Overview

What you're building

A renewals tracker listing every recurring charge and expiring item, with calendar reminders set a few weeks before each date. The AI helps you find renewals in statements and emails, and decide what to keep.

Why this setup

Renewals are rare events, which is exactly why they're forgotten. A list plus advance reminders solves it; AI speeds up the one-time discovery and the yearly keep/cancel decision. Reminders live in your calendar, because the AI won't notify you.

The workflow architecture

• AI workspace

  Holds your instructions and reference files so you never re-explain.

• Spreadsheet or tracker

  Renewals list with dates and cost.

• Calendar as source of truth

  Reminders 2–4 weeks before each date.

• Reusable instructions

  Discovery from statements; keep/cancel review.

You haven't picked a tool yet, so this kit is platform-neutral. Both Claude and ChatGPT support this setup.

What to prepare

• □Two or three months of card/bank statements (trimmed to date, payee, amount).
• □Search your email for 'renew', 'subscription', 'trial', 'expires'.
• □IDs and policies with expiry dates (dates only).

Build it once

1. 1Create a dedicated workspace named "Subscription & Renewal Tracker" in the AI tool you choose. Both Claude and ChatGPT call this a "Project". Claude offers Projects on all plans; ChatGPT availability depends on your plan.
2. 2Paste the main instructions block from this kit into the workspace's instructions.
3. 3Upload the reference files listed below, and start every future conversation from inside this workspace.
4. 4Paste trimmed statement lines with the Discovery Prompt.
5. 5Build your tracker from the result using the Tracker Columns.
6. 6Add non-financial items (passport, license, warranties) by hand.
7. 7Create a calendar reminder for each item at the lead time you choose.
8. 8Once a year, run the Keep-or-Cancel Review.

Copy-ready materials

Edit anything in [BRACKETS]. Changes are kept when you save the kit.

Below are transaction lines (date | payee | amount). Identify likely recurring charges: subscriptions, memberships, insurance, software, streaming, donations.

Return: Payee | Amount | Apparent frequency (monthly/annual) | Last charge date | Likely next date | Confidence (High/Med/Low).
Do not guess what a payee is if the description is unclear; list those under "Unknown – check".

[PASTE LINES]

Item | Type (subscription / policy / ID / warranty) | Cost | Frequency | Next renewal or expiry | Auto-renews? | Reminder set? | Lead time | How to cancel | Keep? (Y/N/Review)

Here is my renewals tracker: [PASTE]. For each paid subscription, ask me one question: "When did you last use this?" Then total the annual cost of everything I mark "rarely" and list those with the cancellation method from the tracker.

How to test it

1. 1Run discovery on 3 months of statements.

Success looks like

• ✓ Known subscriptions all found.
• ✓ Reminders exist in your calendar for every item.

How to use it next time

1. When you sign up for anything, add a row and a reminder immediately.
2. When a reminder fires, decide: renew, cancel, or switch.
3. Yearly: Keep-or-Cancel Review.

Troubleshooting

Annual charges missed.

Use 12 months of statements for discovery, at least once.

Cryptic payee names.

Search the payee name with your bank's merchant lookup; add a note in the tracker.

Reminders too late to act.

Use 30 days lead time for annual charges and IDs.

Limitations, privacy & safety

• · It cannot cancel subscriptions or monitor your accounts.
• · Reminders depend on your calendar.

Privacy & safety

• · Never paste full account numbers, card numbers, logins, or Social Security numbers. Use the last 4 digits at most.
• · Consider exporting only the columns you need (date, payee, amount, category) before sharing a statement.