Recurring Costs Audit
One evening, twelve months of statements, and this sheet. List every charge that repeats, read each one at its ten-year size, and give it a verdict.
How it follows the essay
Every charge is converted to a monthly figure so the list speaks one currency, then multiplied by twelve for the year and by 120 for the decade. The decade column is the point: fourteen dollars a month is $1,680 over ten years, the kind of number anyone would deliberate over if it were presented that way. Prices are held flat, which is the conservative version of the story.
For a charge you are not sure about, treat cancelling as an experiment: cancel, and see whether you miss it within a month. Anything still unmissed after thirty days has answered the question. For the charges that survive, set a reminder three or four days before each annual renewal. And before agreeing to any new one, say its decade cost out loud, and wait a week before starting it.
The method is set out in full in Why Small Recurring Costs Deserve More Attention Than Big Ones.
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