How to calculate your real monthly subscription burn

Why “€9.99 per month” is rarely the full story

Most subscription trackers list what you pay at renewal. That’s useful — but it’s not the same as monthly burn: the steady cost of everything you’re committed to, normalized to one month.

A €120/year plan is €10/month of burn even if it only charges once a year. A €30/quarter plan is €10/month too. If you only look at “next payment,” you underestimate spend by 20–40%.

The honest burn formula

For each active subscription:

1. Take the amount you pay per billing cycle
2. Convert it to a monthly equivalent
3. Sum across all active subs

| Billing cycle | Monthly equivalent | |---------------|-------------------| | Weekly | amount × 52 ÷ 12 | | Monthly | amount | | Quarterly | amount ÷ 3 | | Yearly | amount ÷ 12 |

That total is your honest burn — the number to put on your dashboard and compare month to month.

What to include (and what to skip)

Include: active subscriptions you intend to keep — streaming, SaaS, cloud storage, gym memberships billed as subs.

Skip or mark separately: one-off purchases, annual insurance you’d track elsewhere, shared family plans you only partially pay.

A 5-minute audit

1. List every recurring charge from the last 90 days of card/email receipts
2. Add them to Subscribes with the correct billing cycle
3. Read the monthly burn on your dashboard — not the “next payment” total

Cut without chaos

Once you see honest burn by category, pick one category to trim this month. Cancel or pause one service, then re-check burn in 30 days. Small cuts compound — €15/month is €180/year.

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