UNDR CTRL GUIDE
How to keep track of subscriptions
Subscriptions are easy to start and easy to forget. A free trial turns into a charge, a yearly renewal lands months after you stopped using the thing, and charges of a few dollars a month add up to a real bill. Here is how to find every subscription you pay for, catch trials before they charge, and decide what stays.
Free subscription sheet
One row per subscription: the service, the price, monthly or yearly, the next charge, when a trial ends, the last day to cancel, the account it is paid from, and whether you are keeping it. Open the CSV in any spreadsheet app, or print the PDF.
1. Find every subscription
Subscriptions hide in more than one place, so check each of these:
- The last three months of every bank and card statement. Look for the same name and amount coming back.
- The last twelve months for yearly charges. They are the easiest to miss.
- The subscriptions page in your phone’s app store account, for anything billed through your phone.
- Your email, searching for words like receipt, renewal and trial.
2. Write down the dates that matter
For each one, note the next charge date. For a free trial, write two dates: the day it ends and the day before, which is your cancel-by date. Many services charge the moment a trial ends, so the day before is the safe one.
3. Decide what stays
Go down the list and mark each one keep, cancel or pause. Ask one question per row: would I sign up for this again today at this price? Cancel the ones you would not, and note the date you did it.
4. Check the list each month
Once a month, look at the charges due in the next few weeks and any trial with a cancel-by date coming up. Add anything new the day you sign up for it, while you still remember the trial length.
Doing it in UNDR CTRL
In UNDR CTRL, a subscription is a bill like any other, so it sits on the same list as everything else you pay:
- Monthly and yearly charges in one list, each with the account it comes out of.
- The statement import finds charges that repeat, subscriptions included, with no bank login. How the import works.
- A task for each cancel-by date, on the day you choose, so the trial end is on your calendar.
- Next charges in your calendar on iPhone, Google Calendar or Outlook.
More free sheets: bills, home upkeep, car service and a weekly reset.