Cancel Subscriptions Audit

Find every recurring charge you're paying for, decide what stays, cancel what doesn't, and keep receipts so you can confirm cancellations.

Find Every Charge

• Download 3 months of bank and credit card statements and search for recurring amounts
• Check your email for receipts — search 'receipt' and 'subscription' and 'renewal' in Gmail or Outlook
• Use Rocket Money or Trim to automatically scan linked accounts for subscriptions — both offer free basic tiers
• Check Apple ID subscriptions: App Store > your account > Subscriptions — Apple collects third-party subscriptions separately from apps
• Check Google Play subscriptions: Google Play > profile icon > Payments & subscriptions
• Check PayPal recurring payments: Settings > Payments > Manage Automatic Payments
• Check Amazon: Account > Memberships & Subscriptions (Amazon has a surprising number of auto-enrolled services)

Decide

• For each subscription, answer: Did I use this in the last 30 days? If not, can I get the same value free or at lower cost?
• Identify subscriptions you can pause instead of cancel — Netflix, Hulu, and Spotify all offer temporary pausing
• Consolidate: if you have both Spotify and Apple Music, pick one; if you have both Dropbox and iCloud, pick one

Cancel Properly

• Cancel through the originating platform — canceling a payment method does not always terminate the service and can cause account issues
• Take a screenshot of the confirmation page or email after every cancellation
• Watch your next billing statement to confirm the charge doesn't recur — dispute immediately if it does
• For gyms or services with cancellation fees, read the contract first and decide whether to wait until the penalty window closes

Keep Receipts

• Create a simple spreadsheet listing every active subscription: name, monthly cost, renewal date, and cancellation method
• Set calendar reminders 7 days before each annual subscription renews so you can cancel if needed