Catch the quiet price increase
Recurring charges watched for increases, so the $2 creep gets noticed the month it starts
- Runs while your laptop is closed
- Reports in Littlebird and by email
- Free plan includes 5 routines
Two subscriptions went up in price, and together they cost $48 more a year.
- Video streaming: the plan went from $16 to $18 a month and now costs $216 a year.
- Newspaper: the digital subscription rose from $10 to $12 a month, which comes to $144 a year.
- No change: your other 11 recurring charges match last month's amounts.
The problem
Subscription prices rise the way rent does: quietly, regularly, and always 'just a couple of dollars.' Three services a year times five years is real money.
The notification email exists, technically, buried under a subject line designed to be skipped, which is exactly the business model.
What it does
Every month, this routine checks your recurring charges and flags the ones that increased: what went up, by how much, and what it costs you annually now.
You catch the creep in month one, when canceling or downgrading is a two-minute decision instead of a sunk cost.
Try the prompt
Copy it into a new Littlebird routine, then set the days and times that fit your schedule
- Open Littlebird and go to Routines. Open the menu next to New Routine and choose Set up manually.
- Paste the prompt into Instructions, then set the days and time under Run.
- Littlebird runs it on schedule from then on. You can pause or edit it anytime. Auto-pause is on by default and pauses it if reports go unread.
You can also choose Create with Littlebird and describe the routine in chat.
Every month check my subscriptions for any price increases and flag them
Why make it a routine?
Skills are a good demo. You open a chat, paste in yesterday's context, and get a pretty solid answer exactly once.
Tomorrow you do the whole thing again: same paste, same wait. The skill does not know your meetings, your threads, or what changed since Monday.
This routine knows all of that before it runs. It fires on schedule and hands you the result where you already work.
Frequently asked questions
How does it detect a hike?
Same charge, bigger number. The routine compares recurring amounts across runs and flags the jumps.
Will it cancel the subscription?
It flags; you decide. Some hikes are worth it. The point is choosing, not sleepwalking.
How often does it check?
Monthly by default. Tighten it in the prompt if your subscriptions are numerous.
Is Mac the only option?
No. Mac and Windows are both supported.
More routines like this one
Put Littlebird to work
Littlebird is free to start, and your routines also work on the web, iPhone and Android
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