25 Things You're Still Paying For and Don't Need

Deleting the app doesn't stop the bill. Netflix says so outright, and Google says the same about anything billed through Google Play. The charge keeps coming until you cancel where you're actually billed.

Here's where to look:

• Netflix: go to netflix.com/cancelplan, choose Cancel, then Finish Cancellation. No cancel button? Then a partner such as your cable company bills you, and you cancel with them.
• iPhone or iPad: open Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions. Pick one and tap Cancel Subscription. An expiration date shown in red means it's already canceled.
• Android: open the Google Play app and cancel under Subscriptions.

If an Apple charge won't show up anywhere, search your email for "receipt from Apple." The receipt tells you which Apple Account it's billed to.

Households that pay for streaming spent an average of $69 a month on streaming video in 2025, and 68% of subscribers now use the cheaper plans with ads. If you only watch a show or two, the ad plan may be plenty.

Nick Davis, a certified financial planner who advises retirees, says the comfortable ones go through these regularly: "They keep what genuinely adds to their life and they cancel the rest."

You may have heard about a federal "click-to-cancel" rule. A court struck it down in 2025, and the FTC is starting over. An older law from 2010 still requires online subscriptions to give you a simple way to cancel.

Netflix and Google both let you keep watching until the month you've paid for runs out. Cancel today and lose nothing.

Say this when a person picks up: *I'm thinking about canceling. What can you offer me?*

Andrea Woroch, a consumer finance expert, told Consumer Reports to call the retention team, the people whose job is keeping customers, and ask exactly that. She puts the possible discount at 10 to 20 percent. If the first call goes nowhere, hang up and call again.

Ask what they'll offer before you agree to cancel anything. If you do decide to cancel, have your replacement service lined up first.

Then go after the fees. When Consumer Reports studied hundreds of cable bills, charges set by the companies themselves added more than $37 a month to the base price. That data is from 2018 and 2019, when the charges included box rentals, DVR fees and a "broadcast TV" fee.

• Use the cable company's app instead of renting a box.
• If you rent a modem and router, buying your own saves $5 to $10 a month, so weigh that against the price. Ask your provider which models it accepts.
• Skip the DVR and watch on-demand replays.

Next time you're in the soup aisle, read the shelf tag instead of the can. The small "unit price," the cost per ounce or per count, tells you which one is really cheaper.

Store brands typically cost 25 to 30 percent less than name brands, and CR's testers found several that matched or beat the originals. Kroger's Creamy Ranch beat Hidden Valley at less than half the price per serving. Aldi's Chef's Cupboard chicken noodle soup beat Campbell's, which costs nearly twice as much.

Turn the package over before you switch. Sugar, sodium and allergens can differ between brands, which matters if your doctor has you watching salt.

Pick one thing you buy every week, bring home the store version, and see if anyone at your table notices.

Burt Flickinger III, a retail consultant at Strategic Resource Group, told CR that "a family of four can save $5,000 a year" by buying on sale every week or choosing store brands where practical.

You don't have to guess what's in your water system's water.

The Minnesota Department of Health says "there is no reason to believe that bottled water is safer than tap water." The price gap is huge. Minnesota tap water averages well under a penny a gallon. Bottled water ran about $1.18 a gallon in 2019.

The EPA regulates public tap water and the FDA regulates bottled water. If you're on a community water system, it has to send customers a water quality report each year by July 1.

Ask your supplier for it or find it through the EPA's lookup. The EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline is 1-800-426-4791.

Bottled water does have its place. Keep some on hand for a natural disaster, a contamination notice, or a private well that's tested positive for a problem. And if your doctor says you need it for a health condition, keep buying it.

Have a private well? The CDC advises testing it at least once a year, because EPA rules for public water don't cover private wells. Once you've read that report and are happy with it, a pitcher in the fridge and a refillable bottle by the door do the same job.

Quick math on a $2 Powerball play: the jackpot odds are 1 in 292,201,338. The odds of winning any prize at all are 1 in 25.

Two plays a week adds up to $208 a year. If it's a bit of fun you share with a friend at the counter, that's your call. If you've stopped noticing you do it, skip one week and drop the $4 in a jar instead.

If skipping turns out to be harder than it should be, the National Problem Gambling Helpline takes calls, texts and chats in all 50 states at 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738).

To cancel so it stays canceled, the FTC suggests:

1. Follow the gym's own cancellation steps and save proof, such as confirmation emails or letters.
2. Watch your statements for charges afterward.
3. Dispute any later charge with your card company.
4. Send a follow-up letter by certified mail. The FTC has a sample letter.
5. Keep every record.

If none of that works, report the gym at ReportFraud.ftc.gov or to your state attorney general.

Why all the paper? In 2025 the FTC sued the operators of LA Fitness, alleging members could cancel only in person or by mail.

It says just one employee per gym could handle in-person cancellations, and staff were trained to turn away phone and email requests. Monthly charges ran from $30 to $299 or more. Those are allegations.

Plenty of people use a simple rule for memberships: if you haven't used it in three months, it goes.

The envelope looks official. It says Notice of Renewal, with your newspaper's name across the top. It may not come from the newspaper at all.

Before you pay, find your real end date on the mailing label, written as month and year (0627 would mean June 2027). Then contact the publisher directly. Don't give personal or card details to anyone soliciting you.

In 2016 the FTC charged operators who mailed fake renewal notices for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other papers and magazines. They charged up to 40 percent more than the papers usually did.

Two signs to look for, from the California Attorney General:

• Small print that says "solicitation from a third party company."
• A sender's name with words like "publisher," "billing" or "service."

And the magazines that pile up unread? Libby, a free app that works through your public library, offers magazines, ebooks and audiobooks. All you need is a library card.

The delivery fee on the app's front page often isn't the whole fee.

In December 2024 the FTC and the Illinois Attorney General charged Grubhub with what they called a "pricing shell game." They said Grubhub advertised low delivery fees, then added service or small order fees that were delivery fees in disguise. The final price was often more than double what was advertised.

Grubhub paid $25 million, nearly all for refunds. In April 2026 the FTC asked for public comment on a possible nationwide rule on delivery-app fees. It pointed to a $60 million Instacart settlement from December 2025 over "free delivery" ads that hid service fees until checkout. Read the final total before you tap Pay.

Households spent an average of $3,945 on food away from home in 2024. The cut people mention most often as their biggest saving is cooking instead of ordering in. Start by swapping one delivery order a week for a meal made at home.

You signed up for the free week to watch one thing, or try one box, and forgot. Now there's a monthly charge for something you barely remember.

Put the cancel date on your calendar the day you sign up, before the trial ends. Read the terms first and look for pre-checked boxes that agree to future charges. If "free" comes with a small fee for shipping or something else, take that as a warning sign.

Renewal notices deserve a second look too. Scammers send fake ones asking for your card number. Real ones may show a higher price because a promotional rate is ending.

Not sure whether you'd miss it? Rob Berger, a former securities lawyer and founding editor of Forbes Money Advisor, suggests a test: "Just turn it off for two weeks and then assess whether you miss it or not or cancel it. You can always sign up again."

Try this test from the Insurance Information Institute. Add up what you pay each year for collision and comprehensive coverage. If your car is worth less than 10 times that amount, the coverage may not be worth it.

Those two are the "full" in full coverage. They pay to repair or replace your own car. Look up your car's value, then find what each one costs on your policy's declarations page and add them together.

If you still owe money on the car, your lender usually requires both. Even when it's paid off, drop them only if you could afford to fix or replace the car yourself.

Want to keep the coverage? Raise the deductible, but only to an amount you could pay after a claim. Going from a $500 deductible to $1,000 cuts premiums by about 25%, Loretta Worters of the institute told Consumer Reports.

A defensive driving class can bring a discount too, and so can an insurer's app that tracks your driving, if you don't drive much.

Find the line on your statement marked maintenance fee or service charge. Have you ever actually decided to pay it?

Bankrate's 2025 survey found that nearly half of basic checking accounts are free, and most of the rest drop the fee with direct deposit. If your Social Security or pension already arrives by direct deposit, ask your bank what it takes to qualify for the waiver.

Interest checking costs more. It averaged $15.65 a month, and you'd need an average balance of about $10,705 to avoid that. If your interest doesn't cover the fee, you're paying the bank to hold your money.

The OCC, which regulates national banks, says banks must tell you their fees before you open an account and suggests you shop around. Turn on low-balance alerts. Opting out of overdraft coverage stops overdraft fees on one-time debit card purchases and ATM withdrawals, but checks and automatic payments can still trigger them.

The ATM at the gas station flashes a screen asking whether you'll accept a fee. You can say no. The machine has to show that notice before you're committed to paying, so canceling right there costs nothing.

One withdrawal can bring two fees: the machine owner's and your own bank's, as the CFPB explains. Together they averaged $4.86 a withdrawal in 2025.

The easier route is cash back at a register. The CFPB found that Walmart, Target, CVS, Walgreens and Albertsons give cash back free. Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar charge a fee on cash back under $50, and Kroger stores charge one on smaller amounts.

If you use other banks' machines often, ask your bank whether it refunds their surcharges, or look at a bank with a big network of its own ATMs.

The line to have ready at the register: *No thanks, it already comes with a warranty.*

The FTC says an extended warranty "is not a good value if it doesn't offer more coverage than the warranty that came with the product." Its suggestion for future repairs is a savings account instead.

People tend to overpay because they overestimate the odds of a repair, according to a Stanford study Consumer Reports cites. In CR's 2018 figures, plans for large appliances averaged $126.

The phone calls are pushier. If a caller says "act now, your warranty is about to expire," the FTC warns that call may be illegal. Hang up.

Look for the small box on your credit card statement about minimum payments. It has to be there, and it answers two questions: how long payoff takes if you pay only the minimum, and what monthly payment clears the balance in 36 months.

That 36-month number is a ready-made plan. It only works if you stop adding to the card, because new purchases stretch the timeline.

In August 2026 the average rate on credit card accounts being charged interest was 22.36%. Your own card's rate may differ, so check your statement. Every dollar you pay down stops costing you interest at that rate.

Open the glove box and check the owner's manual for the octane your car calls for. The FTC says regular is recommended for most cars.

AAA ran engines built for regular through lab tests and found no meaningful benefit from premium. "Premium gasoline is higher octane, not higher quality," says Greg Brannon, AAA's director of automotive engineering. In the year before that 2016 study, drivers wasted $2.1 billion on it.

On November 4, 2026, premium cost about 92 cents a gallon more than regular in AAA's national averages. That's about $13.75 extra on a 15-gallon fill-up.

One exception: if your manual says your car needs premium, keep buying it. AAA didn't test those cars.

First, see how much data you really use in a full billing month. On an iPhone, go to Settings, then Cellular, then Cellular Data. On Android, go to Settings, then Network & Internet, then Data Usage. Your carrier can give you the most accurate figure for your billing month.

If the number is small, you may be paying for unlimited data you never touch. "Start low and upgrade if needed," Herb Weisbaum of Consumers' Checkbook told Consumer Reports, which puts the average monthly phone bill at $140. CR says a 2GB plan can cover email, browsing and some streaming.

Budget carriers run on the same big networks, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. CR members who switched said they're saving close to $500 a year.

Not ready to switch? Tell your carrier you want to cancel. Brian Keaney, co-founder of the bill-negotiation service Billshark, says that gets you to the retention department, where you can ask about ways to lower the bill.

A "storage full" warning on your phone may have talked you into a bigger plan years ago. iCloud comes with 5GB free, and Google accounts come with up to 15GB.

iCloud+ plans start at $0.99 a month for 50GB. If you pay $9.99 for 2TB and use a sliver of it, a smaller plan may do.

To step down on an iPhone running iOS 18.4 or later: Settings, your name, Subscriptions, iCloud+, then change or cancel. The change kicks in when your billing period ends.

Check how much you're storing before you drop a size. If your photos and backups are bigger than the new plan, Apple says iCloud stops syncing and backups won't finish. Move or delete old videos, after copying any you want to keep outside iCloud. Deleting a video in iCloud Photos removes it from every device.

Changed your plan and regret it? Contact Apple within 14 days about a refund.

Add up what you really saved on your last few trips, then hold it up against the fee on your renewal notice.

If you live alone and the giant pack of paper towels lasts a year, the math may not work. Costco makes leaving easy. Its return policy says: "We will cancel and refund your membership fee at any time if you are dissatisfied."

That's a refund of the fee as well as a cancellation. Other clubs set their own rules, so ask at the membership desk before your renewal date.

Maybe it started with a move, or with clearing out a parent's house, and it was only ever going to be for a few months. Now it's a monthly bill for boxes you haven't opened in a long time.

Multiply the monthly rent by 12. That's what another year of keeping those boxes costs.

Don't just stop paying, though. In Georgia, for example, you're in default if rent isn't paid by the 7th of the month. After 30 days without payment, the owner can sell what's inside at auction, after a written notice and an ad. Other states set their own rules.

The better exit: check your rental agreement for notice and move-out rules, pick a weekend, and bring three sets of boxes, one each for keep, donate and family. Once it's empty, get written confirmation that the rental has ended.

Maintenance fees typically rise at rates that equal or exceed inflation, the FTC says. You owe them, plus taxes, whether or not you use your week.

If you want out, contact the developer or the resort's management company first and ask about your options, before paying anyone. That's the FTC's advice. Some developers have their own exit programs.

Be wary of anyone who comes to you. Here are the red flags for timeshare exit scams, according to the FTC:

• An offer to get you out that you never asked for
• A "guarantee" to cancel your contract
• A large fee up front
• Being told to stop paying your mortgage or your fees

Pull out the contract and find three things: the fee per service visit, the payout cap, and the list of what's excluded.

The D.C. Attorney General warns that service fees are typically $75 or more each time you need a repair. Many contracts leave out structural defects, well pumps, septic tanks and damage from wear and tear. Caps can be tight: its example is $1,600 toward a $12,000 boiler.

Many contracts also send disputes to arbitration instead of court. And the FTC points out that a home warranty is really a service contract, one that sometimes duplicates coverage you already have or covers only part of a product.

Search the company's name with "complaint." Then set a year of payments beside the repairs it actually paid for.

This one and the Medicare item below work a little differently than the rest of this list: the goal is ending PMI on time, or getting help paying the Part B premium, not dropping coverage.

Yes, if your loan qualifies, though it may not fall off as early as you think. PMI, private mortgage insurance, is a monthly charge some home loans carry on top of the payment.

Call your servicer, the company you send payments to, and ask for the date your balance is scheduled to reach 80% of the home's original value.

From then, you can ask in writing to cancel. You'll need a good payment history and no second lien on the home, and you may need to show its value hasn't dropped.

If you never ask, it still ends on its own, just later.

The standard Part B premium is $202.90 a month in 2026. If your income is limited, your state may pay some or all of it. This is worth a look if you're living mostly on a modest Social Security check with little in the bank.

That help comes through Medicare Savings Programs. The broadest level, called QMB (Qualified Medicare Beneficiary), covers Part B premiums plus deductibles, coinsurance and copays. For one person in 2026, monthly income limits run from $1,350 to $1,816 depending on the program, with a $9,950 limit on savings and other resources. Your state may allow higher limits.

You keep your Medicare. This only changes who pays for it. Apply through your state Medicaid agency.

Qualifying for one of these programs also gets you Extra Help with prescription costs automatically. If you don't qualify, you can still apply for Extra Help on its own through Social Security. Your State Health Insurance Assistance Program, called SHIP, offers free help with both.

Isn't it smarter to trade in before the old car starts nickel-and-diming you? Nick Davis, the financial planner, makes the case for keeping it. Drive a car 8 to 15 years and you take the big drop in value once, instead of again with every trade-in.

Lots of people who've done it report the same rule of thumb. A paid-off, well-kept car beats a new one, and it stays until a repair would cost more than the car is worth.

Rob Berger says the biggest savings sit in housing and transportation, and suggests asking whether your household really needs two cars.

He also suggests making one decision that keeps paying off. When the last car payment clears, set up an automatic transfer of the same amount into savings, on the same day the payment used to go out.

If you have money in funds or an annuity, this is the leak worth finding first. Do this with your IRA, 401(k), brokerage or annuity statements:

1. List every fund you own.
2. Look up each fund's expense ratio on the fund company's website or in your account's fund details.
3. Turn it into dollars by multiplying it by what you hold in that fund. For example, 1% of $150,000 is $1,500 a year.
4. For an annuity, ask the insurance company in writing for every yearly charge in dollars, and what it would cost to get out.

Why you have to dig: Nick Davis points out that these fees show up as an expense ratio, a percentage, and never as a dollar amount on your statement. So most people never see what they pay.

If one fund costs far more than a similar one, raise it with whoever manages the account. Ask what a change would cost in fees and taxes before you move a dollar.