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The subscription audit: cancel three, keep one
A twenty-minute exercise for the start of the month, and the only subscription test that has ever stuck for us.
3.0 1 ratingSlashPass Desk
September 30, 2026 · 5 min read · 482 views
Subscriptions are designed to be forgotten. The first month is cheap, the second is automatic, and by the fourth you are paying for something you stopped noticing in February. The audit is a small antidote.
List everything on the card
Open the last two statements and write down every recurring charge, including the small ones. Annual plans hide best; divide the yearly amount by twelve so every line is comparable. Do not judge anything yet. Just make the list visible.
Score each one on use
Next to each line, write the last time you actually used it. Not opened the app — used it. Then write what it would cost to buy the same thing once, without a subscription. Two numbers, no guilt.
“If cancelling feels risky, you are paying for comfort, not a service. That is allowed — just name it honestly.”
The keep test
Keep a subscription if it is used weekly, if it replaces something more expensive, or if cancelling would take more than ten minutes of genuine inconvenience. Cancel anything that fails all three. Most households find three to five candidates without trying hard.
Use the deals, not the defaults
Once the list is shorter, it is worth checking whether the survivors have a retention offer or an annual discount. Many do, and they are usually in the account settings rather than the marketing pages. A fifteen-minute audit can pay for the next few months of the one service you actually love.
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SlashPass Desk
Part of the SlashPass desk — codes are re-tested every week, and anything that stops working is pulled the same day.
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Ada M.
Nov 10, 2026
Worked eventually
The code applied on the second try — worth knowing before you give up.
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