How to find every subscription you pay for

Finding them is the first half. Once you have the list, the second half is ending the ones you do not want, and that is a different page: how to cancel a subscription. This page is only the search.

Where subscriptions hide

1. Your bank and card statements

Start here because it is the only place that shows everything, whoever bills you. The CFPB's budgeting steps say to log your spending by category, and your statements are the quickest place to find it.

1. Go back 12 months, not 1. A yearly plan shows up once in the year, and a month of statements will not show it.
2. Look for the same name, a steady amount and a regular day. Most subscriptions look that way.
3. Check every account. A card you rarely use, a partner's card and a joint account all count.
4. Write each one down: name, amount, how often, which card, and what you use it for.

Some names are hard to read. Apple's charges read apple.com/bill, and Google's start with GOOGLE * followed by the app or service. See the Apple charge, the Google charge and the Amazon charge for what each name means and how to find the purchase behind it, or the full list.

2. The Apple subscriptions list

Apple lists these places to look, on its own help page.

• iPhone or iPad: open Settings, tap your name, then tap Subscriptions.
• Mac: open the App Store, click your name at the bottom of the sidebar, click your name on the page that appears, then click Subscriptions.
• Any device, including Android: go to account.apple.com and open Subscriptions.

If one you expect is missing, Apple says to search your email for "receipt from Apple" or "invoice from Apple," then check which Apple Account is on the receipt, because you must sign in to that account to see it. The steps to end one are on how to cancel Apple subscriptions.

3. Google Play subscriptions

On Android, open Settings, tap Google, tap your name, then Manage your Google Account, then Payments & subscriptions, then Manage subscriptions. Google also gives play.google.com/store/account/subscriptions as a direct address.

Google says that if you cannot find a subscription, it may be on a different account. Switch accounts and look again. The page also links to pay.google.com, where you can check whether one is recurring or prepaid. See how to cancel a Google Play subscription. Storage plans have their own page: Google One.

4. PayPal automatic payments

PayPal keeps a list of the merchants you let charge it. On the website, go to Settings, click Payments, then Automatic payments, and choose a merchant to see its details. In the app, tap Menu, then Subscriptions or Linked Businesses, and tap a merchant.

PayPal can only cancel payments and subscriptions that were set up through PayPal, and removing it does not typically end your contract with the merchant. The steps are in how to cancel a PayPal recurring payment.

5. Email receipts

Search each inbox you have used for words that subscriptions use: "receipt," "invoice," "renewal," "your subscription," "trial" and "billing." Sort by sender, not date, and look for names you do not recognize. An email address you stopped using is a common place for a subscription to survive.

A trial that turned paid usually has an email from the first day telling you when the charge starts. Search for it, and when you start a new trial, put the end date on a calendar the day you sign up.

What to write down

For each subscription, one line:

• The company and what it is for.
• The amount, and whether it is monthly or yearly.
• The date of the next charge.
• Which card or account pays it, and whether it is billed by Apple, Google, PayPal or the company.
• Whose it is, if you share money with someone.

A yearly $120 plan is $10 a month. Put it in your budget at that amount, as a sinking fund, so the bill does not surprise you. The monthly bill tracker has a sheet for it.

Finding the ones you do not want

Go through the list and ask of each: did I use it in the last month, and would I sign up for it today? Cancel what fails both. If you want help ending them, the apps that cancel subscriptions page compares the ones that do it for you. To end one yourself, start at how to cancel.

Stopping the payment at your bank is not the same as canceling. The CFPB says to give your bank a stop payment order at least three business days before the payment is scheduled, and to contact the company to revoke your authorization, because stopping the payment does not cancel your contract with it.

See a charge twice in one month? That has its own page: charged twice.

When a tool does the finding

Doing the five checks takes an evening. Keeping up with them takes another one every few months. An app that reads your bank can do the statement part for you. Wonderful finds recurring charges and subscriptions from the banks you connect, lists what is due before your next paycheck, and flags a bill that comes in higher than usual. It texts you by iMessage when a price goes up or a bill is charged twice. It does not cancel anything for you, so you still end each one yourself.

It is not free after a free week: $14.99 a month or $99 a year for the household, on the web only for now. If you only want a one-time clean-up, the five checks above cost nothing. For the apps that compare, see subscription manager apps.