Of course, most Americans are on a budget. But when it comes to their subscription services, like Netflix, Spotify and Amazon Prime, many people have no idea how much they pay.
The vast majority, or 84 percent, of consumers underestimate what they shell out on those monthly expenses, also including dating apps, cable television and Wi-Fi, according to a recent report by the Waterstone Management Group, a Chicago-based consulting firm.
On average, consumers spend more than twice as much as they think they do: They estimated they cough up $111 a month on such services when they actually average $237, Waterstone found.
And regardless of the price tag, consumers were “happily hooked” on many of their subscriptions, particularly Amazon Prime (which recently raised the price to $119 a year), cable TV and music streaming services, such as Spotify, the report said.
Still, families have less slack in their budgets than before, according to research by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Household spending has risen 25 percent or more in the past two decades, even adjusting for inflation, yet incomes have not kept pace, the study said.
In addition, one-quarter of Americans, or roughly 55 million people, have nothing saved in an emergency fund, according to a separate report by Bankrate.com.
