORMULA
Per month = the sum of what you pay in each kind; per year = per month × 12
Share of take-home pay = per month ÷ your monthly take-home pay
Real return = (1 + 7%) ÷ (1 + 3%) − 1, about 3.9% a year; monthly rate = (1 + real return)^(1/12) − 1
Invested value = monthly amount × ((1 + monthly rate)^months − 1) ÷ monthly rate, with each month’s amount added at the end of the month
- Every amount is yours. The kinds are groups to help you count, not a list of services, and the amounts the page opens with are examples, not a survey of what people pay.
- Prices are held level in today’s dollars. Subscriptions that rise in price, free trials that turn into charges and plans you have forgotten are not modelled: your bank or card statement is the place to find them.
- Invested value is in today’s dollars: the money grows at 3.9% a year, the 7% this site plans with less 3% inflation, for 31 years. That is an assumption, not a forecast, and it is shown to put the total in context, not to say what to cancel.
- A subscription can be worth its price to you. The page adds them up so the total is a choice you have seen.
WORKED EXAMPLE · SAMPLE NUMBERS
$35 + $11 + $3 + $25 + $12 + $45 + $9 = $140 a month × 12 = $1,680 a year. Over 31 years that is $52,080. Invested at the end of each of 372 months at 0.3180% a month it grows to $99,405.
SOURCES
[1]Compound InterestInvestor.gov, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission[2]The Theory of InterestIrving Fisher, Macmillan, 1930 (real versus nominal interest)
[3]CPI-U, All Urban ConsumersU.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHSBuilt by Hussain Sehorewala · checked against worked examples · Sep 29, 2026
Keep this number honest as your life changes.
Put it on your Money Map and it re-runs as you change the seven numbers. It stays in this browser, and the calculator stays free.
Questions about this result
Add up every recurring charge for video, music, storage, software, reading, fitness and anything else, then multiply by 12. On the example on this page, $140 a month is $1,680 a year; over 31 years that is $52,080, or $99,405 in today’s dollars if the same money were invested at this site’s 3.9% real return.
Go through the last two or three months of bank and card statements and look for charges that repeat, then check app-store subscriptions on your phone and any accounts you use for annual plans. Plans you pay once a year should be entered as the yearly price divided by 12.
Divide an annual price by 12 to enter it. A free trial that converts to a paid plan counts from the month it starts charging. The page does not track renewals or price rises.
No. A subscription can be worth its price. The page adds them up and shows the share of your pay, so cancelling or keeping each one is a choice you have priced. The levers show what dropping the largest one or trimming them all would change.
To put the yearly total in context over a long time. It assumes the money would be invested at a steady 3.9% after inflation, which is an assumption and not a forecast.
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