The Subscription Drain: How to Audit and Cut

Subscriptions are designed to be easy to forget. Small monthly charges that auto-renew quietly. You signed up for a free trial, forgot to cancel, and now you're paying $15 monthly for something you haven't touched in six months.

Studies suggest the average person pays for subscriptions they don't actively use, wasting roughly $200 per month or $2,400 per year. That's real money disappearing for services delivering zero value.

Find Every Subscription

Look at 2-3 months of bank and credit card statements. Highlight every recurring charge. You're looking for:

  • Streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO, etc.)
  • Music and podcasts (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.)
  • Software and apps (Adobe, Microsoft, various apps)
  • Cloud storage (Google, Apple, Dropbox, etc.)
  • News and media (newspapers, magazines, Substack, etc.)
  • Fitness (gym memberships, fitness apps, online classes)
  • Food and drink (meal kits, wine clubs, coffee subscriptions)
  • Gaming (Xbox Live, PlayStation Plus, game subscriptions)
  • Productivity tools (Notion, Evernote, to-do apps)
  • Other services (Amazon Prime, roadside assistance, etc.)

Don't forget annual subscriptions. That $120 charge you see once per year is $10 monthly.

The Actual Usage Test

For each subscription, answer honestly: Did I use this in the last 30 days?

Not "Do I plan to use it eventually?" or "Might I need it someday?" Did you actually use it in the last month?

If no, cancel it. You can always resubscribe if you genuinely need it later. Most services make reactivating easy.

The Value Test

For subscriptions you did use, ask: Is this worth what I'm paying?

A streaming service you watch multiple times per week is probably worth $15. A gym membership you use twice a month might not be worth $60 when you could work out at home or pay for a cheaper option.

Calculate cost per use. If you pay $40 monthly for a service you use twice, that's $20 per use. Could you get similar value elsewhere for less?

Double Check Family Plans

Are you paying for individual subscriptions when a family plan would be cheaper? Spotify Family costs $17 for up to six people. Six individual accounts would be $60.

Similarly, are you splitting a family plan with others? If someone's no longer using the shared account, maybe you can downgrade.

Look for Redundancy

Do you have Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV+? That's six streaming services. Do you actually watch content on all six regularly, or could you rotate between them?

Subscribe to two at a time, cancel when you've watched what you wanted, resubscribe to different ones next month. You'll save money and probably watch less TV, which isn't necessarily bad.

Negotiate or Downgrade

Some subscriptions offer lower tiers. Maybe you're paying for 2TB of cloud storage when you're only using 200GB and could downgrade to a cheaper plan.

For services you want to keep but find expensive, try canceling. Many companies offer retention discounts if you're actively canceling. "We can offer you three months at 50% off" is common.

Watch for Price Increases

Subscription companies raise prices and hope you won't notice. That $9.99 streaming service is now $15.99. You're paying 60% more for the same content.

When you see a price increase email, decide if it's still worth it at the new price. Don't just accept higher costs by default.

Set Quarterly Reminders

Add a calendar reminder every three months to review subscriptions. Services you used in January might be worthless by April. Regular audits prevent money from leaking away.

Treat it like a recurring bill review. What are you paying for? What are you using? What can you cut?

Cancel Properly

"Unsubscribe" in an app doesn't always cancel billing. You usually need to cancel through your app store settings (iPhone/Android) or the service's website.

After canceling, confirm you receive a cancellation email. Check next month's statement to verify the charge stopped. Companies sometimes "accidentally" keep billing.

The Bottom Line

List all recurring subscriptions from your statements. Cancel anything you haven't used in 30 days. Evaluate whether active subscriptions are worth their cost. Look for redundancies, downgrade options, or family plan savings. Review quarterly to catch new subscription creep. If finding all these recurring charges sounds tedious, BankToBudget can analyze your transactions and identify all your subscriptions automatically.