I Audited Everything I Pay For (And Kept One Monthly Habit)
Last week I wrote about rebuilding my website and cutting about $600 a year down to about $20 for the domain.
That wasn’t the interesting part.
The interesting part was how I found the bill. I hadn’t been looking for a website problem. I asked one question, and the answer embarrassed me:
What am I paying for every month that I forgot about?
The find that started it
I dug through every website payment I could find going back to 2021. It took minutes, not a weekend.
Same card. Same vendor. Same quiet charge. Year after year. The site was slow, the forms were broken, and I was still paying for it because “we’ve always paid for that.”
That’s how most money leaks work. Not one dramatic purchase. A quiet yes you never revisited.
The one-question audit
You don’t need a fancy spreadsheet to start. You need a bank or card statement and 20 honest minutes.
- Pull the last 90 days of card and bank charges.
- Highlight every recurring line — subscriptions, software, hosting, memberships, “free trials” that weren’t.
- Ask three questions on each one:
- Do I still use this every week?
- Would I buy it again today at this price?
- Does it move Build, Money, or Life forward — or is it just open in a tab?
If the answer is “I forgot I had this,” that’s not a maybe. That’s a cancel.
I didn’t turn it into a shame spiral. I turned it into a list. Keep. Cut. Replace.
What I kept (on purpose)
Not everything got cut. Some tools earn their spot.
I run a small AI team for about $78 a month. I estimate it gives me 15–20 hours a week back — follow-ups, drafts, research, the work after the meeting that used to be the meeting. That’s not a flex. It’s a trade: pay a clear number, get back time I can spend on people and the scoreboard.
I also started a newsletter on a free plan even when a paid trial tried to pull me up. Free was the standard. If the tool can’t prove it at the free tier, I don’t graduate it.
The point isn’t “never spend.” The point is every dollar has to re-earn its job.
The monthly money date
A one-time audit is a clean-up. A habit is a system.
So I’m testing a standing appointment: the first Thursday of every month is my money date.
Three questions. Same ones every time:
- Where did I overspend?
- What’s missing?
- What needs attention?
Not “be perfect.” Be present. If you only look at money when something’s on fire, you only ever manage emergencies.
Same idea as a team scoreboard. If you can’t see the number, you can’t coach it.
The short version
- One forgotten website bill became a full recurring-charge audit.
- I found years of payments in minutes once I looked on purpose.
- Keep what earns its keep. Cut what you forgot. Don’t upgrade a free tool until it’s proven.
- Put a monthly money date on the calendar so the audit doesn’t become a one-time mood.
I’m not trying to look frugal on the internet. I’m trying to stop paying for the past version of my life.
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