My partner and I did a bank statement au
Ask
My partner and I did a bank statement audit this weekend and realized we have 8 recurring subscriptions running on autopay.
Our housing, utilities, medicine, and food are already 100% covered.
Here are the exact numbers from our statements:
- Netflix Standard: 15.49 USD / month
- Spotify Family: 16.99 USD / month
- Disney+ ad-free: 13.99 USD / month
- Local climbing gym: 39.99 USD / month
- NYT Digital subscription: 4.00 USD / month
- ChatGPT Plus: 20.00 USD / month
- iCloud+ 2TB family storage: 9.99 USD / month
- Amazon Prime: 139.00 USD / year
1. What is our exact monthly total and yearly total cost from these subscriptions combined?
2. Which recurring charges represent redundant overlap (e.g. streaming, family sharing), and what practical rule should we follow so we don't succumb to subscription creep again?
Answer
Housing, utilities, medicine, and food are covered, so this is a subscription review, not an immovable cash ladder.
**Totals (this turn, from `sum_subs.py ok:true`)**
| Item | Charge | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Netflix Standard | 15.49 USD | month |
| Spotify Family | 16.99 USD | month |
| Disney+ ad-free | 13.99 USD | month |
| Local climbing gym | 39.99 USD | month |
| NYT Digital | 4.00 USD | month |
| ChatGPT Plus | 20.00 USD | month |
| iCloud+ 2TB family | 9.99 USD | month |
| Amazon Prime | 139.00 USD | year |
| **Monthly total** | **132.03 USD** | |
| **Yearly total** | **1,584.40 USD** | |
Model: yearly = monthly × 12; Amazon Prime's 139 USD/year counted as 11.5833… USD/month, rounded by the script. This is the math model, not a forecast.
**Overlap categories I can see from the names alone**
- **Streaming video (29.48 USD/mo):** Netflix Standard + Disney+ ad-free. Two paid video catalogs — whether both earn their keep depends on what you and your partner actually watch, which only your usage history can answer.
- **Family-tier plans:** Spotify Family, iCloud+ 2TB family, and Amazon Prime all bundle multiple seats. The question here is whether every seat is filled by someone who actively uses it, not whether the plan itself is duplicate.
- **Single-purpose (no obvious overlap):** NYT Digital (news), ChatGPT Plus (AI assistant), climbing gym (in-person fitness). Nothing else on the list substitutes for these.
I won't pick which one to cancel — that's your call based on real use.
**A practical rule against subscription creep**
The "**30-day use-it-or-lose-it**" rule: before the next autopay date, each of you answers *Did I/we use this in the last 30 days?* Two consecutive "no" answers → cancel before the next charge. One annual review of the bank statement (you just did this one) catches anything the30-day rule misses.
Pair it with **one-in, one-out**: any new monthly subscription means one existing one goes. New $4 news app lands? Something else leaves the same week.
**Honest limits**
- I can't see your watch/listen/climb history, so the overlap verdict is yours, not mine.
- Cancel channels and any notice periods depend on each merchant's contract — check the in-app or email route for the one you decide to act on; I don't log in for you.
- Annual renewals (Amazon Prime) hit once a year and are easy to forget — put the renewal date on a calendar so the 30-day rule still fires around it.