# Subscriptions and small payments: the leaks > How small and recurring payments add up to more than one big purchase, and how a ten-minute monthly audit lets you keep what you value on purpose. - Course: [Personal Finance: Budget, Safety Cushion, Debt and Investing](https://productovi.com/courses/personal-finance.md) - Module: Where does my money go? - Lesson 3/32, ~18 min - Source: https://productovi.com/courses/personal-finance/subscriptions-and-small-payments ## No big purchase, and still short **Alex Tutor:** Still Sam's family budget, and you keep helping. Sam has gone through September once more. **Sam:** I went through September line by line, as we agreed. Nothing big jumps out: the largest non-essential was our kid's autumn jacket, 2,300 UAH. So how are we 6,558 short? **Alex Tutor:** Big purchases are easy to see: you decide once and remember it. Small ones hide by being small. Let's filter differently: every payment under 300 UAH. **Dataset (CSV):** [Sam's household spending, 5 September – 4 October 2026](https://productovi.com/datasets/personal-finance/subscriptions-and-small-payments/sam-september-transactions.csv) Every card payment and cash withdrawal from payday to payday. Amounts in UAH. - `date`: Payment date (YYYY-MM-DD) - `category`: Spending category - `description`: What the payment was for - `amount_uah`: Amount, UAH **Sofia:** In the file that's coffee to go, taxis, metro and bus rides, and all seven subscriptions. 46 payments. **Alex Tutor:** 46 payments, 5,238 UAH together. The math is count × average: 46 × about 114 UAH. None of them hurts on its own. Together they cost more than two jackets. **Sam:** And not one of them felt like a decision. > **Exercise:** Sam says the autumn jacket (2,300 UAH) was the biggest flexible purchase of his household's month. Which statement about the transactions file is true? ## Habits, not purchases **Alex Tutor:** Now group by habit instead of size. Food delivery: 10 orders, 4,205 UAH. Taxis: 12 rides, 2,195 UAH. Each costs more than a coffee but still looks small next to rent. **Sam:** Together that's 6,400. Almost three jackets. **Alex Tutor:** And nobody decided to spend 6,400 on them. Each order was its own small choice on a tired evening. The monthly total is a number no one chose. **Sofia:** So the fix is to choose the total in advance, not to ban the orders? **Alex Tutor:** Exactly. Pick a delivery-and-taxi amount you're comfortable with and spend it without guilt. When it runs out, that's a signal, not a failure. **Sam:** Or maybe I just quit coffee? That's 19 cups, 1,395 UAH. > **Exercise:** Sam's household ended the month 6,558 UAH short. If Sam gave up coffee to go completely, that alone would close the gap. ## Payments that renew themselves **Alex Tutor:** Coffee is at least visible: you stand in line for it. Subscriptions are the opposite. You decide once, and they keep paying every month without asking. **Sam:** We have seven, each under 300. I don't even notice them on the statement. **Dataset (CSV):** [Sam's subscriptions, September 2026](https://productovi.com/datasets/personal-finance/subscriptions-and-small-payments/sam-subscriptions.csv) Seven recurring payments and whether anyone in the family used each one this month. Amounts in UAH. - `subscription`: What the subscription is for - `monthly_uah`: Monthly price, UAH - `used_this_month`: Used in September: yes or no **Alex Tutor:** Together: 1,283 UAH a month. This is **subscription creep**: small recurring payments piling up until they cost more than any single purchase. **Alex Tutor:** Now the yearly view: multiply by 12. A monthly price is made to look small; the yearly one shows what you're really buying. **Sofia:** So the check is: would this be worth paying in one go, today? > **Exercise:** Use the subscriptions file. How much do all seven subscriptions cost Sam's family in a year, if prices stay the same? ## A ten-minute audit **Alex Tutor:** Now the audit. Each subscription gets one label: keep, cancel, share or downgrade. Start with the `used_this_month` column. **Sam:** The games subscription, the fitness app, the language app: nobody opened them in September. I bought the fitness one in January, full of plans. **Dana:** One month can mislead, though. I pay for a drawing app I only use in summer. Judge by the last three months, not by September alone. **Sam:** Fair. I checked: none of those three has been opened since June. **Alex Tutor:** Then the test is simple: would you sign up today at this price? If not, cancel. You can always come back when the plan is real. **Alex Tutor:** For the ones you use, two more questions. Could the family share one plan instead of paying twice? Would a smaller plan be enough? > **Exercise:** Sam's rule: cancel every subscription nobody used in September (he has checked that none of them was opened since June either). Which ones does he cancel? Select all that apply. ## Keep on purpose **Sam:** So do I cancel video streaming too? We watch it every evening. **Alex Tutor:** No. You use it, it costs 199 UAH a month, and the family enjoys it. That's a good buy. The goal is choosing, not cutting everything. **Alex Tutor:** Coffee works the same way. If the morning cup matters to you, put it into your spending plan on purpose. A pleasure you chose isn't a leak. **Sofia:** And the three unused ones are 777 UAH a month that nobody enjoys. **Sam:** Put like that, 777 doesn't sound like much. > **Exercise:** How much do the three unused subscriptions (the games subscription, the fitness app and the language app) cost in a year? ## Friction that helps **Alex Tutor:** Last step: make leaks harder to come back. Remove saved cards from shops and delivery apps. One extra step is often enough to ask: do I want this? **Alex Tutor:** And pick a monthly check day, say the day after payday: 15 minutes for subscriptions, small payments and the delivery total. **Sam:** What about free trials? That's how the fitness app got me. **Alex Tutor:** When you start a trial, set a reminder for the day before it turns paid. Then staying is a decision, not a default. **Sam:** I need one rule I can run every month without thinking too hard. Could you write it for me? > **Exercise:** Sam wants one rule he can use every month to decide which subscriptions and other recurring payments to keep, cancel, share or downgrade. Write it for him in 3–5 sentences: the test he applies, when he applies it, and what it means for his September list. **Alex Tutor:** Small payments aren't the problem. Unchosen ones are. Once a month, choose again. - Previous lesson: [Spending plan: needs, wants and fun money](https://productovi.com/courses/personal-finance/spending-plan.md) - Next lesson: [Case: Sam's family lives paycheck to paycheck](https://productovi.com/courses/personal-finance/before-payday-case.md) --- Productovi Learning. Free, no sign-up needed to read.