💔 Valentine's Day Breakup Guide: Dump Your Subscriptions, Not Your Partner

Happy Valentine's Day! While you're thinking about love, let's talk about the toxic relationships you should end — the subscriptions silently draining your bank account every month.

The average American spends $219/month on subscriptions. That's $2,628/year — enough for a really nice vacation. And according to CNET, most people waste at least$17/month on subscriptions they don't even use.

🚩 Red Flags Your Subscription Is Toxic

You know the signs of a bad relationship. Here are the subscription equivalents:

• You forgot they existed — That Paramount+ trial from 3 months ago? Still charging you $11.99/mo.
• They keep raising prices without asking — Netflix went from $8 to $23. YouTube Premium just hit $14. They never asked how you felt about it.
• Breaking up is intentionally hard — Looking at you, gym memberships that require certified mail and a 30-day notice period.
• They guilt-trip you into staying — “Are you SURE you want to cancel? You'll lose all your saved playlists!”
• You only keep them out of habit — When's the last time you actually used that meditation app?

💸 The Cost of Staying in Bad (Subscription) Relationships

Here's what the most common “zombie subscriptions” cost per year:

• Streaming you don't watch: $120-$276/year (Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max)
• Gym you don't attend: $240-$600/year
• Apps you opened once: $60-$120/year (Headspace, Calm, MasterClass)
• Free trials you forgot: $48-$180/year
• Cloud storage you don't need: $36-$120/year

Add it up. Most people find $50-$200/month in subscriptions they can cut without missing anything. That's a nice dinner for two every month — or $2,400/year for literally anything else.

💔 The 15-Minute Breakup Plan

Forget swiping. Here's your Valentine's Day action plan:

Step 1: Find Your Hidden Subscriptions (2 minutes)

Download your bank statement as a CSV or PDF, then upload it to Just Cancel. We'll scan it and show you every recurring charge — including the ones you forgot about.

Most people find 3-7 subscriptions they didn't know they were paying for.

Step 2: Swipe Left on the Ones You Don't Need (5 minutes)

For each subscription, ask yourself: “If this disappeared tomorrow, would I even notice?”

If the answer is no, it's time to break up.

Step 3: Actually Cancel Them (8 minutes)

This is where most people give up — companies make cancellation intentionally confusing. That's why we built cancel guides for 1,100+ services with direct cancel links and step-by-step instructions.

🏆 The Hardest Breakups (Subscriptions That Fight Back)

Some subscriptions are like clingy exes — they really don't want you to leave:

• Planet Fitness — Requires certified mail or in-person visit. No online cancellation.
• Xfinity/Comcast — Multiple retention calls, pushy agents, hidden early termination fees.
• Adobe Creative Cloud — 50% of remaining contract as an early termination fee.
• SiriusXM — Phone-only cancellation with aggressive retention scripts.
• New York Times — Chat-only cancellation with multiple “are you sure?” prompts.

See the full list of the hardest subscriptions to cancel in our Dark Patterns Hall of Shame.

❤️ The Subscriptions Worth Keeping

Not all subscriptions are bad! Keep the ones that genuinely improve your life. A good test: would you actively re-subscribe if it disappeared?

For everything else — it's time to break up. Your wallet will thank you, and unlike a real breakup, this one comes with zero emotional baggage and an instant raise.