As Australians continue to battle the cost-of-living pressures caused by years of high inflation and interest rates, plenty are wasting hundreds of dollars a year on subscription services they never use, with many even having forgotten about signing up in the first place.

Research released by Westpac this week revealed three in every 10 Aussies lose $600 a year on duplicate apps and services they don’t use.

It also found the average consumer spends an extra 20 per cent on subscriptions than what they realise – the equivalent of about $14 a month or $168 a year.

“Convenience is clearly appealing to Australians and they’re willing to pay for it. But our research has found these services might be running away from them a little bit,” Westpac acting chief executive, consumer, Carolyn McCann said.

“When we compared total estimated spend against customer transaction data, we could see customers are spending about $14 more each month than they think they are on subscriptions.

“While subscription costs might not seem like much in isolation, they can quickly add up – especially if these are apps or services you no longer use.

“This is hundreds or even thousands in potential savings that could be redirected elsewhere.”

The research found that failing to cancel a service during a trial was the main reason people were spending more than they thought, while just under a third of consumers said they’d paid for a subscription they’d forgotten about.

A similar proportion (31 per cent) said they found it too difficult to cancel certain services.

Westpac also found Australians are spending $141 extra a year on subscriptions, an increase of 11.3 per cent from 2024.

Gaming services are the biggest money sinks for Australians, costing the average consumer $55.50 a month ($666 a year), followed by video streamers ($21.63 per month/$260 a year) and music ($16.98 a month/$204 a year).

At the same time, Westpac also found its customers are spending a whopping $2200 a year on takeaway food.

“Our data suggests customers are willing to spend on what makes life easier, with a significant uplift in spend on food services,” McCann said.

“But there’s also growing awareness around value.

“While spend on home and utility subscriptions recorded the second-highest spend growth, customers also said these services delivered the least value.”