Five tools I stopped paying for

Every autumn I read my bank statement like a stranger would. This year it listed eleven small monthly charges for things meant to help me make stuff in the evenings. I kept six. Here is what happened to the other five, without naming any of them.

What went, and what replaced it

• A note-taking app with sync I never used across devices: replaced by plain text files in one folder.

• A focus timer with streaks and badges: replaced by the kitchen timer, which never sends notifications.

• A stock photo plan I opened twice a year: replaced by taking my own photos on a grey afternoon.

• A second cloud storage plan: replaced by deleting four years of duplicate exports.

• A course platform with a library I never finished: replaced by one library card.

None of these tools were bad. Most were very good. They just solved problems I had imagined having, not the ones I had.

A tool earns its place when you'd notice it was gone on a Tuesday.

The test I use now

Before paying for anything new, I write down the last three evenings when I would have used it, with dates. If I can't name three, I wait a month and ask again. Most of the time the urge passes, and the money goes to paper and ink instead.

This is a short issue on purpose. If you want something longer this week, the case for a boring calendar is about the same idea applied to time instead of money.

One reader asked whether I'd miss any of the five. Honestly, only the focus timer, and only for its little chime. The kitchen timer has a worse chime and the same effect.

The audit took one evening and a cup of tea. I printed the statement, highlighted every repeating charge in yellow, and wrote next to each one the last date I could remember using it. Several had no date at all.

Cancelling was harder than it should have been. Two services hid the button three menus deep, and one asked me four times whether I was sure. I was. The whole exercise saved enough each month to buy a good sketchbook and a bottle of ink, which I use every week.

I am not against paying for software. The six I kept are things I open almost every evening, and I'm happy to pay for them because I know exactly what they do for me. The difference is that I chose them on purpose this time, instead of collecting them one free trial at a time.

If you do your own audit, be kind to past you. Every subscription was a small bet on a better evening. Some bets lose. That is fine, as long as you notice.

This week's question: which tool would you actually miss on a Tuesday? Hit reply and tell me.

— Ines