The Subscription Audit & Cancellation Playbook: find every recurring charge and cancel the ones you do not need
The Subscription Audit & Cancellation Playbook is a short PDF that shows you how to find every subscription you are paying for, decide which to keep, pause or cancel, and cancel without being talked out of it. It covers four places to check, the categories where people overspend, how to handle retention offers and dark patterns, shared and family plans, a renewal calendar, common traps and a worksheet. It is a read-and-do guide, not a software product.
What this guide is
Subscriptions are easy to start and easy to forget. Renewal is automatic and cancelling usually is not. A free trial, an annual plan, a family plan set up years ago: together they can add up to a lot, and they live in many different places.
This playbook gives you a simple, complete way to find them all, decide what to do with each, cancel the ones you do not need, and set up reminders so you do not drift back into the same trap.
Who it is for
- Anyone who suspects they are paying for subscriptions they no longer use.
- Households that share plans and are not sure who pays for what.
- People who find cancelling awkward and want a clear method for it.
Who it is not for
- Anyone who wants software that scans accounts or cancels subscriptions for them: this is a PDF guide and a worksheet.
- Readers who want service-by-service cancellation instructions for named companies: the playbook is general and does not give step-by-step cancel links for particular services.
- Business expense or accounting needs: it is aimed at personal and household subscriptions.
How the audit works
Find them all, sort them, cancel properly, and set reminders.
Check four places
Your bank and card statements (the last two to three months), your phone's app store subscription list, your browser's saved payment methods, and your email inbox (search for "receipt", "renewal" and "subscription").
Sort into keep, pause or cancel
Keep what you have used in the last 30 days and would miss. Pause seasonal or project-based ones if the service allows. Cancel what is unused, duplicated or forgotten.
Cancel properly
Cancel in the app or website where you can, keep a screenshot or note of the confirmation, decide in advance whether a retention discount would really change your mind, and watch for dark patterns.
Build a renewal calendar
List what you keep with its renewal date, set a reminder three to five days before each renewal, and re-run the full audit every six months.
The guide's goal is not to make you cancel everything, but to make sure each subscription you keep is a deliberate choice.
Features
This is what the playbook contains, in the order of its nine sections. Nothing here is a roadmap item.
Why subscription creep happens
A short opening on how plans pile up and why it is worth fixing.
The four-place audit
Bank and card statements, app store lists, browser payment methods and your email inbox, with what to look for in each.
Categories where people overspend
A table of streaming, AI tools and apps, cloud storage, fitness apps, subscription boxes and software tools, each with the usual overspend pattern and a quick fix.
The keep, pause or cancel framework
Three buckets with clear tests for each, and a note on being honest about "I might use it again".
How to actually cancel
What to do before you start, how to handle retention offers, and the dark patterns to watch for, such as multi-step flows and "are you sure?" loops.
Family and shared plans
Checking whether a household plan would be cheaper, confirming who holds each account, and agreeing who pays for what.
Building your renewal calendar
A four-step method to make renewal dates visible before the charge hits.
Subscription traps to watch for
A checklist of free trials, price increases, lifetime deals, bundles and auto-renewing gifts.
A subscription audit worksheet
A table to list each subscription with its category, renewal date, whether you used it in the last 30 days and your verdict. Print it and write on it, or annotate it in a PDF app.
Sample pages from inside the playbook
These are real pages from the PDF you receive, so you can see the style and depth before you buy.
1The cover
The title page of the playbook.
2What is inside
Nine sections, each with its page number.
3The four-place audit
The four places to look, with the steps to find the app store list on iPhone and Android.
4Where people overspend
A table of categories with the usual overspend pattern and a quick fix for each.
5Keep, pause or cancel
Three buckets with plain tests for each.
6How to actually cancel
What to do before you start, how to handle retention offers and the dark patterns to watch for.
7The audit worksheet
A blank table for your own subscriptions, with a reminder to repeat the audit in six months.
These are unedited pages from the PDF. The rest of the playbook is in the same style.
How to use it
There is nothing to install. You read the PDF, do the audit and fill in the worksheet.
What you need
- Any device or app that opens PDF files
- Access to your bank or card statements, your phone's subscriptions list, your browser's saved payment methods and your email
- A pen and printer, or a PDF app, for the worksheet
To get the most from it
- Write each subscription into the worksheet as you find it
- Decide before you contact a company whether a discount would really change your mind
- Keep a record of each cancellation
Download the PDF
After you buy it on Selar, you receive the PDF as a download.
Do the four-place audit
Work through section 2 and write everything you find into the worksheet.
Sort and cancel
Use sections 4 and 5 to decide, and to cancel properly.
Set your reminders
Use section 7 to put renewal dates and a six-month re-audit in your calendar.
What you receive after buying
You receive the playbook as a PDF download from Selar, straight after payment.
In the download
- The playbook as a PDF, ready to read on a phone, tablet or computer
- The subscription audit worksheet, on the last pages of the PDF
Not included
- Software or a spreadsheet to track subscriptions: the worksheet is a table in the PDF
- Cancellation links or scripts for named companies
- Updates are not promised. You get the current edition
Limits and honest notes
Better you know before you buy. These come from reading the playbook itself.
- It is general advice. It does not give cancellation steps or links for particular services, and company rules differ.
- The worksheet is a printed-style table. The PDF has no form fields to type into. Print it, or use a PDF annotation tool.
- It cannot see your accounts. You do the checking. The playbook tells you where to look.
- Savings depend on you. What you save depends on what you find and cancel.
- No links inside the PDF. References to the Megastore76 website are plain text.
- Personal and household focus. It is not written for business accounting.
- The guide is for personal use. It says so on its last page.
Questions
Will it cancel my subscriptions for me?
No. It shows you how to find them and how to cancel properly. You do the cancelling.
Does it tell me how to cancel Netflix, Spotify and so on?
It gives general rules and tactics that apply across services. It does not give step-by-step instructions for named companies.
Is the worksheet fillable on screen?
It is a table in the PDF with no form fields. You can print it and write on it, or use a PDF app to add text on top.
How long does the audit take?
The playbook is short, and the time depends on how many subscriptions you have and how many places you need to check.
Is it for families?
Yes. One section covers family and shared plans and agreeing who pays for what.
Does it cover phone app subscriptions?
Yes. The audit includes your phone's app store subscription list, with the menu paths for iPhone and Android.
What format is it?
A PDF that opens on phones, tablets and computers.
How often should I repeat the audit?
The playbook suggests every six months, and setting a reminder for the next one.
Know what you pay for. Keep only what you choose.
A short PDF, a four-place audit and a worksheet.
Buy The Subscription Audit & Cancellation Playbook · £7.99All our tools are listed on the tools catalogue. Free browser tools are in the tools hub.