Is a life without subscriptions still possible?
The short answer; Yes! Absolutely! I do NOT pay for any services, software or anything through a subscription. None, nada. Nothing!
But what qualifies as a subscription? Here's the definition according to the internet.
Subscription An amount of money that you pay regularly and automatically to receive a product or service.
That's simple enough. And using that definition my life is entirely subscription free.
Mind you, there are a bunch of different definitions floating around. Most of them seem to focus on the subscription for magazines, or news feeds. Like receiving a news paper. That's not what we're talking about here.
I do have some regular bills like electricity, I pay rent every month, and I have a pre-paid phone. Maybe the annual payment for my hosting provider, for my websites and stuff counts as a sort of subscription. However, none of those are on a automated payment schedule or with an ongoing obligation. So in my opinion that's not a true subscription.
I don't pay for any streaming services like HBO, Netflix or whatever. I don't subscribe to any magazines or newspapers. I don't use SaaS software or any online services that extracts money from me. I do not pay any of the large tech companies for cloud storage. And I most definitely do not pay for any App Store subscriptions.
Getting rid of subscriptions
News can be had from many sources for free or paid as you need it, without a recurring fee. Buy a real newspaper if you care that much. Entertainment is mostly free as well - Online videos, torrenting, actually buying a movie. Buy your video games. You know the drill.
The same with production software, find alternatives that you can buy and own. Or find free tools that work for what you need it for. Look outside the app stores where available. Apple's App Store or even the Windows Store certainly do not have everything available. Not even close. So, look elsewhere. This is not as easy on Android or iOS, but since there are no real alternatives, almost everything in existence is in the app store. The alternatives you want are there too - Most of the time.
Big tech will have you believe that not using their app store is unsafe and inconvenient, but it's only their wallet that's at risk, and inconvenient for their income stream. Not your concern.
I haven't bought any subscriptions in the last 15 or so years. And the few I did have before that were just so I could get what I wanted from it quickly. When that goal was achieved I immediately cancelled the service. Effectively if I can't buy it, I'm not using the software or service. It's usually not worth it anyway.
I think it pays off to at least look for alternative software, tools and services. Often it's cheaper, or a more fairly priced alternative exists.
I bet you can cancel a dozen or more subscriptions as well if you put in some effort.
Try it, your wallet will thank you!