Most subscription audits fail because people start, get distracted, and never finish. This checklist is designed to be completed in one sitting — about 10 minutes if you move through it without stopping.

Do this once a quarter. Put it in your calendar. The average user who does a full audit saves over $200/year.

The 10-Step Audit

Gmail / Email Inbox

Search for: receipt, invoice, subscription, "billing confirmation". Look for anything recurring. Flag anything you don't recognise.

Primary bank account

Download last 3 months. Sort by amount. Mark every recurring charge. Cross off the ones you recognise and want to keep.

Credit card #1

Same process. Different cards often have different subscriptions — especially if you use one card for online purchases.

Credit card #2 (if applicable)

Repeat. Include any store cards or business cards.

PayPal recurring payments

paypal.com → Account Settings → Payments → Manage automatic payments. Cancel anything you no longer use.

Apple subscriptions

Settings → [your name] → Subscriptions. Check both active and expired. Active = currently billing you.

Google Play subscriptions

Play Store → profile photo → Payments & subscriptions → Subscriptions.

Amazon memberships

amazon.com → Account → Memberships & Subscriptions. Check Prime, Channels, Subscribe & Save, Audible, Kindle Unlimited separately.

Software / SaaS tools

Adobe, Microsoft 365, Canva, Figma, Notion, Dropbox, 1Password, VPNs. Open each app you use and check the billing section.

Domain and hosting registrars

Namecheap, GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Hover — annual auto-renewals for domains you may no longer need.

How to Decide: Keep or Cancel?

For every subscription you find, apply this two-question test:

Have I used this in the last 30 days? If no, put it on the cancel list. The only exception is annual subscriptions that pay for something you'll use in bursts (e.g., a seasonal streaming service).
Would I sign up for this today, at this price? Ignore what you've already paid. If the honest answer is no, cancel. Sunk costs don't justify ongoing costs.

The One-Month Rule

If you're unsure about a subscription — you use it occasionally but aren't sure it's worth the cost — apply the one-month rule: cancel it. If you genuinely miss it within 30 days, resubscribe. You'll lose at most one month of access. In practice, most people who cancel under the one-month rule never resubscribe.

The psychology here matters: we dramatically overestimate how much we'll use something we're currently paying for. Once the payment stops, you quickly learn whether the service was actually valuable.

What to Do After the Audit

Once you've identified subscriptions to cancel, do it immediately — don't make a note to cancel later. Later rarely comes. Go straight to the cancellation page.

For everything you keep: add it to a tracker so you can see your total monthly spending in one place. The goal isn't to cancel everything — it's to know exactly what you're paying for.

Set a reminder to repeat this audit in 3 months. New subscriptions accumulate faster than you'd expect.