Subscriptions are designed to be easy to start and easy to forget. A free trial here, an app there, a membership you meant to use more — each one is small, but together they can cost far more than you would choose to spend on purpose.
This method takes about an hour. Most people find at least one payment they did not know they were still making.
Step 1: Find every regular payment
Go through these places and list anything that repeats:
- Bank and card statements for the last three months. Look for the same amount, the same company, or the same day each month. Annual payments are easy to miss, so check a full year if you can.
- Your phone’s app store subscriptions:
- iPhone or iPad: Settings → tap your name → Subscriptions
- Android: Google Play Store → your profile picture → Payments & subscriptions → Subscriptions
- PayPal or other payment services, which often have a list of automatic payments in their settings.
- Your email: search for words like “subscription”, “renewal”, “your plan” and “receipt”.
Step 2: Write them all in one list
For each one, note:
- what it is
- how much it costs, and how often
- the yearly cost (multiply monthly costs by twelve — it is often surprising)
- the renewal date
- who uses it
Tip: Seeing the yearly total is what makes decisions easy. A small monthly fee looks very different written as a yearly figure.
Step 3: Decide — keep, cancel or downgrade
Go through the list as a household and sort each item:
- Keep: used regularly and worth the money.
- Cancel: not used in the last month or two.
- Downgrade: used, but a cheaper plan, a family plan or an ad-supported tier would do.
- Rotate: for streaming services, consider keeping one or two at a time and switching every few months.
Step 4: Cancel properly
- Cancel through the place you signed up. App store subscriptions must usually be cancelled in the app store, not inside the app.
- Look for the cancellation confirmation and keep the email.
- Check your next statement to make sure the payment has stopped.
- Remove saved card details from services you have cancelled, so they cannot restart by accident.
If a company makes cancelling difficult, check their help pages for “cancel” or “close account”, and contact your bank if you are charged after cancelling.
Step 5: Stop it happening again
- Set a reminder for free trials the day you sign up — a day or two before they end.
- Use one card or account for subscriptions, so they are all in one place.
- Review the list once a year. Put a reminder in your calendar.
- Ask before each new sign-up: will we still use this in three months?
While you are at it
The same approach works for other regular bills: phone contracts, broadband and insurance often rise at renewal, and a quick comparison or phone call can bring them down. Combined with 12 Ways to Cut Your Grocery Bill, it is one of the easiest ways to free up money without changing how you live.
Do it this week
Set aside an hour, grab your last three months of statements, and make the list. It is one of the most satisfying hours of household admin there is.
Comments