Quick answer: Print or open your last three months of bank and card statements. Write down every charge that repeats. Add up what each one costs per year. Cancel anything you're not sure about. If you miss it, you can sign up again. Most people save $50 to $150 a month in one hour.
Two weeks into selling everything, I learned something uncomfortable. The easiest money I found wasn't in the garage. It was in my bank statement.
Selling stuff takes photos, listings, shipping, and buyers who never show up. Cancelling a subscription takes one click. And the savings show up every month, forever. If you do one thing from this blog, do this one.
How do I find all my subscriptions?
Set a timer for one hour. Open your bank and credit card statements for the last three months. Three months matters, because some things bill every few months or once a year. Those are the ones you've definitely forgotten.
Go line by line. Every charge that repeats goes on a list with three columns: what it is, what it costs, and what it costs per year. That last column is the one that stings.
A few that show up on almost everyone's list:
- Streaming services, often more than one, sometimes two with the same shows
- A gym you pay to feel guilty about
- Cloud storage you don't fill up
- Phone apps that started as a free trial
- Software for a hobby you paused
- The paid version of something where the free version does the job
- Delivery memberships that make it cheaper to spend more
When the list is done, add up the per-year column. For most people it lands somewhere between a car payment and a month's rent. Every year.
Should I cancel a subscription if I'm not sure?
Yes. This is the rule that makes the whole thing work: cancel everything you're not sure about. Not "think about it." Not "decide next month." Cancel now.
Here's why. If you cancel something you really need, you'll notice within a week and sign up again. Cost of that mistake: a few minutes. If you keep something you don't need because you "might use it," the cost is the price, times forever.
Cancelling is almost free to undo. Keeping is expensive to undo, because you never get around to it.
What did I find in my own statement?
I won't pretend I was careful before this. Between running Airbnbs and a lot of "I'll try this tool" moments, my list was long. Some of it was useful. Most of it was a monument to good intentions.
The small ones surprised me most. Nothing under ten dollars feels like a decision. But nine things under ten dollars is a hundred bucks a month. A hundred bucks a month is twelve hundred a year going to my debt instead.
How do I keep subscriptions from creeping back?
Cancelling is the easy half. Subscriptions grow back like weeds, because every product on earth now wants a monthly relationship with your card. Three rules I use:
- No free trial without a calendar reminder. The day before it starts charging, decide. If you don't decide, it's a no.
- One audit a year, on the calendar. Same one-hour check. Put it next to your taxes.
- One in, one out. A new subscription means an old one goes. The count stays flat.
What should I do with the money I save?
The 5-minute budget has a line for subscriptions and shows the yearly total by itself. Fill it in before the audit and after. The difference is your raise. It's the only raise with no extra work, no taxes, and no boss.
Then send that money straight to the smallest debt on your list, before it turns into something else.
Frequently asked questions
How much do people spend on subscriptions per month?
Most people guess around $80 a month and actually spend two to three times that. The only way to know your number is to read three months of statements line by line.
What is the fastest way to cancel a subscription?
Go to the company's website and look for "Manage subscription" or "Billing." If you signed up through your phone's app store, cancel it in the app store's subscription settings. If you can't find a way out, call your card company and ask them to block the charge.
Is it worth cancelling a $5 subscription?
Yes. Five dollars a month is sixty dollars a year. Five of those is three hundred dollars. Small charges are the ones that add up, because none of them ever feel like a decision.
