How to find and cancel forgotten subscriptions (Canada)
Subscriptions are designed to be forgotten. A free trial turns into a charge, a charge turns into a habit, and one day you are paying for a service you last opened in March.
Step 1: Pull the statements
Download the last three months of your chequing account and every credit card. Three months catches monthly charges, and quarterly or yearly ones will show if you look back further.
Step 2: Highlight anything that repeats
Look for the same merchant and similar amount each month. Streaming, music, cloud storage, apps, news, gym, meal kits, and software are the usual culprits. Also check your phone's app store subscriptions list separately, since these bill through the store, not the app.
Step 3: Sort into three piles
| Pile | What to do |
|---|---|
| Use weekly | Keep |
| Use rarely | Cancel, resubscribe later if you miss it |
| Do not recognize | Search the charge name, then cancel or dispute |
Step 4: Cancel and keep proof
Cancel on the merchant's site or app, then screenshot the confirmation or save the email. If the only way to cancel is by phone, note the date and name of the person you spoke with.
Step 5: Make it stick
Watch the next statement
Check that the charge does not reappear. If it does, you have your proof.
Ask your bank to stop it
If a merchant keeps billing after you cancelled, contact your card issuer or bank and ask them to block future payments from that merchant. For pre-authorized debits from your account, ask about stopping the payment and disputing the charge.
What it is worth
Five forgotten subscriptions at $12 a month is $60 a month and $720 a year. That is the start of an emergency fund. Our money leaks guide shows where else to look.
Looni is being built to scan your statements for hidden fees, forgotten subscriptions and junk charges, and show you what to fix first. Canadian-built, launching soon.