Subscription Audit Template

Subscription Audit: [Household or person name], [Audit date]

A worksheet for finding every recurring charge you pay, turning each one into a yearly cost, judging whether it is worth it, and then cancelling, downgrading or keeping it with a record of what you did. It covers streaming, software, apps, memberships, deliveries, add-ons on phone and bank accounts, and free trials that turn into paid plans. The worked example uses the fictional household Sam and Jordan Ellison. The "Your rights" section points to the consumer rules on recurring charges and cancellation as of 2026-10: US Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (15 U.S.C. 8403), EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU and the UK Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (Part 4, Chapter 2, not yet in force). Replace every [bracketed] value and every row marked Example. This is a document format for organising your own information, not financial or legal advice.

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Approvals

Revision history

Contents

1. Purpose and scope
2. Key terms in plain language
3. Where to look
4. Subscription inventory
5. Yearly cost
6. Usage and value
7. Overlaps and bundles
8. Decisions
9. Cancellation and change log
10. Free trials and renewal calendar
11. Price changes
12. Payment and account hygiene
13. Where the savings go
14. Your rights
15. Review schedule
16. References
17. Standard and licence note

1. Purpose and scope

Small recurring charges are easy to forget because each one looks cheap and is taken automatically. Together they can be one of the largest flexible lines in a household budget. This audit finds them all, shows their full yearly cost and records a decision for each.

Example: The Ellisons want to free up at least USD 150 a month for their emergency fund (GOAL-001 in their Financial Plan, personal/financial-plan), which holds 18,000 against a 36,000 target. They include every recurring card and account charge except the mortgage, property tax, utilities, loans and their main insurance policies, which are covered in their Budget (personal/budget) and Insurance Review (personal/insurance-review).

2. Key terms in plain language

3. Where to look

Tip: search statements for amounts that repeat on the same day each month, and for yearly charges that appear once in the 12 months.

4. Subscription inventory

5. Yearly cost

Cycles per year: weekly 52, monthly 12, quarterly 4, yearly 1. If a charge is in a foreign currency and your card adds a fee, multiply by (1 + fee rate) as well.

Example reading: the Ellisons guessed they paid "about USD 150 a month" for subscriptions. The real figure is USD 462.69 a month, and one item, the weekly meal kit, is 58% of it. Shares are rounded to one decimal place, so they may not add to exactly 100%.

The meal kit replaces part of the weekly food shop, so the Ellisons' Budget (personal/budget) counts it under Groceries. The "Subscriptions" line in the Budget therefore shows only the other items: 5,552.25 - 3,224.00 = USD 2,328.25 a year, or USD 194.02 a month (194 in the Budget). Decide once where each mixed item belongs and keep it there, or the same charge ends up in two budget lines.

6. Usage and value

Score each subscription from 1 to 5 on two questions, then add the scores (2 to 10):

• Use: 5 = several times a week, 4 = weekly, 3 = monthly, 2 = a few times a year, 1 = not in the last 3 months.
• Would we miss it: 5 = would sign up again today at this price, 3 = would sign up at a lower price, 1 = would not notice it was gone.

Check of one example: SUB-002 costs 143.88 a year for 10 uses, so 143.88 / 10 = USD 14.39 per use, more than renting the series once.

7. Overlaps and bundles

Before cancelling for a free benefit, confirm the benefit covers what you need (for example, the excess on card phone cover) and record where the terms are kept.

8. Decisions

Savings check (Example): 143.88 + 1,612.00 + 59.99 + 132.00 + 119.88

• 144.00 = USD 2,211.75 a year, or USD 184.31 a month. New yearly total 5,552.25 - 2,211.75 = USD 3,340.50, or USD 278.38 a month. The target of USD 150 a month is met. The downgrade saving for SUB-008 is 62.00 x (52 - 26) = 1,612.00; for SUB-012 it is (22.99 - 11.99) x 12 = 132.00. Split by Budget line: the meal kit falls from 268.67 to 134.33 a month (Groceries line, saving 134.33), and the other subscriptions fall from 2,328.25 - 599.75 = 1,728.50 a year, or 144.04 a month (Subscriptions line, saving 49.98). Together: 134.33 + 49.98 = 184.31 a month.

9. Cancellation and change log

If a cancellation is refused, made hard or ignored:

1. Write down the date, the channel and what you were told.
2. Cancel again in writing (email or the service's message form) and keep a copy.
3. If charges continue, contact your card issuer or bank and ask about disputing the charge or stopping future payments to that merchant.
4. Report the problem to the consumer protection authority listed in section 14 if the service still does not stop.

10. Free trials and renewal calendar

Rules the household agrees to follow (Example):

• Sign up for a free trial only after setting a reminder two days before it ends.
• Use one card for all subscriptions so that one statement shows them all.
• Prefer monthly plans for anything new until it has been used for 3 months; switch to yearly only for services scored 9 or 10.

11. Price changes

Yearly impact check: (15.49 - 13.99) x 12 = USD 18.00.

12. Payment and account hygiene

13. Where the savings go

Progress over the year:

Example note: the Financial Plan schedules 300 a month into the emergency fund until 2027-03 and 1,000 a month after that, reaching 36,000 in 2028-08. The extra 184.31 a month is not in that schedule, so it brings the target date forward. The Ellisons record the new date at their next quarterly review rather than changing the plan now.

14. Your rights

Names and references only, as of 2026-10. Examples, not exhaustive, not legal advice. Check local law.

Complaints routes: your card issuer or bank (charge disputes), then the national consumer protection authority or ombudsman for your country.

15. Review schedule

15.1 Making the audit stick

A first audit usually finds the largest savings; the work after it keeps them. Three habits do most of the work. First, keep all subscriptions on one card or account, so that one statement shows every recurring charge. Second, set a calendar reminder for every free trial and every yearly renewal at the moment you sign up, not later. Third, agree a simple household rule for new subscriptions, for example that any new service starts on a monthly plan and is reviewed after three months before anyone switches it to a yearly plan.

Review points at each quarterly scan. Look for new charges that were not in the inventory; for charges that continued after a cancellation (compare section 9 with the latest statement); for price increases that arrived without a decision (section 11); and for services whose use score has dropped since the last review. Add any new item to sections 4 and 5 before deciding about it, so the totals stay true.

Common errors to avoid. Cancelling inside an app but not with the merchant when the merchant bills you directly, or the other way round; deleting an account before downloading data you want to keep; switching to a yearly plan for a discount and then not using the service; and letting the savings stay in the current account, where they are usually spent. Move the money the same week the cancellation is confirmed, as in section 13.

Shared households. Each adult should check their own cards, app-store accounts and email, because a subscription is often visible only to the person who signed up. Children's app-store accounts and any services paid for relatives belong in the audit too. Agree the decisions together and record who decided in section 8, so that no one is surprised when a service stops.

When a service makes leaving hard. Write down each attempt, use the cancellation route the law or the contract gives you (online where you signed up online, where that right exists), and if charges continue, ask your card issuer about stopping payments to that merchant. The rules in section 14 differ by country and change often, so check the current position before relying on them.

16. References

• Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act, 15 U.S.C. 8403 (negative option marketing on the Internet), US Code via govinfo.gov, checked 2026-10-25.
• Directive 2011/83/EU of 25 October 2011 on consumer rights, Articles 9, 14(3), 16(a) and 16(m), EUR-Lex, checked 2026-10-25.
• Directive (EU) 2023/2673 of 22 November 2023 (financial services contracts concluded at a distance), which inserts Article 11a (withdrawal function) into Directive 2011/83/EU; application date 2026-06-19 (check the Official Journal text on EUR-Lex).
• Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, Part 4, Chapter 2, legislation.gov.uk (provisions shown as prospective), and the UK government's response to the consultation on implementing the subscription contracts regime (2026-04-02), gov.uk, checked 2026-10-25.
• Related templates: Budget (personal/budget), Financial Goals (personal/financial-goals), Emergency Fund Plan (personal/emergency-fund-plan), Debt Payoff Plan (personal/debt-payoff-plan), Insurance Review (personal/insurance-review), Emergency Document File (personal/emergency-document-file).

Standard and licence note

Based on public consumer law on recurring charges: the US Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (15 U.S.C. 8403, a US federal work in the public domain), Directive 2011/83/EU (source: EUR-Lex, https://eur-lex.europa.eu, reuse with acknowledgement) and the UK Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (legislation.gov.uk, cited by part and chapter only). Laws are cited by section and article and summarised in original words; their status is as of 2026-10. The cost formulas are simple arithmetic, and the household, services and figures are fictional. This template is original text written for this collection and is not financial or legal advice. Check the current official version of each law before use. Template licence: MIT.