I’ll try to save you a couple hundred dollars

Be honest… how many subscriptions do you have that you haven’t touched in the last 6 months? Most of us will wildly underestimate this number — from both forgetfulness and to avoid the shame.

That, of course, is why subscriptions are so popular. It’s really easy to sign up — after all, it’s just $8/mo! — and even easier to forget about.

Now, I’m not one to pinch pennies when it comes to running my business. It takes money to make money, and I’m not going to trip over dollars to pick up dimes.

But there’s a difference between being cheap and spending wisely.

Thankfully, I’ve pretty much avoided spending money on any unused subscriptions through a simple database and about an hour of work over the course of a year.

In this database I add anything I sign up for (plugins, SaaS, etc.), the cost, whether it’s revenue generating or not, and if it’s a necessity or luxury.

It takes a bit to get in the habit of adding (and removing!) items from the database — but I have a reminder setup every quarter to do a full audit (this sounds intimidating, but it’s just a quick scan through my bank statements and takes less than 15 minutes).

They say what gets measured gets managed and since the database shows me all the tools I’m paying for — and how much I’m spending monthly and annually for them — I’m a lot more conscious about where my money is going.

It’s hard to know what this has saved me over the years, but when I say “thousands”, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration. It’s not uncommon for my quarterly reviews to end in cutting $50 – $100 a month in expenses. It doesn’t take long to add up.

It’s nothing extravagant — simple is best if you ask me — but if you’d like a copy of my database (Airtable) then you can grab one here (click “copy base” at the top left of the database).

I’d be willing to bet that this could put a few hundred dollars back into your pocket instantly if you spent an hour setting this up.