How to Get Rid of Ghost Bills and Zombie Subscriptions

Article summary

• The average American spends $90 per month on subscriptions and an extra $17 per month on "zombie subscriptions"—recurring charges for services they no longer use or remember signing up for.
• To cut back, audit your bank accounts and credit cards, check app store subscriptions, identify any bundled add-ons and cancel any services you no longer use.
• To stay on top of subscriptions going forward, keep a running list of active subscriptions and their renewal dates, set calendar reminders for free trial end dates, and consider using a budgeting app that tracks and cancels unused subscriptions.

Subscription services have a way of adding up. What may have seemed convenient in the moment could actually be putting a damper on your budget, especially during times of economic uncertainty when saving every extra dollar counts.

If you’re looking to cut back on spending, learning how to audit and manage your subscription services may be a relatively quick and easy way to add money back into your budget.

How zombie subscriptions and ghost bills impact your wallet

According to a recent CNET survey, 80% of Americans paid for at least one subscription in the last year, with the average paying $90 per month—more than $1,080 yearly. And while many of those are used frequently, there are forgotten subscriptions that may be adding up.

These are known as zombie subscriptions. They’re recurring charges for services you don’t use anymore or even remember signing up for. But every month, money is debited from your bank account or charged to your credit card. The CNET survey found that the average American spends $17 a month, or over $200 per year, on these forgotten subscriptions.

What is a ghost bill?

A ghost bill is a charge that feels like it came out of nowhere. It’s often something you don’t recognize, forgot about or thought was already handled, like an old medical bill or a charge you don’t remember agreeing to. These can cause late fees, trigger collections calls and damage your credit if you ignore them.

If a ghost bill has come back to haunt you, contact your bank or credit card company to confirm the balance and ask about payment plans or late fee removal.

Sometimes, a ghost bill may be a scam. Fraudsters send invoices hoping you’ll just pay them without checking. If the bill seems fake, look up the company’s phone number (don’t use the one on the bill), and ask them to verify the information.

How to audit your current subscriptions

Most consumers have a mix of subscriptions at any given time. While some are genuinely useful and frequently used, zombie subscriptions can quietly drain your bank account over time.

Here are a few tips to help manage your subscriptions and reduce expenses:

• Review your bank account and credit cards: Write down every subscription you find, ideally going back a year. That way, you can spot any monthly services and upcoming ones that charge yearly to help avoid surprise charges.
• Check the app stores: Look at your Apple ID or Google Play subscriptions section for in-app services that don’t show up by name on your bank or credit card statements.
• Look for extras: Some bills include bundled extras, and while you may not be able to cut the full subscription, such as a phone or cable service, you could trim an add-on package or premium channels.
• Decide what to cancel: Mark each service as “Keep,” “Cancel” or “Pause.” Then spend a month or two doing a test run. You’ll probably find you don’t use a handful of subscriptions as much as you think.
• Cancel what you don’t use: Contact the services and cancel anything you haven’t used lately. If your subscription is yearly or quarterly and set to auto-renew, make sure to turn it off.

Even small cancellations add up. Cutting $25 a month will save you $300 a year, which can be applied to savings or debt repayment. 

How to track your subscriptions moving forward

Once you’ve done a full audit of your current subscriptions and canceled what you no longer need, put a system in place moving forward.

Here are a few tips:

• Keep track of your subscriptions: Write down your current subscriptions somewhere, and whenever you add a new one, add it to the list with its renewal date.
• Mark your calendar: Some subscription services offer a free trial for a week or 30 days and require a credit card to sign up. Note in your calendar when these trials end so you know when to cancel and avoid getting charged if you don’t plan to use them.
• Consider a subscription cancellation service: Some budgeting apps include these services as part of the plan, making it easy to identify and cancel unused subscriptions moving forward.

Staying on top of your subscriptions will help you know exactly how much you’re spending and when.

Take charge of your subscriptions

You don’t have to let zombie subscriptions and ghost bills attack your budget. Having a few quick strategies in place will help you know what to keep and cut moving forward, saving you both time and money.