A few years ago, I decided to subscribe to the Allure Beauty Box. I’d heard about this subscription frequently from people who liked the monthly shipments of sample-sized beauty products. I don’t use a ton of products. But my daughter has entered that stage of life, and so the market for beauty products in my house has doubled. I figured we could share a subscription. She could mostly take the cosmetics and I’d take the wrinkle creams.
And that is what we have done. Whenever the box comes, we open it and split the loot. It’s been a fun thing to do together, and we haven’t had conflict over who takes what — possibly because I am an adult who can buy my own stuff if I want to and so I always give her first dibs, but also because we like different things. More of the products get used, for sure, then if I thought of the subscription as being just for me.
A double benefit
You may not be into the Allure Beauty Box. But perhaps there is some other subscription service that interests you. I’m a big fan of spending money on fun things, but I know it can sometimes be hard to justify. If you split a subscription, on the other hand, you and someone else could both get use out of it, strengthen your relationship with each other, and each pay a little less. (Though, note, I am not charging my daughter!)
For instance, maybe you and a neighbor both like reading print edition of The Economist. That is not a cheap subscription. But maybe you split the cost and you work out a schedule for each of you sharing the issue that comes each week. Or maybe you and a friend both want to work out using an exercise video service. If you watch the videos and do them together, it would be legitimate to have one subscription for the two of you — and, perhaps as a bigger bonus, you’ll get to work out with a friend. That’s a lot of accountability.
Don’t be cheap
Now obviously there are some limits to what you can do here, and you want to be fair to the companies whose products you’re sharing. Netflix famously cracked down on people sharing passwords. You can share a streaming subscription service with someone in your household but probably not with your relative who lives two states over. While I like it that people forward my articles to friends, I’m hoping most paid Vanderhacks subscribers are paying for their own subscriptions!
But with some things, sharing a subscription means you will become a customer in a way you wouldn’t on your own — and you might reduce waste too. If you like fresh meat but don’t eat that much of it, sharing one of those ButcherBox-type subscriptions with a neighbor might be wise. If you and your friend wear the same size, you could split a clothing subscription service and may be more likely to keep all of the items that come — getting a discount and reducing the environmental costs of returns.
Sharing is sometimes a lot of work, so you need to build that into your equation, and be sure you are truly seeing your sharing counter-part frequently enough for this to make sense. But there is no extra work involved in situations like that with the Allure Beauty Box and my daughter. It’s all in the same mailbox, and our bathrooms are just down the hall. It all works out.
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This is a great idea. I know a lot of people do stuff like duolingo family, which probably makes it more fun for everyone.
I share my Costco membership with my dear friend. The best part is we go together. We chat and gossip and eat samples. Then help each other load the car. It’s a drag by myself but with her it’s so so fun.