Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Money Management

Remember to Pause Your Memberships

Just because you’re not going doesn’t mean they aren’t charging you.

When the COVID-19 pandemic started in earnest back in March, many membership-based businesses like gyms, classes, and clubs closed up shop. Even as some of these businesses start to reopen, you really shouldn’t leave the house unless you actually need to. We’re not here to talk about your health, though, we’re here to talk about your membership fees.

Many membership businesses, once they saw the writing on the wall, automatically paused membership fees for their members, since they wouldn’t be using their services. I say “many” because there are some stragglers out there that, whether due to negligence or lack of scruples, let those membership fees keep on coming. The thing about recurring fees is that when they’re part of your regular financial load for long enough, you may forget that you’re still paying them. Unless you’ve been deliberately going over your finances with a fine-toothed comb, there’s a chance a recurring fee is still bleeding you.

Whether you’re on hard times or not, there’s no reason to be paying for a service you’re not using. Check your most recent bank statements to see what’s drawing from your account. If there’s anything you haven’t used in a while, call them up and request to pause your membership. Once things calm down out there, you can start it back up, but until then, that money is best saved. If it’s only one or two things and you’re only saving a hundred bucks or so, just keep it in your checking account for a rainy day. If you’ve got a decent chunk of cash coming back to you, reinvest it in a high-yield savings account. You’ll be thankful for every dollar you saved in the event things get hairy (or hairier than they are now, I guess).

You May Also Like

News

In the past year, Peloton, manufacturers of stationary exercise bicycles and treadmills, has been experiencing some severe financial difficulties. The company went through a...

News

While the ongoing supply chain problems affecting the global economy have had the expected effects, they’ve also had some decidedly unexpected effects. Specifically, many...

News

As gas prices continue to rise and consumer confidence drops, not to mention the ongoing war in Ukraine, the European economy is taking a...

News

As the environmental need for electric vehicles becomes more pressing, and the car-buying public becomes more eager for them, automotive manufacturers are getting ready...

News

This morning, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong sent a mass email out to his company informing everyone that, as stock and crypto prices slip and...

News

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, many global businesses have pulled their dealings out of Russian territories due to a mix of sanctions and...

News

In the last few weeks, fears have begun to surface of another potential recession striking the United States economy. Economists have been working to...

News

It’s no secret that the highs of the COVID-19 pandemic cost movie theater chain AMC an unprecedented amount of money. As people isolated at...