MVP Prototype

Subscription Creep Calculator

Subscriptions can feel small one at a time, but recurring monthly charges add up when they repeat across categories and over time. This prototype helps you model monthly, annual, and five-year subscription totals using simplified user-entered assumptions.

Educational prototype only. This tool uses simplified user-entered assumptions and does not recommend which subscriptions to keep, remove, or change.

Inputs

Enter monthly subscription amounts

Use monthly amounts only. Blank fields are treated as $0.00. The calculator runs locally in your browser and does not store or send inputs.

What this compares

This tool adds subscription categories into one monthly total, then shows how that monthly total repeats over 12 months and 60 months.

It also shows which entered category is largest and how many categories make up the modeled total.

It does not tell anyone which subscriptions to keep or cancel.

What do I enter?

Enter the monthly amount for each subscription category you want to include.

Use a monthly amount even if the subscription is billed differently.

If a subscription costs about $12 per month, enter 12.
If a category does not apply, leave it blank or enter 0.

The calculator treats blank fields as $0.00.

Streaming video

/ month

Monthly amount for video streaming subscriptions you want to include.

Music/audio

/ month

Monthly amount for music, podcasts, or audio subscriptions you want to include.

Gaming

/ month

Monthly amount for gaming subscriptions or memberships you want to include.

Apps/software

/ month

Monthly amount for apps, tools, or software subscriptions you want to include.

Gym/fitness

/ month

Monthly amount for gym, fitness, or wellness memberships you want to include.

Cloud/storage

/ month

Monthly amount for cloud storage or backup subscriptions you want to include.

News/learning

/ month

Monthly amount for news, education, or learning subscriptions you want to include.

Other subscriptions

/ month

Monthly amount for any other recurring subscriptions you want to include.

Example scenarios

These examples only fill the inputs so you can see how the model works. They are not recommendations.

Results

Modeled recurring cost

These outputs are illustrative and based only on the monthly amounts entered.

Main takeaway

Monthly subscription total $0.00

Annual subscription total $0.00

Five-year total $0.00

Largest subscription category -

Largest category share 0.0%

Categories with entered amounts 0

Insight layer

What is driving this?

Monthly total

Repetition over 12 months

Repetition over 60 months

Largest category

Category spread

Category layer

Category breakdown

This breakdown shows which entered categories make up the monthly total. It does not recommend keeping or removing any subscription.

Category	Monthly amount	Share of monthly total

How to read this result

Monthly total shows the combined amount entered across subscription categories.
Annual total shows the monthly total repeated for 12 months.
Five-year total shows the monthly total repeated for 60 months.
Largest category shows which entered category has the highest monthly amount.
Category share shows how much of the monthly total comes from a category.
Active category count shows how many categories have amounts greater than $0.00.

This section explains the output; it does not tell anyone which subscriptions to keep, remove, or change.

What would change this result?

This result would change if any user-entered monthly subscription amount changed, including:

Streaming video
Music/audio
Gaming
Apps/software
Gym/fitness
Cloud/storage
News/learning
Other subscriptions

In this prototype, the result changes because the same monthly amounts are repeated over time. A small monthly change can become a larger annual or five-year change when repeated.

Formula in plain English

Add the monthly subscription amounts together, then multiply by 12 for the annual total and by 60 for the five-year total.

The largest category is the entered category with the highest monthly amount. The largest category share is that category's amount divided by the monthly total.

What this teaches

Recurring costs are different from one-time costs because the same amount repeats month after month.

Key idea

A subscription can look small as a monthly number, but the repeated cost is larger when viewed across 12 months or 60 months.

This prototype is designed to explain recurring-cost structure, not recommend subscription decisions.

Assumptions

Assumptions used in this prototype

Amounts are user-entered monthly estimates.
Blank fields are treated as $0.00.
Annual total assumes the same monthly total for 12 months.
Five-year total assumes the same monthly total for 60 months.
No price increases are included.
No taxes are included.
No discounts are included.
No free trials are included.
No shared accounts are included.
No irregular billing schedules are included.
This is a simplified educational prototype.

Limitations

What this does not do

This is not budgeting advice.
This is not savings advice.
This is not spending advice.
This is not investment advice.
This is not tax advice.
This is not a recommendation.
This does not tell users which subscriptions to keep or remove.
This does not account for changing prices, irregular billing, taxes, discounts, free trials, or shared accounts.

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Was anything confusing about the monthly total, repeated cost, category share, assumptions, or explanation?

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