How to Review Your Subscriptions
A practical guide to understanding what you are paying for each month.
Subscriptions have a habit of quietly building up. A streaming service here, a newspaper subscription there, an app you signed up for and forgot about. This guide helps you go through them and decide what is worth keeping.
Step 1 -
Find Out What You Are Paying For
The best place to start is your bank or credit card statement. Look for any payment that goes out regularly - monthly or annually.
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What is this for?
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Is it monthly or annual?
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When did I sign up for it?
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How much is it costing me per year?
Step 2 -
Decide What to Keep
If you do not recognise a charge, do not cancel it immediately. Look it up first or ask someone to help. Some legitimate services have unfamiliar names on bank statements.
It is also worth searching the word "subscription" in your email inbox. This will often surface confirmation emails and receipts from services you may have
forgotten about.
For each one, ask:
For each subscription, ask yourself:
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Do I use this? If you have not used it in the last three months, you probably do not need it.
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Do I use it enough to justify the cost? Something cheap is still worth cancelling if you never use it.
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Do I have something else that does the same thing? Duplicates are common - two cloud storage services, for example, or two music apps.
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Is this renewing soon? If an annual subscription is coming up, now is the right time to decide.
Step 3 -
Free Trials to Watch Out For
Once you know what you have, write it down somewhere. A simple list with the name, cost, and renewal date is enough.
This means:
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No more surprises when annual charges come out
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You can review it once a year and keep it up to date
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If a family member ever needs to help, they know where to look
A reminder in your calendar a week before each annual renewal gives you time to decide whether to continue.
Step 4 -
Keep a Simple Record
Once you know what you have, write it down somewhere. A simple list with the name, cost, and renewal date is enough.
This means:
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No more surprises when annual charges come out
-
You can review it once a year and keep it up to date
-
If a family member ever needs to help, they know where to look
A reminder in your calendar a week before each annual renewal gives you time to decide whether to continue.
Common Subscriptions
Worth Checking
These are some of the most frequently forgotten:
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Online shopping memberships
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News or magazine websites
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Antivirus or security software
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Apps on your phone with a monthly charge
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Streaming services (television, music, films)
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Cloud storage (iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox)
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Charity direct debits (worth reviewing, not necessarily cancelling)
If you would like help going through your subscriptions properly, this is one of the things we cover as part of a Digital Stability Audit. We work through it together, at your pace, and produce a clear plan you can keep.
Prefer a hard copy? Download the checklist as a PDF here and keep it somewhere handy.