The subscriptions audit

Resources · Life and money · 5 min read Starting out

Key points

• Subscriptions are easy to start and easy to forget.
• Looking at the yearly cost, not the monthly one, changes how they feel.
• A one-hour subscription audit can find every recurring payment you have.
• Keep, pause, downgrade or cancel: each is a valid choice.

Why subscriptions creep up

Streaming. Music. Apps, cloud storage, the gym, meal kits, software, news sites, delivery passes. Each one looks small on its own. Lots of them start as a free trial that quietly rolls into a paid plan, and prices can rise over time.

They come out automatically, so you rarely think about them. That’s handy. It’s also exactly why so many people keep paying for things they stopped using months ago. A subscription audit fixes that.

Subscription audit step 1: find every recurring payment

Block out an hour. Pull up the last three months of statements for every account and card you use.

Start with the obvious ones: monthly charges that repeat on a similar date. Then hunt for yearly charges. These are easy to miss because they only show up once, so search back a full year if you can.

App store payments need a closer look. Your statement may not show each app store subscription separately, so check the subscriptions list in your phone settings as well. Some payment services and online shops run recurring payments of their own, too. And don’t forget any free trials you’ve signed up for that are about to turn into paid plans.

Write each one down. Cost, and how often it’s charged. All of it.

Step 2: see the yearly cost

Monthly prices feel small. Yearly prices feel real. So convert everything to a yearly figure.

Here’s an example list:

Seen as one number, $1,115.16 a year can be a bit of a shock. The same maths works in any currency.

Step 3: sort each one

Go down the list and be honest with yourself:

• When did I last use this?
• Would I sign up for it again today, at this price?
• Is another subscription already doing the same job?
• Would I even notice if it was gone?

Then give each one a verdict. Keep it if you use it and value it. Pause it if you’ll want it again, just not now (many services let you pause or rejoin later). Downgrade it if a cheaper plan, fewer users or an ad-supported tier would do the job. Or cancel it, because you don’t use it or it isn’t worth the price to you.

There’s no magic number of subscriptions. Some people happily pay for several because they use them every single day. Others rotate, keeping one streaming service at a time and switching every few months. It comes down to what you value.

What cancelling three could save

Take the example above. Say you cancel the second streaming service ($11.99), the news site ($6.99) and the gym you haven’t set foot in ($29.99). That’s $48.97 a month, or $587.64 a year.

Step 4: cancel properly

Cancelling is rarely as easy as signing up was.

Cancel through the service itself, or through your phone’s app store if that’s where you subscribed. Deleting the app usually doesn’t cancel anything. Keep a record, either a screenshot or the confirmation email. Then check your next statement to make sure the charge has actually stopped.

One more thing. Many services let you keep access until the end of the period you’ve already paid for, so note that end date.

Consumer protection rules about cancelling differ between countries and change over time. If a business makes cancelling hard, or keeps charging you after you’ve cancelled, you may be able to complain to a consumer protection agency where you live.

Step 5: stop new ones sneaking in

Set a reminder a few days before any free trial ends. That one habit alone catches a lot.

It also helps to keep a running list of every subscription with its price and renewal date, and to actually read those renewal emails for price rises. Then repeat the audit once or twice a year.

What to do with the savings

Freed-up money has a habit of drifting into other spending. Decide where it goes and it’ll count for something. Some people put it toward debt as their extra each month. Some put it into savings. Some spend it on the one subscription they truly love. Your call.

Common questions

How do I find all my subscriptions?

Go through the last three months of statements for every account and card, and search back a full year for yearly charges. Check the subscriptions list in your phone’s app store too.

Does deleting an app cancel the subscription?

Usually not. Cancel through the service itself, or through your phone’s app store if that’s where you subscribed, and keep a record.

How often should I do a subscription audit?

Many people do it once or twice a year, and set reminders before free trials end.

Try it

Use the true cost calculator to see what a regular expense adds up to over time. If you have debt, find your Freedom Date to see what your savings could change.

General information only, not financial advice. Your situation is your own.