GhostSubsA subscription audit is the highest-hourly-rate financial task most people can do: thirty minutes typically recovers $20–50 a month, permanently. This checklist is the whole process, in the order that pays off fastest.
You'll need: your phone, your card statements (or banking app), and your email.
The audit, step by step
- List Apple subscriptions (5 min). Settings → your name → Subscriptions. Write down every active one with its price and renewal date. Cancel anything you haven't opened in a month — the subscription survives until its period ends anyway.
- List Google Play subscriptions (3 min). play.google.com/store/account/subscriptions. Same rule. Watch for apps you've uninstalled — they're still billing.
- Check PayPal automatic payments (3 min). PayPal Settings → Payments → Automatic payments. This is where the oldest forgotten subscriptions live.
- Scan 3 months of statements (10 min). Mark every recurring merchant. Three months catches monthly charges multiple times and most quarterly ones. Anything you can't identify: search the merchant name plus "charge" — it's usually an app-store or processor alias.
- Search your email (5 min). Search "receipt", "renewal", and category:purchases (Gmail) over the last year. This catches annual renewals and anything on cards you no longer use. A tool like GhostSubs does this step automatically and keeps it current.
- Apply the keep test (5 min). For each subscription: used in the last 30 days? Would I sign up again today at this price? Two noes = cancel now. One no = calendar reminder to re-decide at renewal.
What to do with the survivors
For subscriptions you keep: check for duplicate coverage (two storage plans, two music services), consider annual billing only for things you've used for a year or more (it's cheaper but harder to leave), and put every annual renewal on your calendar a week early.
Repeat the audit twice a year. Better: let a tracker watch your receipts continuously so new subscriptions and price increases surface as they happen instead of at the next audit.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I audit my subscriptions?
Twice a year manually, or continuously with an automatic tracker. January (post-holiday signups) and July are natural checkpoints.
What's the single highest-value check?
The app-store subscription lists. They take two minutes, everyone has them, and they're where deleted-app subscriptions and converted trials accumulate.
Should I cancel things I might want later?
Yes — cancelling is reversible everywhere. Services retain your data and profiles, and many offer discounts to returning customers. The only exceptions are grandfathered prices you can't get back.