More than half of Americans plan to cut subscriptions in 2026, survey finds
NerdWallet survey shows 55% of people want to significantly reduce subscription spending
(InvestigateTV) — A new NerdWallet survey finds more than half of Americans, 55%, plan to significantly cut back on subscriptions in 2026 to save money.
Parents are more likely to want to cancel subscriptions. Sixty-three percent of parents want to cancel subscriptions right now, according to Kim Palmer, a personal finance expert with NerdWallet.
Palmer said canceling subscriptions is one way to take back control and cut down on costs.
“Cancelling can take some time, but it’s always possible to do. You might just have to follow up and make sure it was actually cancelled,” Palmer said. “One challenge people have is signing up for a free trial and then actually forgetting to cancel once the subscription starts charging you, so you want to keep track of those.”
Palmer said sometimes it takes just one click to cancel within an app or website. Other times it requires sending a follow-up email. She advised reading the cancellation instructions closely.
“Sometimes it can help to do an overall subscription freeze to just stop all of your subscriptions at once to see what you might miss, because sometimes we just get into the habit of paying for subscriptions but we’re not actually enjoying the product or services anymore,” Palmer said. “So, it can help just to go cold turkey and try to get rid of all of them at once.”
Palmer said that approach allows people to slowly add back the subscriptions they actually miss and think are worth paying for.
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