Save money by stripping the waste out of your digital life

Technology has transformed our lives, in many ways for the better. But while it brought the world’s knowledge to our fingertips and opened up new ways to communicate, it also has its downsides. Tech has created a whole industry of new ways that we can waste money.

Companies have a very simple way of operating. They have a product to sell, by any means necessary, and whether we need it or not. A few euro for a subscription here, a couple of unnecessary devices there and it quickly adds up. So what are the top ways you have been wasting money?

Antivirus angst

There are plenty of built-in tools that will help keep your devices secure. Windows 10 and 11 comes with Windows Defender, for example, which will help keep some of the bigger threats at bay. And smartphones are set by default only to install apps from the official app store, which should weed out some of the bigger threats.

Do you need to invest in a third-party service on top of all that? Not necessarily, according to the experts.

Sony WF-1000XM5 wireless earbuds: another leap forward in quality and comfort

---

Fujifilm Instax Mini 99: The most creative and best instant film camera in the line to date

---

Filterworld and Code Dependent: potentially devastating outcomes of algorithmic technology

---

There are free tools out there that will offer the basic protection for users, stripping out potential viruses, flagging suspicious email attachments and highlighting potential phishing sites before you make a mistake and hand over confidential information.

[ Windows 11 is here, so what do you need to know? ]

Combine that with regular software updates for your device’s operating system, and you have plugged up some of the usual attack routes.

If you want the extras that the subscription services bring – enhanced monitoring, for example, parental controls and monitoring the Dark Web for your private data – then you can pay the yearly fee. Just be sure not to let the subscription lapse, which would leave you less protected than you thought.

Insurance

For a lot of things, insurance makes sense. Car insurance is a legal requirement if you drive; banks will insist on some form of life insurance if you take out a mortgage. And it is a good idea to insure your home just in case the worst should happen.

But what about mobile phone insurance? Is it worth paying out a monthly fee to cover your state of the art smartphone against theft or damage?

It depends. We’re not saying you shouldn’t have insurance. Accidents happen and insurance can be very valuable in helping to defray the costs of repairing or replacing your device. And given how heavily we all rely on our phones these days, being without it can be a serious inconvenience at best.

If you are planning a few trips abroad, some policies will only cover you for a set number of days outside Ireland. Go over that and you might find your cover is not what you thought it was

If you are a serial loser of smartphones, or have racked up a few repairs in the past few years, then insurance may be a good investment. But it is not necessarily true for everyone, especially when the cost of the policy and the excess is taken into account.

[ The dos and don'ts of gadget insurance ]

You should also look at the fine print. Some policies will pay out only under certain circumstances. For example, if you don’t report the loss or theft of a device within a certain period of time, you could have your claim refused. Others will only cover claims up to a certain value, or have a restriction on the number of claims you can make in a 12-month period.

There’s more: if you are planning a few trips abroad, some policies will only cover you for a set number of days outside Ireland. Go over that and you might find your cover is not what you thought it was.

‘Free’ upgrades

Speaking of smartphones, what about the constant upgrade cycle that we get trapped in? That could be another waste of money for you.

First of all, let’s dump the idea of a “free” upgrade. They are almost never free; you are paying the cost of the phone at some point. Usually, the cost of your phone is spread over several months, added on to the cost of the mobile plan that gives you your allocated minutes, texts (if you still use them) and data. That suits most people when they need new devices; spread the cost of the phone over several months – often up to two years – and you can afford a better phone than paying outright.

A few small fixes – replacing the battery for example – will be cheaper than investing in a new phone and could extend the life of your device by another couple of years

At the end of that contract, another upgrade is usually dangled in front of you and the cycle starts again.

But what if you don’t go for the upgrade? People are hanging on to smartphones for longer, with the increasingly high cost of the devices and the rising cost of living lengthening the replacement cycle. A few small fixes – replacing the battery for example – will be cheaper than investing in a new phone and could extend the life of your device by another couple of years.

One thing to remember: If you decide to keep your existing smartphone and don’t switch to a sim-only plan, you are still unnecessarily paying for the handset.

And lastly, buying new isn’t always best; you could bag a bargain by going down the refurbished route. They come with the same warranties as new products, and you are covered by consumer protection laws.

The subscription trap

We all have numerous subscriptions to our names these days, from cloud storage to streaming video and music. But how many do we actually make use of? And how much could we save if we decided to cut back on the unnecessary ones?

There are probably a couple that you have forgotten about. Free trials that roll over into a paid subscription can go on for months or even years before you realise that a regular €3 or €5 a month is being siphoned from your account.

The problem is that many subscriptions are easy to sign up for but harder to escape from, although there are moves at a European level to rectify this.

Even if you don’t really want to stop your subscription, it can be worth your while to at least try to cancel. If you tell a company you want to cancel your subscription, they may also offer you a deal

In the meantime, you can avoid the free trial trap by cancelling your subscription almost as soon as you have signed up. Most services will allow you to access the remaining time in the trial, and you don’t have to remember to cancel at the end of the free period. Otherwise, set a reminder for yourself in your calendar.

There are also deals to be had – bundling your Netflix subscription with your Sky package, for example, will save you a few euro.

You can also pause subscriptions when there is nothing that you want to watch, and restart the service when you have a few series’ to binge on in the space of a couple of weeks.

Even if you don’t really want to stop your subscription, it can be worth your while to at least try to cancel. If you tell a company you want to cancel your subscription, they may also offer you a deal – a discount for several months, for example – and you can repeat that until they no longer offer you money off just to keep your custom.

If it is a service that you know you will make use of, it is worth investigating if paying for the full year in advance will get you a discount. For example, Disney+ will give you a discount of around 15 per cent for paying for the year up front.

Cheap tech

Cheap doesn’t always mean a bargain. That cut-price tablet, for example, could be unusable due to a poor screen, or find itself out of support and security updates in an alarmingly short time, rendering it useless. The cheap printer you have bought to get through the school term may initially seem like a bargain but by the time you factor in the cost of replacing the ink – particularly if they are multi-ink cartridges rather than single ink or even refillable ink tanks – the printer could end up costing you a lot more in the long run.

And that is also contributing to another dirty secret: electronic waste. Millions of tonnes of waste electronics are being generated every year, and not all of it is recycled. That represents an environmental time bomb that is polluting the planet.

Before you part with your cash, take a look at the bigger picture. Is it durable? Repairable? Check out its energy rating while you are at it. Every little bit helps – the planet and your pocket.