How to find hidden subscriptions

Most hidden plans sit in a place you do not check, or bill under a name you do not recognise. A few patterns account for most of what people miss.

• App-store plans. A plan started inside an app is billed by the app store, so it never appears in the company's own website account. You only see it in the store's plan list and on a statement line that names the store.
• Carrier-billed plans. Some services add their charge to your phone bill instead of your card. The line sits among your call and data charges and is easy to read past.
• Trials that renewed. A free trial often turns into a paid plan when the trial ends, unless you cancel first. The FTC describes this pattern in its advice on free trials and auto-renewals. If you forgot the end date, the first charge is the only reminder.
• Annual plans. A plan that bills once a year shows up on one statement out of twelve. If you only check the last month or two, you will never see it.
• Statement descriptors that do not match the brand. The text on your statement is set by the company or its payment processor. It can be a parent company, a shortened code or the processor's name, so the line may look nothing like the brand you signed up with.

No single place shows everything, so check all of these. Each one catches plans the others miss.

1. 1

   Read your card and bank statements line by line

   Go back twelve months so yearly plans appear. For every charge that repeats, or looks like it could, write down the statement text, the amount and the date. Check every card and account, including ones you rarely use.

2. 2

   Open the app-store plan lists

   On an iPhone the list is in Settings under your name. Our guide on how to cancel subscriptions on iPhone shows where. On Android, the Google Play app keeps the list, and how to cancel subscriptions on Google Play covers it. Check every account you have signed in with, because a plan can sit on an old one.

3. 3

   Search your email

   Search for words such as receipt, invoice, renewal, trial and billing. Check spam, promotions and any older address you still use. The sender tells you who bills you, and the message often shows the plan name and the next renewal date.

4. 4

   Check your phone bill

   Open the itemised bill for your mobile account and read the charges that are not calls, data or equipment. Ask your carrier about any third-party charge.

Go back further for anything that bills once a year. A plan you started eleven months ago may charge you again next month.

When a statement line means nothing to you, copy the exact text and paste it into a search engine, with the amount if that helps. The results often name the company behind it.

Then check the answer against something you control. Search your email for the company name you found, and look for a receipt that matches the date and the amount. A match tells you who to contact. If nothing matches, ask your card issuer or bank about the charge. The FTC's advice on stopping plans you never ordered is to look closely at your statements and to contact the company, or your card issuer or bank, when a charge is one you did not agree to.

As you find plans, write them down in one place: the name, what you pay each month and the next renewal date. The free subscriptions tracker does the adding for you and keeps the list in your browser. Divide a yearly charge by twelve to get its monthly figure.

For any plan, the cost calculator shows what it adds up to over a year and over three years, and what a few more months of waiting costs.

Sort every plan into one of three piles and handle each in turn.

• Keep it. If you use the plan and the price is fair, leave it, and note the renewal date so it does not surprise you.
• End it in the app store or online. App-store plans end in the store's plan list, and many companies let you cancel in your account. Screenshot the confirmation.
• End it with a letter. If a company hides the cancel option, asks for a phone call you cannot get through, or takes cancellations only in writing, send a letter. Our cancellation letter template builds one, and how to write a cancellation letter explains what to put in it.

A letter sent by tracked mail gives you a delivery date, which is the record you need if charges continue. USPS describes the options on its page about Certified Mail and other extra services. If the renewal date is close, work out the last safe mailing day with the cancellation deadline calculator.

Some finds will be plans you do not remember starting, or charges from a company you have never heard of. Contact the company first, using the details on the receipt if you have one, and ask it to stop the charge. If that does not work, tell your card issuer or bank, and keep a record of what you sent and when.

If the charges come out of your bank account as automatic payments, the rule on preauthorized transfers lets you stop a payment by telling your bank at least three business days before it is scheduled. Keep the date you told them.

After you end a plan, watch your next two statements. A plan that billed monthly should not appear again, and a yearly plan should not return on its old date. If a charge does come back, read our guide on what to do when a company keeps charging you.