I've been reading a bunch of people's posts about their subscriptions on Mastodon recently, Maique and Robb to name a couple.
I thought it would be smart for me to actually know what I'm spending on, so why not share too?
Apps #
Ivory (£14.99 per year)
After trying so many Mastodon apps, I keep bounce between this and the official Mastodon app. Some of the smaller UI elements in Ivory stick out to me that keep me using it as my main app.
Carrot (£8.99 per year)
I've been using this weather app for a number of years now, no issues, likely to be around for a while.
Overcast (£8.99 per year)
I've come back to Overcast after a few years in Apple Podcast as my current car doesn't have CarPlay, so I have to do a lot more control by voice.
Overcast has much better Stations, where I can specificy the shows and order to play them. Shortcuts integration is better too.
I'm months behind on my podcasts since I commuted less during covid, which was my main listening time. I'm catching up and Overcast makes it easier.
Total = £32.97 per year ~ £2.75 per month
Gaming #
Apple Arcade (Included below)
Very happy with this - when my youngest wants a game on the iPad it must come from Apple Arcade, I know it'll be a decent game with no adverts.
Xbox Game Pass (£12.99 per month)
We barely use it; I've certainly paid over the odds for the few games the kids actually play. I need to pay for them up front and get rid of the subscription.
Nintendo (£32 per year)
The kids use it, but rarely. Can probably go too.
NYT Games (£3 every 4 weeks)
This is for me. I play the games daily, it's going nowhere.
Total = £226.88 per year ~ £18.91 per month
Streaming #
Apple TV+ (Included below)
I like it, not the biggest library but generally all good quality.
Netflix (£23 per month)
How much?! I pay for the 4K, and my extended family took advantage of the extra profiles, but after the recent clampdown I was all but certain Netflix was going to go. We do watch it, but not as often as a few years ago.
However, a family member has thrown some money at me to get the cheaper additional login, so it'll stay for a little bit until that expires, and I'll figure it out then.
Disney+ (£79.90 per year)
Disney have a wide catalogue that I generally like. Star Wars and Marvel are loved by the kids, and I'm probably watching more TV series here than Netflix currently.
Amazon Prime (£95 per year)
TV and Movies are okay, but we like the delivery too. Kind of useful.
Now TV Entertainment (£3 per month)
Resubscribed a week ago for a specific series. Took advantage of a price offer, though it'll likely not stick around when the offer expires.
Total = £486.9 per year ~ £40.58 per month
Reading #
Newsblur (£19 per year)
Smart RSS reader that I've been subscribed for 10 years so far.
Which? (£9 per month)
Has been super useful when we were moving house, and while a family member has a new kitchen installed - but its days are numbered as these projects are almost complete.
Total = £127 per year ~ £10.59 per month
Email & Hosting #
Apple Premier One (£36.95 per Month)
This includes iCloud storage for photos and device backups, Apple Music, Apple Arcade and Apple TV+, all are used regularly in my household.
It also includes Apple News+ and Apple Fitness+ but these aren't really used at all. I did check out pricing the individual components but it's better to keep them included.
This is shared with 4 other family members and considering the included services is a pretty fair price.
Microsoft 365 (£80 per year)
I have a Family plan, as a bunch of us use office for school or home-based work, my wife and I use the extended OneDrive storage for iPhone photo backup too.
I also have a bunch of 365 exchange plans for extended family members too (partially paid by work so not included in these totals) and is our primary email service. I don't use the custom domain in 365 Family as it's too restrictive.
With 365 Exchange Online I can add all my different domains, have as many aliases and rules as I need and make use of 'free' shared mailboxes!
Shared mailboxes are great for younger family members, they can have their own Apple ID, Xbox ID etc but the email can be accessed/managed by the parents.
When they get older, we'll license the mailbox, and they can login in themselves.
Proton Unlimited (10.32 per month)
The email is a nice service, though critically underused by me due to Office 365 being so good. I do make use of the VPN, but the calendar, drive and password manager are redundant.
But, I don't want to get rid of it. I just like it.
omg.lol (£48 per year) Cool domain, email forwarding, basic hosting, pastebin, Mastodon, IRC, statuslog... A whole bunch of services for a reasonable price.
I have a few different addresses with a number of years prepaid on each. It'll be around for a while!
OCI (~£2.40 per month)
I have a few servers here, hosting Mastodon, Matrix, this site, other sites, a whole bunch.
I've been taking advantage of the 'forever-free' tier and adding some extra bits on, so my costs are fairly low.
I used AWS before and compared the prices should the 'free' tier ever go away and it still worked out better in OCI, so I'm not too worried if anything changes.
Bunny CDN (£1 per month)
My sites don't get much traffic, so my usage is low. I don't need it but being so low cost, I like having it around.
dnsimple (£4.30 per month)
I've tried a bunch of DNS services - this one seems the easiest and tidiest.
Some domains have good pricing and live here too.
Ionos (£21 per month)
One of the first hosting services I ever used and just keeps hanging around, getting more and more expensive.
I need to get the last few sites moved over to OCI and cancel this hosting.
There are a whole bunch of domains here, so the service probably won't go away completely.
Total = £1037.64 per year ~ £86.47 per month
Total #
So, I spend £1913.39 a year, or averaged out as £159.45 per month.
That is a lot, no question about it. I can save a little bit in hosting, but most trimmings will come from entertainment, which seems a shame.
I do enjoy tinkering with servers though, so, maybe it's all entertainment?
😅
Other notes #
1Password
I have a free family plan as part of work subscription but would pay myself otherwise.
Domains
Not counted in the above, I have around 44 domains, including some for me, my family members and their businesses - £642 per year. Eek.