Subscriptions and renewals
Subscriptions are set up once and then renew on their own. That is the problem: the payment recurs every month, the decision was made only once.
What you can track
- Subscriptions - digital services, gym, magazines, cloud storage
- Domains - annual or multi-year renewals
- Hosting and servers - monthly or annual
- SSL certificates and licences
- Insurance - motor, home, health
- Regular bill-like payments - choose “variable” when the amount changes
The domain and hosting category is missing from most personal finance apps. Yet a domain that lapses quietly can cost more than a missed credit card payment.
Fixed and variable amounts
Services with a known price are entered as fixed; things like an electricity bill are variable. For variable ones the app does not estimate the amount - it shows past payments and you enter the figure. An invented estimate only misaligns the budget.
Renewal date and frequency
Monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, yearly and two-yearly frequencies are supported. The next renewal date can be picked from the presets (“in 1 month”, “in 1 year”) or from a calendar - you may well have started the subscription before adding it to the app.
Reminders
For each renewal you set how many days ahead you want to be told (default: 3 days and 1 day before). For a subscription you are thinking of cancelling, that leaves time to decide.
A subscription that falls due turns into a transaction automatically and the next date moves forward; you do not have to re-enter it.
Related: Reminders · Budgets and reports