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Practical question: how the heck do people manage subscriptions for personal (not enterprise) use? Do you know all the services you subscribe to, how much you p

Practical question: how the heck do people manage subscriptions for personal (not enterprise) use? Do you know all the services you subscribe to, how much you paid(whether the amount reset to a higher number after the introductory offer), whether you’re being auto-billed for something you’ve barely used, etc? Further, have you cancelled subscriptions as a result of such analysis? I wonder how many people would pay a couple of bucks each mont for a no-hassle subscriptions management platform!?

CarVac 7y ago
I have a budget system where all recurring income and expenses are averaged out into a daily number that accumulates over time, less any incidental expenses. The part of the spreadsheet that I use to calculate the daily net income has every subscription listed on it. I budget conservatively so in the sheet I "pay" the full rate from the beginning even if I actually have the introductory rate. ...I don't actually have many subscriptions, so there hasn't been anything I've unsubscribed from as a result of this.
guessmyname 7y ago
I have a handful of apps that help me keep track of my finances — https://i.imgur.com/M6rzJ6i.png https://i.imgur.com/M6rzJ6i.png One of them —“Chronicle Pro”— does exactly what you asked; the app keeps track of recurring subscriptions. Unfortunately, most of these apps are only available in the Mac App Store, with a few exceptions, but I believe you can find quality software with the same features for Windows and Linux as well if you search the correct keywords online; try mixing the words “banking”, “finances”, “money” and “budget” in this query: “[word] app for windows”. Here is the list of apps I use (in alphabetical order): • https://www.iggsoftware.com/banktivity/ https://www.iggsoftware.com/banktivity/ • https://www.jumsoft.com/money/ https://www.jumsoft.com/money/ • https://moneywell.app/ https://moneywell.app/ • https://chronicleapp.com/ https://chronicleapp.com/ • https://savingsapp.com/ https://savingsapp.com/ • https://hochgatterer.me/finances/macos/ https://hochgatterer.me/finances/macos/
QuinnWilton 7y ago
I put all of my subscriptions on single purpose card numbers I generate using www.privacy.com The tool lets me set a total or per month spending limit on each card, which I can use to decline unexpected transactions -- basically either auto billing that kicks in after a trial, or price increases that I never noticed. It also gives me a convenient place to see all of my active subscriptions.
lallysingh 7y ago
Some bank/cards let you download statements in csv. Plain text ledger app does the rest.
kristiandupont 7y ago
This is something that is on my radar. I am making a "SAAS admin" system for businesses but during my market research, a few people have told me that they would like something like it for themselves as well. I am just not sure what would be a good solution. I could scan your email for known entities or through a browser extension take a look at which sites you go to. Both would be much more problematic in terms of privacy than I would be comfortable with. I suppose another model would be to only keep track of stuff that you manually enter but I doubt that would add enough value for anyone to care?
scarecrowbob 7y ago
I pretty much just look at my credit card statement every week or so when I push they "pay it off" button. It's not that hard. I do cancel subs to stuff, but while I have several it's not so hard to analyze that I can't do it while looking at a CC statement.
dbetteridge 7y ago
https://www.trackmysubs.com/ https://www.trackmysubs.com/ Is one I know of out of my home town, The irony of a SaaS to track SaaS is not lost on me.
clintonb 7y ago
I avoid subscriptions. My household pays for Amazon and Netflix. We have no other recurring services outside of utilities. If I do sign up for a trial, I add a calendar reminder to cancel the service a day before the trial expires.

CarVac 7y ago

I have a budget system where all recurring income and expenses are averaged out into a daily number that accumulates over time, less any incidental expenses. The part of the spreadsheet that I use to calculate the daily net income has every subscription listed on it. I budget conservatively so in the sheet I "pay" the full rate from the beginning even if I actually have the introductory rate. ...I don't actually have many subscriptions, so there hasn't been anything I've unsubscribed from as a result of this.

guessmyname 7y ago

I have a handful of apps that help me keep track of my finances — https://i.imgur.com/M6rzJ6i.png https://i.imgur.com/M6rzJ6i.png One of them —“Chronicle Pro”— does exactly what you asked; the app keeps track of recurring subscriptions. Unfortunately, most of these apps are only available in the Mac App Store, with a few exceptions, but I believe you can find quality software with the same features for Windows and Linux as well if you search the correct keywords online; try mixing the words “banking”, “finances”, “money” and “budget” in this query: “[word] app for windows”. Here is the list of apps I use (in alphabetical order): • https://www.iggsoftware.com/banktivity/ https://www.iggsoftware.com/banktivity/ • https://www.jumsoft.com/money/ https://www.jumsoft.com/money/ • https://moneywell.app/ https://moneywell.app/ • https://chronicleapp.com/ https://chronicleapp.com/ • https://savingsapp.com/ https://savingsapp.com/ • https://hochgatterer.me/finances/macos/ https://hochgatterer.me/finances/macos/

QuinnWilton 7y ago

I put all of my subscriptions on single purpose card numbers I generate using www.privacy.com The tool lets me set a total or per month spending limit on each card, which I can use to decline unexpected transactions -- basically either auto billing that kicks in after a trial, or price increases that I never noticed. It also gives me a convenient place to see all of my active subscriptions.

lallysingh 7y ago

Some bank/cards let you download statements in csv. Plain text ledger app does the rest.

kristiandupont 7y ago

This is something that is on my radar. I am making a "SAAS admin" system for businesses but during my market research, a few people have told me that they would like something like it for themselves as well. I am just not sure what would be a good solution. I could scan your email for known entities or through a browser extension take a look at which sites you go to. Both would be much more problematic in terms of privacy than I would be comfortable with. I suppose another model would be to only keep track of stuff that you manually enter but I doubt that would add enough value for anyone to care?

scarecrowbob 7y ago

I pretty much just look at my credit card statement every week or so when I push they "pay it off" button. It's not that hard. I do cancel subs to stuff, but while I have several it's not so hard to analyze that I can't do it while looking at a CC statement.

dbetteridge 7y ago

https://www.trackmysubs.com/ https://www.trackmysubs.com/ Is one I know of out of my home town, The irony of a SaaS to track SaaS is not lost on me.

clintonb 7y ago

I avoid subscriptions. My household pays for Amazon and Netflix. We have no other recurring services outside of utilities. If I do sign up for a trial, I add a calendar reminder to cancel the service a day before the trial expires.