– Joanna Keeton contributed to this report
Once again, the month of January is upon us and it’s probably become apparent to most of us by now that those striving resolutions we created three G&T’s and a luke warm snowball worse for wear on New Year’s Eve probably haven’t all held true.
On the other hand, if this fact is contrary to you then congratulations on being a better person. Though envious of your willpower, we are oh so happy that our give-up-chocolate resolution just didn’t stick, after all a staggering 88% of us don’t manage to keep our resolutions past the six month mark.
According to One Poll, the most common New Year’s Resolutions are to lose weight and to save money, with 61% of us hoping to drop a few pounds, and 60% of us hoping to earn a few more.
Though a subscription to the gym would seemingly be the right way to go about sating both these goals, a recent study has found that three quarters of us are wasting money on unused monthly subscription services; around £13.84 a month to be exact.
Nationwide research commissioned by Blinkbox in December 2012 revealed that, although around 50% of us are hoping to sign up to a subscription to help us keep our resolutions, 77% of those polled felt they’d wasted money on services last year, with 80% considering cancelling to a PAYG option.
Worryingly enough, it was found that 13% of us hadn’t cancelled due to forgetting that we’d signed up, and 15% blamed pure laziness. Clearly no-one has told them that a gym membership alone won’t secure weight loss.
Subscription services are particularly popular amongst 18-34 year olds, but are they really good value for money? Though they come with that initial feel good kick after reading all the benefits you’ll reap for a measly £9.99/month, many put their plan into action to find it rather under-used. This means that financial saving you were meant to be making can actually turn into an expense.
Blinkbox’s Ben Ayers added: “If you’re about to take out a subscription service in the hope that it’ll help save you money in 2013, you might fail to keep to your resolution. Ditch the subscription, pay for what you want when you want it and make 2013 the year you bucked the trend.”
Will 2013 be the year you keep your resolutions year out? What did you resolve to do this year? Let us know in the comments below or by tweeting us @thelinc.