Recurring payments are the ultimate source of headaches, especially towards the end of the month—every month. For the past years, I’ve been scrutinising every single payment and working hard hard to minimise these. As I aged, the plan was to live life comfortably without having to worry about money. And, one of the easiest ways to achieve it is by spending less and earning more.
Not every payment is a burden, no. For people like me who write a lot and live life well-balanced between work and life, there are tools I find essential. These are for my creativity, learning, and relaxation. Talking about the subscriptions, here is the list of them I gladly pay for every month. Some have been serving me well. And some, I know they will too.
Netflix. Now it isn’t just a platform for me to watch movies or drama series. It’s also a source of ideas. Whether I’m unwinding with a lighthearted K-drama like Hello, Me! or diving into thought-provoking documentaries or heavy movies such as Seven Seconds, Netflix remains my go-to source for visual entertainment. It keeps me connected to diverse cultures and stories while offering a much-needed escape after long days. I don’t mind paying them close to MYR60 per month.
Spotify. I drive a lot. I love long driving, especially for hunting food. It gives me peace of mind for a few hours while on my way to reach that destination. This is where I need music—to fill up the quiet background. Perhaps I’m the creature who thinks better with soft music played behind the scenes. Here, I pay close to MYR30 for it.
Google One. Being a heavy user of Google, from Tasks, Calendar and Gemini Advanced, to Google Workspace and Docs, I need more than a free membership. The storage is better, the features are better in premium, I can do long Google Meet with it and I have 2TB of storage. In short, these things support me pretty well towards my productivity. I’m glad paying MYR97 per month for all these.
300th. Starting in 2025, I want to earn an income from 300th. It’s an emerging user-generated content platform. Their audience is mostly Asians. Unlike Medium, 300th offers a friendlier payout to Asian writers like me. With its potential for fairer earnings and a growing community, it’s the perfect platform to monetise my passion for storytelling. To date, I have more than 100+ articles already which I give away for free. Moving forward, some of these articles will go behind the paywall. Here, I’m going to pay approximately MYR18 per month to become a premium user to earn income.
Medium. In 2025, I will become a paid member of Medium too—again. I don’t want to miss out on the income I can generate from this platform. Although the payout rate is not friendly to writers outside the United States and Europe, all I have to do is tweak the context of my writing to suit those readers located there. I believe with consistency, I can see the ROI in less than a year or so. The fee is about MYR23.
ChatGPT Plus. I’ll also be subscribing to ChatGPT Plus in 2025. Having already experienced its free version, the quality is surprisingly awesome. I know it will be an invaluable tool for me to brainstorm ideas, overcome writer’s block, and refine my drafts. It’s going to be more than just a tool here. The fee is about MYR90 per month.
It takes some form of investment to make money. These are the very few things I need to invest in to support my professional activities. I’m also thinking of subscribing to Grammarly Pro. Just that, the monthly plan it has is a little bit expensive to me. Paying close to MYR15o per month is pretty steep. As of today, I only have a budget of MYR400 per month for tools subscription. I can only add it up after I secure a few more subscribers for my marketing newsletter first.
Things are working well so far. The present subscriptions don’t just fit into my routine—they make it better. They help me generate income better too.
