{"id":4061,"date":"2015-04-02T10:22:59","date_gmt":"2015-04-02T15:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/?p=4061"},"modified":"2015-04-02T10:22:59","modified_gmt":"2015-04-02T15:22:59","slug":"everyones-got-netflix-managing-subscriptions-on-a-student-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/?p=4061","title":{"rendered":"Everyone\u2019s got Netflix: Managing subscriptions on a student budget"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"netflix,<\/a>
While that next Netflix episode counts down, think about the effect subscription services have on your monthly budget and long-term finances. (CREDIT: Netflix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every month, Oliver Sachgau spends $150 on software, entertainment, and online news subscriptions.<\/p>\n

That amount might not seem like much, but for the 22-year-old journalism student, those automatic payments are a sizeable chunk of his $700 monthly income. On top of rent, food, and other expenses, Sachgau often spends more than he earns. Twenty per cent of his monthly budget goes to subscriptions.<\/p>\n

Sachgau earns most of his income in the summer months and works part time jobs during the school year. In September 2014, he took out a student loan for the first time to pay for tuition and school expenses. Sachgau has been unemployed since January 2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a source of anxiety. You look at how much money you\u2019re spending and how much you\u2019re earning and it really sucks when you can\u2019t get the first to be less than the second,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Yet Sachgau can\u2019t just cut back. The young journalist says he needs these services to gain job skills. For example, his $50-per-month Adobe subscription pays for products that are industry standards. He also pays about $100 per month to access the Globe and Mail, Netflix, Microsoft Office 365, and Dropbox Pro.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I decided to save that money, I would have lost out on jobs. It\u2019s a short term pain, long term gain sort of thing,\u201d said Sachgau.<\/p>\n

Subscribing to a solution<\/strong><\/p>\n

This situation is common among university students, said Murray Baker, author of Debt Free Grad<\/em>, a personal finance book. Young people often struggle to balance subscribing to necessary services\u2013such as software for schoolwork\u2013and adding costs that don\u2019t provide much value.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a lot of students, it\u2019s so easy now to subscribe to a lot of things online. You think, \u2018Well here\u2019s five or 10 bucks here.\u2019 It does add up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Students should make a plan at the beginning of year that forecasts monthly and one-time expenses against income from a summer or part-time job, said Baker. This approach puts money aside for planned and unexpected expenses. It also shows when a part time job might be needed to cover more expensive months.<\/p>\n

The key is to watch when a credit card is used to cover non-essential costs. If each month\u2019s balances are not paid in full, a person is living beyond their means, said Vickie Campbell, a certified financial planner at Ryan Lamontagne in Ottawa.<\/p>\n

Overspending every paycheque is unsustainable, so Sachgau must start controlling his expenses. To do this, he should look at what is necessary to get ahead after graduation and what can wait until later.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just have to know exactly where you\u2019re spending your money, and then you\u2019ve got to cut those expenses. It\u2019s as clear as that,\u201d said Campbell.<\/p>\n

Sachgau\u2019s recent student loan is not necessarily a risk provided he has a repayment plan. Education debt is good debt because it usually leads to increased income, said Campbell.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo debt is really good, but if it\u2019s going to help you in the future, then it\u2019s some debt you\u2019re going to have to take on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Another option to save money is to make a list of each subscription and find ways to get student discounts or free access, said Baker. This won\u2019t remove every cost, but it could get Sachgau closer to breaking even.<\/p>\n

Right now, Sachgau is in danger of being unable to afford his lifestyle. The longer he is unemployed, the more expenses he will have to cut.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can\u2019t afford it, you need to find someway in your budget to afford it or maybe you shouldn\u2019t be subscribing,\u201d said Campbell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every month, Oliver Sachgau spends $150 on software, entertainment, and online news subscriptions. That amount might not seem like much,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[328],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal-finance-2015"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4061"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4075,"href":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4061\/revisions\/4075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}