A few dollars a month here, an annual renewal there: subscriptions are designed to feel small. The only way to see what they really cost is to add them up on the same basis, and most people are surprised by the total.
Step 1: Find them all
Go through the last 12 months of bank and card statements. Twelve months matters, because annual renewals only show up once a year and are the easiest to forget. Also check your app store subscriptions and the email inbox you use for receipts.
Step 2: Put them on one scale
List monthly subscriptions and annual ones separately, then convert everything to a yearly total.
Monthly plans for a year
$45.00 × 12equals$540.00
Total per year
$540.00 + $120.00equals$660.00
Per month on average
$660.00 ÷ 12equals$55.00
Spread across 8 subscriptions, that averages $82.50 each per year. Seeing a yearly number next to each one makes it much easier to judge whether it is worth it.
Step 3: Decide on each one
- Keep: you use it every week and would sign up again today.
- Downgrade: you use it, but not the features of the plan you are on.
- Cancel: you have not used it in the last month or two.
- Combine: two services do the same job, such as overlapping storage or streaming.
Step 4: Stop it happening again
- Put every annual renewal date in your calendar with a reminder a month ahead.
- Cancel free trials the day you start them if you are not sure you want them. Most keep working until the trial ends.
- Use one card for subscriptions, so they are all in one statement.
Tip: For a business, repeat the audit every six months, and check seat counts too. Paying for seats of people who have left is one of the most common software costs to find.