How to Keep a List of Recurring Bills and Subscriptions
Short answer: make one list where each recurring payment has four things: name, amount, next due date and how often it repeats. Then look at it as a timeline of the next 30 days, not as a monthly total, so you can see which bills come before your next payday.
Why a list beats memory
Most people can name their rent and phone bill. Fewer remember the streaming service they signed up for in a free trial, the cloud storage plan, or the yearly insurance payment. These small or rare charges are what turn a “fine” month into an overdraft.
Step 1: Collect every recurring charge
- Housing: rent or mortgage, maintenance fees.
- Utilities: electricity, water, gas, internet, phone.
- Insurance and loans: car, health, student loan, card minimums.
- Subscriptions: streaming, music, cloud storage, apps, gym.
- Yearly items: car registration, memberships, renewals.
Step 2: Record four things for each
- Name as it appears on your statement, so you can match it later.
- Amount, or your best estimate for bills that vary.
- Next due date, the day the money actually leaves.
- Repeat: weekly, every 2 weeks, monthly or yearly, and an end date if it stops (like a loan with its last payment in June).
Step 3: Look at the next 30 days
Sort the list by date and add your paydays to it. Now you can read it like a timeline: what leaves this week, what leaves right before payday, and how much is left after each one.
Step 4: Tick off and adjust
When a bill actually leaves your account, mark it paid. If a single month is different (a higher electricity bill in winter), change only that one occurrence. If the price goes up for good, change that one and every one after it.
Step 5: Review once a month
Once a month, scan the list for subscriptions you no longer use. Cancelling one $12 subscription is $144 a year.
Keeping the list in a budget calendar
In Daypurse, each recurring bill or income has a repeat (every day, week, 2 weeks, month or year) and an optional end date. The Upcoming tab lists every bill and payday in the next 30 days with your balance after each day, you can mark a bill as paid, and when you edit a repeating entry you choose “only this one” or “this and all following.” Bills also show on the calendar, so each date’s balance already includes them.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find all my subscriptions?
Go through the last two or three months of bank and card statements and mark every charge that repeats. Check app store subscriptions too, since they often appear under the store’s name.
What about bills that are yearly, not monthly?
Put them on the list with a yearly repeat and their real date. Yearly charges like insurance or a domain renewal are the ones that surprise people most.
What if I cancel a subscription?
End the repeat from the last date it will be charged. Past payments stay in your history and future days update.