Start with a Deep Dive into Your Statements
The first step is the most straightforward: become a detective of your own spending. Pull up your bank and credit card statements for at least the last six months. A longer, 12-month review is even better, as it will catch those tricky annual renewals
for things like domain names or insurance policies that are easy to forget. As you scan through, don't just look for big, obvious debits. Pay close attention to small, recurring charges, as these are often the forgotten culprits. Highlight every payment that repeats, especially from merchants you don't immediately recognise. Many services bill under a parent company name, which might not match the product you signed up for. A systematic review is the foundation for plugging financial leaks.
Master Your UPI AutoPay Mandates
In India, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has made setting up recurring payments incredibly easy, but this convenience can also create a blind spot. Many of us have active UPI AutoPay mandates we've completely forgotten about. Thankfully, you can get a complete picture. While individual apps like Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm show mandates created within them, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) offers a central portal. By visiting upihelp.npci.org.in, you can log in with your mobile number and see a consolidated list of all your active UPI mandates, regardless of which app you used to approve them. This is the most powerful tool for finding every single UPI-linked subscription.
Check Your App Store Subscriptions
Another common hiding place for forgotten payments is within your smartphone's app store. Subscriptions for apps, extra cloud storage, or exclusive content are often billed directly through your Apple ID or Google Play account, separate from your bank statements. On an iPhone, you can find these by going to Settings, tapping your name, and then selecting 'Subscriptions'. For Android users, open the Google Play Store, tap your profile icon, and navigate to 'Payments & subscriptions', then 'Subscriptions'. You might be surprised to find a service you stopped using months ago is still quietly charging you every month.
Adopt the 'Keep, Cancel, or Query' Method
Once you have a complete list of all your auto-debits, it's time to make some decisions. For each payment, ask yourself a simple question: "Am I still getting value from this service?" If the answer is a clear yes, then keep it. If you no longer use the service, it's time to cancel immediately. However, you might find some charges you don't recognise at all. For these, your job is to query them. Check your email for receipts or 'free trial' confirmation messages. If you still can't place the charge, it might be a forgotten service or, in rare cases, an unauthorised transaction. This simple framework helps you move from discovery to action.
The Right Way to Cancel and Confirm
Cancelling a payment isn't always a one-click affair. The method depends on how you set it up. For most services like streaming platforms, you'll need to log in to their website or app and cancel your subscription directly in the billing section. For UPI mandates, you should revoke the permission inside the specific UPI app or through the NPCI portal. For credit or debit card instructions, you can often cancel them via your bank's net banking portal under the 'e-mandates' or 'standing instructions' section. A crucial final step is to monitor your accounts after cancellation to ensure the debits have actually stopped.
