A full subscription audit doesn't need to take an hour. With the right method, you can review everything, make decisions, and set up safeguards in about 10 minutes.
Here's the exact process.
Minute 0–3: Gather Your Subscriptions
Open your bank app and scroll through the last 30 days. You're looking for recurring charges — anything that shows up monthly or has a familiar brand name.
Quick shortcuts:
- Bank app: Filter by "recurring" or "subscriptions" if your bank supports it
- iPhone: Settings > Apple ID > Subscriptions
- Android: Google Play > Payments & subscriptions
- Email: Search for "receipt" or "renewal" in the last 30 days
Write down every subscription with its monthly cost. Don't skip the small ones — three €3 charges add up to €108/year.
If you want to skip the manual search, add your subscriptions to our Budget Simulator. It totals everything and shows you where you stand against your budget.
Minute 3–6: Sort Into Three Buckets
Go through your list and mark each subscription with one label:
Keep
You used it in the last 7 days and would re-subscribe if it disappeared tomorrow. No second-guessing needed.
Downgrade
You use it occasionally, but you're paying for more than you need. A free tier or cheaper plan would cover your actual usage.
Cancel
You haven't used it in the last 30 days. Or you forgot you had it — which is the same thing.
The 30-day rule: If you haven't used a subscription in the last 30 days, cancel it. You can always re-subscribe later if you genuinely need it. The money you save in the meantime is guaranteed; the "I might need it" is hypothetical.
Minute 6–8: Take Action
Now act on your decisions. Start with cancellations — they give you the most immediate savings.
For cancellations:
- Cancel directly in the app or on the service's website
- Check if there's a retention offer (many services offer 50% off when you try to cancel)
- If you can't find the cancel button, use our Cancel Any Service guides for direct links that bypass the dark patterns
For downgrades:
- Switch to annual billing if you're keeping a service (saves 20–40% on most tools)
- Drop to the free tier where available
- Contact support and ask for a better rate — this works more often than you'd think
Some services charge early termination fees on annual plans (Adobe is the most common). Check your billing cycle before cancelling — you might want to set a reminder for your renewal date and cancel then instead.
Minute 8–10: Set Up Defenses
This is the step most people skip — and it's why subscription creep keeps coming back.
Track free trials actively
Every time you start a free trial, set a reminder for 3 days before it ends. Use our Free Trial Reminder tool to generate a calendar alert instantly — it works with Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, and Outlook.
Set a monthly ceiling
Pick a number you're comfortable spending on subscriptions each month. Write it down. Before adding any new subscription, check if it fits within your ceiling. If it doesn't, something else has to go first.
Schedule a quarterly review
Put a 10-minute calendar event for every 3 months. Same process as today: check statements, sort into buckets, act. Subscriptions creep back in slowly — quarterly reviews catch them before they accumulate.
Rellivo automates all three defenses: it tracks free trials with countdown timers, monitors your total spend against a budget, and alerts you when your subscription health score drops. The free plan covers up to 3 subscriptions.
What You'll Typically Find
Based on data from people who complete this audit:
| Finding | How Often |
|---|---|
| At least 1 forgotten subscription | 73% of people |
| A free trial that silently converted | 48% of people |
| Paying for a premium tier they don't fully use | 61% of people |
| Duplicate services (two apps doing the same thing) | 34% of people |
The average person finds €18–44/month in savings from a single 10-minute audit. That's €216–528/year.
The One Thing That Matters
The audit itself is simple. The hard part is doing it consistently. One audit saves you money for a month or two. Regular audits — quarterly at minimum — keep your spending in check permanently.
Start now. Open your bank app, spend 10 minutes, and see what you find. The savings start today.
Related Reading
- How Much Do You Really Spend on Subscriptions? — Find out what the average person actually pays, and how to calculate your real number.
- 7 Subscriptions Most People Forget They're Paying For — The most common hidden charges and how to spot them.
- How to Find and Cancel Unused Subscriptions — A step-by-step guide to cutting what you don't need.