How do I cancel my subscriptions?

You cannot cancel what you cannot see, and most people have a few recurring charges they forgot about. Build the list from three places, because each one catches plans the others miss.

• Card and bank statements. Go back at least three months, and twelve if you can, so that yearly plans show up. Write down the name on the statement line, the date and the day of the month it repeats.
• App-store plan lists. Your iPhone and your Google Play account each keep a list of active plans billed through them. Plans bought in an app often never appear on a company's own website.
• Email receipts. Search your inbox for words such as receipt, renewal, invoice and billing. The sender tells you who the company is, and the message often shows the plan name and the next billing date.

The name on a statement does not always match the brand you know. A streaming service, a news site or a software tool may bill under the name of a parent company or a payment processor. Match each line to a receipt before you decide who to contact.

When the list is complete, add up what the plans cost. The cost calculator for your subscriptions turns the monthly and yearly charges into a total for the year, which makes it easier to decide which plans deserve to stay. The FTC also advises people to watch their statements closely for charges they do not recognise (FTC).

Not every plan ends the same way. Put each one into one of two piles before you start, and you will not waste time hunting for a cancel button that does not exist.

The first pile holds plans that end on your device. These are the plans billed by an app store, and the store, not the company behind the app, controls the cancellation. On an iPhone you end them in the settings of your Apple account, and our guide on how to cancel subscriptions on iPhone walks through it. On Android, the Google Play app holds the same list, and the guide on how to cancel subscriptions on Google Play covers every step. Amazon keeps its own list of plans and memberships, which our guide on how to cancel Amazon explains.

The second pile holds everything billed directly by a company. Gyms, clubs, news publishers, software tools, meal kits and phone or internet providers belong here. Some let you cancel with a button, but many ask for a phone call, a written notice or a mailed letter, and some contracts require writing. If a company makes you jump through hoops, or if you have already tried and the charges continued, a letter is the route that leaves a record.

If a plan is billed through a store, cancel it in the store. Writing to the company behind the app will not stop a charge that the store makes.

For each plan in the second pile, send its own letter. Every company has its own mailing address and its own account details, so one letter cannot cover several of them. A good letter is short: it names the account, says you are cancelling, gives the date the plan should end, asks for the charges to stop and asks for written confirmation.

Our cancellation letter template gives you the wording, and the guide on how to write a cancellation letter explains what each line is for. The guide on cancelling subscriptions by mail covers the sending side: finding the address, choosing Certified Mail and keeping the receipt.

Certified Mail gives you a mailing receipt and a delivery record, and USPS describes the extra services you can add on its page about insurance and extra services (USPS). Keep a copy of each letter next to its receipt. If you would rather not write and post each one yourself, look at how it works or browse the company guides to find the address we hold for the companies on your list.

Set aside one session and finish the job. Plans that you meant to cancel next week are the ones that renew next week, so the momentum matters more than the order. A simple routine keeps it moving:

1. 1

   Start with the plans that cost the most

   Each renewal you stop saves the most money here, so deal with these first.

2. 2

   End the device plans on the spot

   They take a minute each. Take a screenshot of each confirmation screen and save it in one folder.

3. 3

   Prepare the letters together

   Gather the account details for each company, fill in the template for each one, sign and date the letters, and post them all on the same trip.

4. 4

   Write down the dates

   Note for each plan the date you cancelled, the next billing date and the method you used. A short note on your phone is enough.

Mind the renewal dates. A letter takes days to arrive, and a cancellation usually takes effect from the day the company processes it. Post letters for plans that renew soon first, and leave a margin of at least a week where you can.

Cancelling is not finished until the charges stop. Open your next two statements and tick off each plan on your list. The FTC's advice is to keep copies of your cancellation requests and notes of any conversations, and to save your records in case you need a refund (FTC).

If a charge appears after the end date you gave, write back to the company with your proof and ask for the money back. If that does not work, you can dispute the charge with your card issuer or bank. Our guide on what to do if a company keeps charging you explains the deadlines and the steps.

A clean list also shows which plans earn their place. Keep the ones you used this month and would miss, and cancel the ones you cannot remember opening. If you want to end everything at once, read our guide on how to cancel all your subscriptions for the order that works best.