Why you should audit subscriptions every six months

Two months ago we talked about the subscription audit. A reader replied: “I did it. Cut $180 a month. Life changing.”

Last week she emailed me again: “I just checked. I have $140 a month in new subscriptions. How?”

Here’s how. She signed up for a 30-day free trial of a productivity tool. Forgot. Started a gym challenge that auto-enrolled her in the yearly membership. Subscribed to a podcast supporter tier “for one month” to support a creator. None of them cancelled themselves.

A subscription audit isn’t a one-off task. It’s a recurring maintenance job. Every six months, the leaks reopen.

Rule
Subscriptions creep back. Audit them every six months, permanently, on the same calendar date. Make it a standing appointment with your bank app.

Action for this week
Pick two dates a year, six months apart. Put them in your calendar as recurring events. “Subscription audit”. Spend 30 minutes on each date. Future-you will thank you $2,000 a year.

Next week
How to negotiate a raise that actually sticks.

Know someone who already did the audit once? Forward this.

P.S. Behavioural economists call this “hedonic adaptation”. Once you cancel and survive, you forget why you cancelled, and the next shiny subscription looks harmless. That’s the loop. Audit breaks it.