Subscription creep is one of the most common silent margin-killers in a freelance business: tools signed up for during a specific project, trial periods that converted to paid without a second look, and overlapping tools that do the same job. None of it feels like a big decision in the moment, all of it adds up.
Reviewing the full list at once, rather than one cancellation notice at a time, is what actually surfaces the overlap and waste.
Sort by two questions: did I use this in the last 30 days, and does another tool I already pay for do the same job? Anything that fails both is close to a guaranteed cut. Anything that fails one deserves a second look before renewal.
It varies widely, but audits commonly surface at least one or two unused or duplicate tools, often adding up to hundreds of dollars a year in subscriptions nobody remembered to cancel.
If it's a genuine "might need it in three months" tool, downgrading to a free tier or pausing (where available) is usually better than fully cancelling and losing setup or data.
Twice a year is a reasonable cadence, timed around when annual subscriptions tend to renew, so you catch them before an automatic renewal rather than after.