The 20-Minute Subscription Audit: Find the Renewals You Forgot

• 1. Pull 12 months of statements
• 2. Put every subscription in one table
• 3. Sort by “would I sign up again today?”
• 4. Cancel before the renewal date, not on it
• 5. Rotate instead of stacking
• Free tools

Subscriptions are the easiest money leak to miss: each one is small, they renew quietly, and many are billed yearly. A 20-minute audit before the new year usually finds at least one to cancel.

§1. Pull 12 months of statements

Monthly statements miss annual renewals. Search your card and bank history for the last 12 months, plus your app store purchase history (Apple and Google both list active subscriptions in account settings).

§2. Put every subscription in one table

Name, price, billing cycle, next renewal date, and which card it’s on. Convert everything to a yearly cost: $12.99 a month is $156 a year, which reads very differently.

§3. Sort by “would I sign up again today?”

Three groups: keep, downgrade (cheaper tier, ad-supported plan, shared family plan), and cancel. Be honest about the “I’ll use it next month” ones.

§4. Cancel before the renewal date, not on it

Set a reminder 3 days before each renewal you want to drop. Many services keep access until the period ends anyway, so cancelling early costs nothing. Check notice periods: some contracts need 30 days.

§5. Rotate instead of stacking

For streaming, one or two services at a time, switching every few months, often gives the same viewing for half the yearly cost.

§Free tools

• Subscription cost calculator: https://smartbudgetsheets.surge.sh/calculators/subscription-cost-calculator/?utm_source=nostr
• Subscription tracker spreadsheet (free CSV for Excel / Google Sheets): https://smartbudgetsheets.surge.sh/templates/subscription-tracker-spreadsheet/?utm_source=nostr
• Guide, how to track your subscriptions: https://smartbudgetsheets.surge.sh/blog/how-to-track-your-subscriptions/?utm_source=nostr
• Price in Work Hours, a free Chrome extension that shows prices as hours of your work: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/price-in-work-hours/cmlbokmpdeonpjebkcfhchnfmjbocfhm?utm_source=nostr
• 42 free CSV budget templates (pay what you want, $0 is fine): https://smartbudgetsheet.gumroad.com/l/ngpkrb?utm_source=nostr

General information, not personal financial advice.