How to see reoccurring monthly / quarterly charges?

ToddJ

Hello fellow Quickenites, I wanted to know if anyone knew of an easy way to see / identify a list of reoccurring monthly expenses.

PROBLEM: I have a few things that I've signed up for over the past couple of years, and I see them pop-up as charges. One example is Coursera... $79 a month! Too late for me to cancel, but I was charged 3 times before putting a stop to it (my own fault, just been really busy). XM Radio is another... I work from home, don't need XM Radio in my car anymore.

I think I have a couple of magazine subscriptions too... just looking to see how I can identify these easily.


Thanks!!!

Jim_Harman

Interesting question. You might try a Spending > Itemized Payees report.
Set the date range to Last 12 months
Select just the account(s) that might get regular charges - checking and credit card probably
Select Expand All so you see all the transactions.

Scan down through the report to look for payees with about 12 transactions. This goes quite fast. If the list is too long, you could exclude Categories like Groceries that will have a lot of transactions but (hopefully) no subscriptions. Or if you have a special category for subscriptions, you could include just that. I put streaming services under Cable TV.

Good luck!

GeoffG

From what you describe, it sounds as if you do not use Reminders. If you did, a complete and properly setup listing would indicate all repeating bills that may warrant your attention.
I do not recall any reporting that can provide expense frequency.

Jim_Harman

Interesting question. You might try a Spending > Itemized Payees report.
Set the date range to Last 12 months
Select just the account(s) that might get regular charges - checking and credit card probably
Select Expand All so you see all the transactions.

Scan down through the report to look for payees with about 12 transactions. This goes quite fast. If the list is too long, you could exclude Categories like Groceries that will have a lot of transactions but (hopefully) no subscriptions. Or if you have a special category for subscriptions, you could include just that. I put streaming services under Cable TV.

Good luck!

mshiggins

Bill and Income Reminders has an option to scan for repeat transactions. 

Tools | Manage Bill & Income Reminders to open the Bill and Income Reminders window. Then Options | Suggest Reminders | Suggest Reminders based on my past activity will provide a list of repeat transactions that are candidates for reminders. 

ToddJ

> @Jim_Harman said:
> Interesting question. You might try a Spending > Itemized Payees report.
> Set the date range to Last 12 months
> Select just the account(s) that might get regular charges - checking and credit card probably
> Select Expand All so you see all the transactions.
>
> Scan down through the report to look for payees with about 12 transactions. This goes quite fast. If the list is too long, you could exclude Categories like Groceries that will have a lot of transactions but (hopefully) no subscriptions. Or if you have a special category for subscriptions, you could include just that. I put streaming services under Cable TV.
>
> Good luck!


Thanks! This seems to solve my problem. This is my 1 year anniversary of Quicken, so I just about have a full 12 months. I just need to go through the list now and tease out things that are auto-charging and resolve them. Thank you!

ToddJ

> @GeoffG said:
> From what you describe, it sounds as if you do not use Reminders. If you did, a complete and properly setup listing would indicate all repeating bills that may warrant your attention.
> I do not recall any reporting that can provide expense frequency.


I really don't. I have all my "big" bills set up in Bills & Income, utilities, tax bills, mortgages, etc. I had started to use reminders, but it became something of a frustration. At the very least, it's not something I'm prepared to micro-manage at this point.

I could probably be a bit more responsible with my day to day expenses... I'm just now working towards building a budget using the patterning and ML process they have set up. But I pretty much put everything on 1 or 2 credit cards (for points) and just pay it off throughout the month to keep the balances consistently at 0. I look at everything that gets charged to the credit card... but as I've only been doing this for a year, I'm finding charges pop up as things "renew" that I'd previously agreed to (magazine subscriptions, etc.). These are not things I necessarily want, and want to try to "head them off" before I get charged for them again.

Next big thing for me is to really understand and properly set up the "budgeting" system. I have a lot of one-time big expenses. Like my washing machine broke, and the parts to fix it were ~$400, and then the month before that, I bought my daughter a new computer, ~$800. In two days, I'll have an ACH from my checking account for ~$7,000 for two college courses I'm taking this next quarter... so that seems to really disrupt my budgeting monthly "numbers."

But I am more and more starting to really appreciate Quicken. Only frustrating thing is that the different billers tend to change the way we connect to them as they update to 2FA and 3FA, and I'm constantly having to update. Not Quicken's fault, but it's just what it is. Like my mortgage company doesn't connect anymore, and I still can't get my daughter's 529 to sync properly... so I update that manually once a week.


Anyway, thanks!!!

Jim_Harman

While you are reviewing your Payees, you will probably find that there are some near-duplicates like Starbucks #12345 and Starbucks #54321 when they are all really just Starbucks.

Now would be a good time to learn about Renaming Rules and Memorized Payees so that you start building a consistent list of Payees. The Memorized Payee list is a good way to make assigning categories simpler and more consistent.

From the report I referenced, you can double click on a transaction to get to the original transaction and change the payee to the standardized name.

ToddJ

> @Jim_Harman said:
> While you are reviewing your Payees, you will probably find that there are some near-duplicates like Starbucks #12345 and Starbucks #54321 when they are all really just Starbucks.
>
> Now would be a good time to learn about Renaming Rules and Memorized Payees so that you start building a consistent list of Payees. The Memorized Payee list is a good way to make assigning categories simpler and more consistent.
>
> From the report I referenced, you can double click on a transaction to get to the original transaction and change the payee to the standardized name.

Thanks Jim! I appreciate it. I had been doing that as they came in, but just as you said, I noticed a few duplicates that I obviously missed. So I'll definitely do this. Thank you!!!

volvogirl

Do you think the subscriptions would be in the same credit card account?  Just sort your credit card register by payee or description and scroll through it.   Like you will see all the xm charges listed together so you can see how often they are charged.   I have several cars.   Some get changed annually or every 6 months and 1 every month.  And I've been making excel spreadsheets to keep track of them.  I made a list of all recurring charges so if I get a new credit card or when it expires I know who to update.

ToddJ

> @volvogirl said:
> Do you think the subscriptions would be in the same credit card account?  Just sort your credit card register by payee or description and scroll through it.   Like you will see all the xm charges listed together so you can see how often they are charged.   I have several cars.   Some get changed annually or every 6 months and 1 every month.  And I've been making excel spreadsheets to keep track of them.  I made a list of all recurring charges so if I get a new credit card or when it expires I know who to update.

Are they Volvos? Hahah... I grew up with Volvos. We had a 1983 Volvo 240 Turbo Wagon, a 1985 Volvo 240 Turbo 2-Door, and also a 1996 960 T5r back in the day. It's all my parents would ever buy. One day I'd like to get a 1964 Volvo 1800S or a 1970 Volvo 1800E. Love that design... Volvo needs to come back with a new version some day!

But yeah, Quicken really helped me re-organize my finances. I dumped three credit cards I had, and added a new one. I generally use only 1-2, but I find Quicken's system easier to look at than either of the Credit Card's billing sites. But the report that Tim mentioned has helped with this (been looking at it the past hour).


Thanks!

volvogirl

Hey, I had a 83 240 wagon too.   It was yellow and a lemon.   Then in 2002 I got a 97 V90 wagon that finally died last April with 188,000 miles.  Isn't it pretty?  Still looks good and glossy for 25 years old.  Hate to give it up but it doesn't have any modern features or safety stuff.  And it's very low and getting hard to get out of as I get older.  Kept hitting the bottom and replacing the mud pan.  Just got a new Subaru Outback, love it.  

ToddJ

> @volvogirl said:
> Hey, I had a 83 240 wagon too.   It was yellow and a lemon.   Then in 2002 I got a 97 V90 wagon that finally died last April with 188,000 miles.  Isn't it pretty?  Still looks good and glossy for 25 years old.  Hate to give it up but it doesn't have any modern features or safety stuff.  And it's very low and getting hard to get out of as I get older.  Kept hitting the bottom and replacing the mud pan.  Just got a new Subaru Outback, love it.  

My parents got rid of their 1983 Volvo 240 Turbo Wagon in 2004 when it had 186k miles on it. I actually forgot, my parents ALSO had a 1995 Volvo 960 Wagon as well, looked pretty similar to that, it was also white. Very nice looking V90!

They have a kit to drop a Ford Mustang 5.0 Coyote engine into the old "brick" Volvos... I can only imagine!

volvogirl

I don't know what to do with it.  The dismantler didn't want it.  Do you?  Anyone?  I'm in Northern California.   

ToddJ

> @volvogirl said:
> I don't know what to do with it.  The dismantler didn't want it.  Do you?  Anyone?  I'm in Northern California.   

Odd that the dismantler doesn't want it... must be something to do with California regulations or something.

If you put it on eBay, starting bid ~$250, someone will buy it and can arrange all the shipping. If it's rust free, probably $1,000+.

Just include a lot of pictures...