Subscription creep is easy to miss because each charge looks small by itself. An audit works best as a list of decisions, rather than a promise that every canceled service will transform your budget.
Gather a full cycle
Review card statements, bank transactions, app-store subscriptions and payment services. Look back a year to catch annual renewals. Record the provider, amount, billing frequency, next renewal and how to cancel. Avoid putting passwords or full card numbers in your spreadsheet.
Sort into keep, review and cancel
Keep services you use enough to justify the cost. Review duplicates, overlapping household plans and unused tiers. For anything you plan to cancel, use the provider’s cancellation process and retain confirmation. Deleting an app usually does not cancel its subscription.
Annual can cost more
A $12 monthly service costs $48 if you only use it for four months. A $96 annual plan costs twice that, even though the annual price is lower than twelve monthly payments. Use the annual vs. monthly calculator with your expected use, not an idealized full year.
Track realized savings
A planned cancellation is not the same as a completed cancellation. Check the next statement. Count savings from the point payments actually stop, and subtract cancellation fees or replacement costs where applicable. An audit file can track the annualized run rate without implying that all of it becomes cash this month.
Keep the follow-up small
Set calendar reminders before the expensive annual renewals you keep. This site does not cancel services or send renewal notices. The subscription audit workbook stores your decisions and calculates annualized costs locally.
Written for Pocket Interval. Reviewed November 1, 2026. Examples are illustrative. CFPB emergency fund guidance provides additional educational context.