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Comment by dvt | Hacker News Reader

> My current subscription tally came to $1,500 ($1,520 to be exact) per year

Maybe I'm the crazy one, but how is this a lot? First, almost all of the apps are used by multiple people (Apple One Premier, the VPN, MLB, NHL, etc.). Second, let's assume a family of four with a US average salary of $55k for both parents. We end up with a household income of $110k, so the subscriptions are 1.3% of gross income. This is barely a blip on your financial radar.

If your household income is $200k or above (which, let's face it, most HNers probably do earn), worrying about these subscriptions (which in this case would be <0.6% of your gross income) would literally not even be worth thinking about.

I know HN has a thing for penny pinching, but if you're trying to build wealth, this ain't it.

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> If your household income is $200k or above (which, let's face it, most HNers probably do earn)

What? Not everyone here lives in the US

And? The author seems to, since they're paying for a number of US-specific services. Obviously if you make 20k USD, then paying 2k USD on entertainment and optional applications for you and your family is a bad idea. If you make 200k then it's probably not.

We're here to talk about TFA. Coming here to comment that "people in country X can't afford this" isn't going to be a helpful conversation. People are aware that there's income differentials between countries.

Sorry, but no, read again what I quoted. I never said people in X country can't afford this or passed any judgement on any of the numbers. I didn't even make a comment about the article.

The poster claimed "If your household income is $200k or above (which, let's face it, most HNers probably do earn)" and I disagreed

Keep in mind that salary is top line gross, before federal/state taxes, retirement savings, healthcare deductions, etc. Then, you take out housing, food, transportation, and other more necessary expenses. Frequently, by the time you do all this, you'll find that small recurring discretionary expenses can make a surprising difference in the amount you have left. $1500 is a large percentage of many people's free cash flow.

If you're in a high tax bracket, it's a bit sobering to realize that a $5k/mo apartment in a high tax state represents ~$120k of pretax income.

Agreed.

To be totally fair, I don't think $1500/yr is a small number, but the author subscribes to so many stuff. I can't get close to that even actively trying. I think most of people would end up with something close to $500/yr which is even more reasonable.

I feel like it depends on what we want to call an app subscription. I feel like most people I know from my parent's generation pay close to $1,500 a year on TV cable service alone. Considering how much of the author's spend is sports and streaming services, that feels fair to consider TV cable in this context.

The median household income in the US is $67k, not 110k.

Come on, please don't play these kinds of games. This includes single people (in which case you wouldn't need the shared Apple plan, among other things.)

The median family income in US appears to be 84,000 in 2020 [0] if that helps.

[0] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEFAINUSA672N

You should run a poll on that income assumption.

> trying to build wealth

The reasoning behind many people claiming that ~$1500/year for software subscription services being "too much" is, in my opinion, not based on the intention to save money.

Rather, it seems to be the realization that these subscriptions cost way more than the perceived value of the benefits they bring.

In other words, spending $1500 a year for e.g. a health insurance might be reasonable. But spending the same $1500 for a year-long subscription of toilet paper might not be.

Sure, but a third or more of their subscriptions are both:

A. Subscriptions they said they were canceling in TFA.

B. Clearly optional entertainment expenses that amount to buying TV.

Trying to judge if other people are spending too much on entertainment seems like it's innately subjective, since different people want and enjoy different things.

$1,500 invested yearly, at 7% interest, generates ~60k in 20 years. So even at your inflated income estimates, this is definitely worth thinking about.

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