Audit Subscriptions

💳 by kevinmarch

Audit Subscriptions

Scan email for subscriptions, bills, receipts, and recurring charges. Compile a weekly report, flag anomalies, and identify savings opportunities.

When to Run

• Scheduled: Monday 9am (weekly review)
• On-demand: User asks "check my subscriptions" or "audit my bills"

1. Scan Email for Financial Notifications

Search email from the past 7 days (or 30 days for monthly view):

Keywords to search:

• "receipt", "invoice", "payment", "subscription"
• "charged", "billing", "renewal", "auto-pay"
• "order confirmation", "purchase"
• From addresses: known subscription senders, banks, payment processors

Common senders:

• Subscription services (Netflix, Spotify, Adobe, etc.)
• SaaS tools (Notion, Figma, GitHub, etc.)
• Utilities (phone, internet, electric)
• Financial services (credit cards, banks)
• E-commerce (Amazon, etc.)

2. Extract Transaction Details

For each email, extract:

• Service/Vendor name
• Amount charged
• Date of charge
• Billing frequency (monthly, annual, one-time)
• Account/card charged (last 4 digits if shown)
• Category (software, entertainment, utilities, shopping)

Build a transaction list:

| Date | Vendor | Amount | Frequency | Category |
|------|--------|--------|-----------|----------|
| 3/1  | Netflix | $15.99 | Monthly | Entertainment |
| 3/2  | AWS | $47.23 | Monthly | Software |

3. Flag Anomalies

🚨 Potential Issues:

• Unusual amounts: Charge significantly higher than historical average
• Duplicate subscriptions: Multiple services doing same thing (2 cloud storage, etc.)
• Price increases: Subscription cost went up from last month
• Unknown charges: Vendor not recognized
• Forgotten subscriptions: Services not used recently (check last login if possible)
• Failed payments: Declined charges, retry notices
• Free trial endings: Trial expiring soon, will auto-charge

4. Calculate Totals

Weekly Summary:

• Total spent this week: $X
• vs. last week: +/-$Y

Monthly Projection:

• Recurring subscriptions: $X/month
• By category breakdown

Annual Impact:

• Total annual subscription cost: $X
• Highlight expensive annuals coming up for renewal

5. Identify Savings Opportunities

Potential savings:

• Unused subscriptions (candidates to cancel)
• Duplicate services (consolidate)
• Annual vs monthly (switch to annual for discount)
• Family/team plans (share with others)
• Competitor alternatives (cheaper options)
• Negotiation opportunities (call to reduce rate)

6. Generate Report

# 💳 Subscription Audit: Week of [Date]

## 📊 This Week's Charges
| Date | Vendor | Amount | Category |
|------|--------|--------|----------|
| ... | ... | ... | ... |

**Total: $[X]** (vs $[Y] last week)

## 🚨 Flags

### ⚠️ Price Increase
- **[Service]**: Now $X/mo (was $Y)
- Increase: $Z/month, $[Annual] annually

### ❓ Unknown Charge
- **[Vendor]**: $X on [Date]
- Investigate: Legitimate or fraudulent?

### 💤 Possibly Unused
- **[Service]**: $X/mo — no detected usage in [X] days
- Action: Cancel or keep?

### 🔄 Duplicates Detected
- Cloud storage: Dropbox ($12) + iCloud ($3) + Google One ($3)
- Consider consolidating to one service

## 💰 Savings Opportunities

| Action | Service | Potential Savings |
|--------|---------|------------------|
| Cancel unused | [Service] | $X/mo |
| Switch to annual | [Service] | $X/yr |
| Downgrade plan | [Service] | $X/mo |

**Total potential savings: $[X]/month ($[Y]/year)**

## 📅 Upcoming

- **[Date]**: [Service] annual renewal ($X)
- **[Date]**: [Service] free trial ends (will charge $X)

## Quick Actions
Reply with:
- "cancel [service]" — I'll help you cancel
- "investigate [charge]" — Look into unknown charge
- "details [service]" — Show full history

7. Take Action

Based on user response:

Cancel:

• Find cancellation process for the service
• Guide user through steps or do it if possible
• Confirm cancellation and note savings

Investigate:

• Search for more context on the charge
• Check if it matches any known services
• If suspicious, draft dispute message to bank

Track:

• Add to a running subscription inventory
• Set reminder for annual renewals

After Running

Summary:

• "💳 Weekly audit complete"
• "$[X] spent this week across [Y] services"
• "[Z] flags to review" (if any)
• "$[A] potential savings identified" (if any)