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subscription.audit
Aggressive · monthly · repeatable

Module 01b · aggressive cuttingThe kill workflow · run on the 1st of every month

Goal lifted from $800/mo to $1,500/mo in recurring cuts. Bigger goal forces real decisions, not nibbles. Run this top-to-bottom on the 1st. Every charge gets kept, downgraded, or killed — never just left alone.

Target
$1,500/mo
Killed so far
$0/mo
Annualized save
$0
% of target
0%

The workflow — 6 steps, ~45 minutes

Step 01 · download

Pull the last 60 days from all 4 banks

60 days catches anything billed monthly + the annual creeps.

Step 02 · scan

Pull out every recurring charge

Anything that shows up twice in 60 days, or matches a recurring-vendor list. Highlight in yellow / paste into a spreadsheet column. Don't skip charges < $10 — those are where the rot lives.

Common stalkers to look for: Apple subscriptions (iCloud, App Store auto-renewals), Adobe Creative Cloud, AppleCare, Audible, Dropbox, Evernote, Microsoft 365, NordVPN/ExpressVPN, Spotify/Apple Music/YouTube Premium/Pandora, Netflix/Hulu/Disney+/HBO/Paramount/Peacock, Patreon, ChatGPT Plus, Notion, Substack subs, gym memberships, magazine renewals, AAA, identity-theft services, antivirus auto-renew, domain park services beyond GoDaddy.

Step 03 · decide

Run each row through the decision tree

For each recurring charge: Q1. Used it in the last 30 days? NO → KILL TODAY YES → Q2 Q2. Is there a free or cheaper substitute that's "90% as good"? YES → DOWNGRADE / SWITCH NO → Q3 Q3. Is the monthly cost > 1% of monthly income? ($70+) YES → Q4 (justify hard or kill) NO → Q5 Q4. Does this directly produce $ or directly save > its cost? YES → KEEP NO → KILL Q5. Have I felt mild relief at the idea of cancelling? YES → KILL NO → KEEP, revisit next quarter
Step 04 · cancel

Cancel in batch — one sitting, no breaks

The big risk is starting and stopping. Open every cancel page in a separate tab, work through them. For ones that require an email or call, use the templates below.

Hot tip: screenshot every confirmation. Some companies "honor" cancellations and bill anyway.

Step 05 · log

Add each kill to /cut-expenses/ kill list

For each cancellation: vendor · monthly amount · annualized · cancel date · evidence (screenshot path or email subject). The running total feeds back into this page's scoreboard.

This is the dopamine hit. Watching the saved-monthly number climb makes the next month's audit way easier.

Step 06 · verify next month

The trust-but-verify pass

30 days later, scan statements again. Anything that came back, refund-dispute. Some vendors are sticky on purpose. The audit isn't complete until two consecutive clean months.

templatesCancellation emails — paste-ready

All templates omit greetings, justifications, and friendliness — those invite a save attempt. Clear and final beats polite.

Generic SaaS cancellation Please cancel my subscription effective immediately and do not auto-renew. Confirm in writing the cancellation date and that no further charges will be made. Account email: walhus@gmail.com.
Insurance re-shop nudge (existing carrier) I'm shopping my [auto / home] insurance for renewal on [date]. Please send your best retention offer and full quote breakdown for the same coverage I have today. I've already received three quotes from other carriers and will make a decision in 7 days.
Annual renewal stalker (auto-renewed without notice) On [date] my account was charged $[amount] for an annual renewal I did not authorize. Per [state] auto-renewal disclosure law, please reverse this charge and cancel the renewal. If you do not refund within 5 business days I will dispute the charge with my card issuer.
Cell carrier — line audit I'd like an audit of every line, plan, add-on, and feature on my account. Please send a written summary including monthly cost per line, add-on, and protection plan. I'm consolidating and will be reducing lines and dropping any add-on not in active use.

domainsThe 138-domain problem

Live count: 138 domains in the GoDaddy account, 129 on autorenew, 4 expiring in the next 60 days. Average renewal ~$15/yr = ~$2,070/yr total. Cutting half = $1,000+/yr back.

Domain triage — the 3 buckets

Bucket A · keep

Live, traffic, or revenue

wholetech, austinspring, walhus, austinmayor, tvreviewer, firth, ehotsprings, the Bergeron set, anything with sitemap-listed live pages or AdSense earnings.

Bucket B · decide

Project-stalled or speculative

Domains for ideas you haven't touched in 12+ months. Either revive THIS month or move to bucket C. No "maybe someday" — that's how 138 happened.

Bucket C · kill

Dead — flip autorenew off

No site, no traffic, no concrete plan. Set autorenew=false in GoDaddy. They expire on their own; no cancellation friction.

Bulk autorenew-off via the GoDaddy API

Paul has the API creds at C:\Users\walhu\.secrets\godaddy.env. Build a list of bucket-C domains, then one API call per domain:

PowerShell — bulk autorenew off $kv=@{}; Get-Content "$env:USERPROFILE\.secrets\godaddy.env" | ? { $_ -match '^([A-Z_]+)=(.+)$' } | % { $kv[$matches[1]] = $matches[2].Trim('"') } $h = @{Authorization="sso-key $($kv.GODADDY_KEY):$($kv.GODADDY_SECRET)";Accept="application/json"} $kill = @('domain1.com','domain2.com') # bucket C list foreach ($d in $kill) { Invoke-RestMethod -Method Patch -Uri "https://api.godaddy.com/v1/domains/$d" -Headers $h ` -Body '{"renewAuto":false}' -ContentType 'application/json' Write-Host "autorenew OFF: $d" }

monthly · recurringSchedule it

First of every month, 8:00 AM, 45-minute block. Put it on the calendar with a recurring reminder. If you skip a month, do two next month. Two missed months = quietly back to leakage.