SOME CARD INFO MAY BE OUTDATED
This page includes information about these cards, currently unavailable on NerdWallet. The information has been collected by NerdWallet and has not been provided or reviewed by the card issuer.
Each month, NerdWallet suggests one wallet win to help you feel more confident about your money. For April, it’s a subscription audit.
Paid subscriptions are ubiquitous and many want to cut back: According to a recent NerdWallet survey, more than half of U.S. adults (55%) plan to significantly decrease the subscriptions they have in 2026 in order to save money.
Survey statistics:
- Over half of Americans (55%) plan to significantly decrease the subscriptions they have in 2026 in order to save money.
- More than 3 in 5 parents of children under 18 (63%) say they plan to significantly cut back on subscriptions they have in 2026 in order to save money, compared to 51% of those who aren’t parents of minor children.
I’m right there with them. As a data writer at NerdWallet, I’m always looking for ways to save money (and make another spreadsheet).
If you’re tired of streaming price hikes and are looking to cut back, here’s the process for auditing and reducing subscriptions that’s saving me close to $1,500 in 2026. The best part? It only takes a few hours.
1. Make a list
Most Americans likely couldn’t list all their subscriptions and prices off the top of their heads — not due to carelessness, but because they have so many, and they’re easy to forget about on autopay. The few you use frequently may be top of mind, but there may be some you’ve forgotten, or pricing changes you haven’t accounted for.
Go through your credit card and bank statements — including charges billed quarterly or annually — to see what subscriptions you’re paying for. List the subscription, the cost and the frequency with which you use it.
If you don’t want to comb through subscriptions manually, you can use a tool like NerdWallet’s app to track your subscriptions for you, and even cancel any you don’t want.
2. Start with the low-hanging fruit
A few of your subscriptions may have stood out as obvious cuts when you were making the list. Cancel anything you don’t use or value, or just forgot about.
My low-hanging fruit included a news app that I used just for games, a paid podcast I didn’t vibe with anymore and a few subscriptions of my husband’s (after checking that they wouldn’t be missed).
Subscriptions may be cumbersome to cancel, and that’s probably by design. But by jumping through hoops now, you’ll save money going forward.
My savings so far: $45.50 a month, or $546 a year.
3. Dive deeper
Now that the easy ones are canceled, you could just stop there. Some subscriptions likely provide you a lot of value, and paying for them isn’t necessarily a bad thing — as long as they fit your budget and financial priorities. But if you want to increase your savings, here are a few more dramatic strategies to consider:
Go nuclear
One drastic but effective approach to cut back on subscriptions is to get rid of all of them.
This is more or less the strategy I employed when I went through my streaming subscriptions: I canceled a combined five TV streaming services — a puzzling number for a household of chronic rewatchers with inconsistent TV viewing habits.
With a few exceptions, you can always resubscribe if you want to. Consider any drawbacks of unsubscribing in the short term, though, before deciding if it makes sense to ditch your account entirely. If perhaps you’re grandfathered into a cheaper price than what’s currently available, you may not want to lose that.
My savings so far: $93.00 a month, or $1,116 a year.
Find free or cheaper replacements
Many subscriptions are selling unique entertainment or products you can’t get elsewhere. But others are charging you for things you can get for free, or cheaper.
My household usually isn’t following along with new shows. So when I decided to cut all those streaming services, I headed to the DVD section of the library. And what I found there was … basically everything I wanted to watch.
The library has been saving me money for years — as an avid reader raising another avid reader, I’m there on a weekly basis. But the library isn’t just for books. My library system has DVDs and CDs, paywalled news access, documentary streaming, and e-book and audiobook access using the Libby app, completely free of charge.
Look through your subscription list and consider whether any of the items on it can be replaced with something cheaper, or even free. In addition to checking out the resources your local library has to offer, try an Internet search for “free replacement for [subscription].” Doing this, I found that Tubi, while ad-supported, allows for free streaming of its library of TV shows and movies (whereas many ad-supported versions of popular streaming services still charge a fee).
There’s a tradeoff here: Subscriptions often reduce friction, and opting for the free or cheaper replacement may mean a waitlist or ads.
My savings so far: $109.99 a month, or $1,320 a year.
Consider the other costs
A subscription could be costing you additional money or time, aside from the monthly expense. In my case, there was a subscription costing me more than just the membership fee.
I was part of a paid community for crocheters, and it was a lovely group of people nerding out over a common interest. But the project recommendations regularly led me to buy yarn and other project supplies I didn’t need. Ultimately, I gave up the subscription to keep my hobby spending in check.
Similarly, your subscriptions could be costing you precious time. If you want to watch less TV, for instance, streaming services may be working against your goals.
My overall savings: $122.48 a month, or $1,470 a year.
Additional ways to cut back on your subscriptions
- Look for discounts: Students can often get reduced cost subscriptions with a .edu email address, but you might also find discounts through your employer, cell phone or internet provider, or credit card company.
- Bundle up or unbundle: Consider the costs of bundling services versus individual subscriptions.
- Share accounts with friends and family: Some subscription services won’t let you share accounts outside of your household, but for those that do, sharing can lower costs for you and your co-subscriber. Just make sure it’s allowable under the service terms.
- Pay annually instead of monthly: If you’re confident you want to keep a subscription year-round, see if the annual subscription is cheaper overall than the monthly payment option.
- One at a time: Subscribe to a single streaming service at a time and move onto the next when you’ve watched what you want.
My subscription audit resulted in annual savings of about $1,500, which is around one month of preschool or a year of homeowners insurance. No small potatoes! Your savings will vary, but you’ll likely find yourself with more money in your budget to reallocate.
Subscriptions aren’t going away, and there’s a good chance you’ll end up resubscribing to some of the ones you cut, or subscribing to new ones over time. That’s OK. The goal doesn’t have to be to eliminate subscriptions altogether, but rather make sure the ones you have align with your budget and priorities. Set a calendar reminder to check your subscription list again a year from now to ensure that’s still the case.
If you’re following along with us on this monthly financial challenge, start by testing out the tips we shared today over the next few weeks. We’ll be back again next month to focus on making a summer spending plan. And if you missed last month’s edition, take a look back at how to stop your paycheck from disappearing.
Article sources
NerdWallet writers are subject matter authorities who use primary,
trustworthy sources to inform their work, including peer-reviewed
studies, government websites, academic research and interviews with
industry experts. All content is fact-checked for accuracy, timeliness
and relevance. You can learn more about NerdWallet's high
standards for journalism by reading our
editorial guidelines.