The Cozy Economy: Why Fall is the Season of Subscriptions

The cozy economy marks a change in spending and the beginning autumn consumer behaviour. Also known as the hygge economy, this is the time of year where we are preparing for winter. Summer swimwear and BBQs are packed away until next year and it’s now about comfort spending.

This is all about the psychology of fall spending. The weather is colder and wetter, the nights beginning to get longer, so it’s clear to see why home-centric spending is so important as this point.

Autumnal subscriptions

Subscription spending is featuring in our lives in a bigger way in fall. Seasonal subscriptions see us set ourselves up for the coming months of fall and winter, making sure we have everything we need to ride out these brutally cold times.

Subscriptions are now big business in the UK and this year millions more Brits are expected to sign up to everything they need to get through Autumn in the comfiest and coziest ways possible. For example, a cozy socks subscription or blanket subscription box is a no brainer as the nights get colder. Literary options – like thriller novel subscriptions or a horror book box – can really add to the ambience, and who could ignore a craft beer subscription or wine club option?

There are subscriptions for all sorts being signed up to right now – from knitting boxes to meal kits – with countless ways to keep seasonal affective disorder (SAD) at bay and make the most of the return of longer evenings. This is undeniably emotional spending, with comfort purchasing to get us through the sharp change in weather. Such subscriptions are also very effectively marketed on social media, leading to habit formation and fear of missing out (FOMO) which drive more signups.

Subscription budgeting

That being said, it’s important to keep an eye on the cost of subscriptions. These recurring expenses can very quickly pile up and end up taking a significant chunk out of your gross income, and subscription inflation means some of these are increasing in price. Additionally, some brands – and we won’t name and shame – will have hidden subscription fees or covert subscription price increases.

Therefore it’s very important to stay on top of your finances and keep tracking recurring payments as they come out of your account. Consider setting a reminder for weeks from now to do a subscription audit, when you could maybe cancel some subscriptions that no longer make sense.

Subscriptions can often be great value and they’ll often be framed as such. For a recurring payment you could get numerous goods and services at a generous discount. But just because you sign up to a subscription one day, doesn’t mean you’ll feel the same way weeks from now. That pumpkin baking kit might need to be actively cancelled before it keeps eroding your finances long into November and December.

Fintech budgeting tools for seasonal subscriptions

Fortunately, managing subscription costs doesn’t need to be something you do all by yourself. There are now numerous subscription management apps available on the market that you can use to track subscriptions and manage recurring payments throughout autumn and beyond. Here are just a couple of the best money management apps available in the UK right now:

Emma

Emma is a money management app that has attracted more than 1.6 million customers since its 2019 inception. It uses open banking to combine information about your existing accounts, credit cards and investments, meaning it has great insights to seasonal subscriptions.

Emma has numerous features but a few of the most helpful include its ability to group all accounts together in one place, with monthly saving prompts to keep your budgeting on track and a system to flag wasteful subscriptions. There are four plans to choose from, from a free version to £124.99 a year.

Snoop

Also launching in 2019, Snoop is a largely free budgeting app (though there is a Snoop Plus plan available at £39.99 a year). Like Emma, Snoop also uses open banking to consolidate all of your bank accounts into one place.

Snoop’s features include tracking all your bills and outgoings, categorisation of regular spending, monthly spending limits and notifications of ‘Snoops” which are helpful ways to save money (such as subscription cancellation).

Nesting season

It’s worth doing some research and finding the best financial dashboards for your own situation, which can analyse your subscription spending and identify unused subscriptions. But we don’t want to be complete naysayers – the subscription box trends in autumn are fun, and the goods and services you get delivered to you day in these soggy and cold months can really help keep the blues away.

Self-care spending in fall can make a difference, but it’s important to balance this out. Subscription box trends show we’re spending more and more each year on seasonal spending habits but it’s important to keep these balanced for the sake of our finances.