I get overwhelmed easily. I have a decent memory, but I am not always organized.

So I like to take the stress off by using my own tracking app to keep tabs on my monthly and yearly subscription spending.

I downloaded Subby, a privacy-focused, minimalist app.

After spending my first month entering the values, I was shocked by how much money I spent each month, which prompted me to make changes.

The app is very lightweight. Any old, or smartphone would run the app just fine.

Subby opened my eyes to the truth

It made me realize I needed to cut back

Credit: Lucas Gouveia / Android Police | Luby

I calculated that if I want to pay for all my non-essential subscription services for a single month without limits, I am looking at $66.

Streaming services take up most of it; my main three are Crunchyroll, Netflix, and Disney+.

I am discounting Amazon Prime Video since it is bundled with Amazon Prime and shared within the household.

When you add it all up, it starts getting expensive. This is only the start, since I also pay subscriptions for various work programs and services.

Thankfully, as a contract worker, this is easier to track and can be added as a deductible.

Usually, my preferred subscription-tracking app is the Google Play Store. It's free, and you can manage a budget to avoid overspending.

The problem is I manage my subscriptions solely through this service, and while it's been good for the most part, it doesn't show how much I am spending outside of it.

For budgeting purposes, I wanted an overview of how much I'm really spending each month on all my subscriptions.

I just don't have as much disposable income anymore. Tech is expensive enough, but grocery bills are exceedingly high.

For example, I recently saw that my favorite cheese, The Laughing Cow, had gone up by $5 since I last bought it.

Eventually, that $5 adds up (buying produce feels like a luxury), and I end up spending around $50 more on groceries.

So I either have to cut my losses and buy less food or tighten my budget.

So it only makes sense to cut back on non-essentials, which means my streaming and gaming services. I either need to reduce my subscriptions to the lowest tier or .

As such, I decided to download an app that gives me the full picture. I wanted an app like Apple's Bobby's, the one I use to record my iPad subscriptions.

On my Android phone, I use Subby.

It's simple to use. You manually add a list of subscriptions, and you don't have to add your banking details.

Subby lets me track my subscriptions

It's intuitive, and I can keep my details private

Credit: Lucas Gouveia / Android Police

I tried a , but none of them were better.

I wasn't really in need of help paying on time; it is mostly for budgeting purposes and realizing how much money I've been spending on subscriptions I don't necessarily need.

The apps that asked for my banking details made me uncomfortable because I dislike paying directly through apps — banking is handled online, in a safe, secure web browser, after I do a complete clean sweep of my computer.

Plus, Subby has its perks.

The set reminder feature is super handy, and I can also customize when it goes off.

I usually like using the 1-day or 1-week option to be on the safe side.

You can send reminders at a specific time by going to > Approximate notification hour.

Another reason I wanted to start using Subby is that I have always been slightly held back from taking advantage of free trials.

This is because I've dealt with services that charged before the trial was supposed to end and had issues removing my payment information from the platform — which led me to an irrational fear of doing free trials unless I absolutely trusted the platform.

So for free trials, I record them as 0.01 and enter the dates. The app won't let you enter 0.00.

For the rest, I add them in and then remove them. Right now, the strategy is to rotate through with a strict budget. I am trying to bring it down so that I am only spending $45 on subscriptions (give or take the tax).

For example, this month I haven't paid for Disney+, but I plan to at the start of the month, which means I'll cut one of my gaming subscriptions to make room.

In reality, I don't have much free time after work, so I won't be gaming and watching TV.

Even if it's expensive, Netflix is a staple. I enjoy it with my family and use it quite regularly. So the $19 subscription is staying.

To compensate, I also stopped paying for my Character.AI subscription ($13 per month) because it is too expensive.

My work subscriptions are still a bit trickier because I pay for them annually, and it's hard to cut them. It's around $315 a year.

Still, seeing that number deters me from paying for things like Google AI Pro unless I absolutely need to.

That's where Subby is eye-opening: it shows how much you are technically paying per month or year across all your active subscriptions.

While I said I pay around $66 monthly, that's actually wrong. Adding my annual work subscriptions means I am paying more than that, even if I don't pay that bill until the start of next year.

If I add it all up, it comes to over $159. Subby also shows that the yearly amount equates to almost $1,300.

It's a bit much, and I only have 10 active subscriptions (minus free trials). To me, that's too high, but I've seen people with worse counts.

Still, I need to be on a tighter budget. I don't realistically need all 10 active at the same time, which is where the app shows me where I can save money.

So, Subby is the wake-up call I needed to take back control over my spending.

Keep painting the full financial picture

It's difficult to accept that we are in a world where everything has become more expensive.

I am buying less tech, fewer games, and being stingy about paying one-time fees for new apps.

So far, Subby only tracks my subscriptions, but it still lacks the big picture — what's actually going on in your financial statements — so you'll probably want to use a different financial app for that.