Why I built Subs'n'Docs

It started with free trials I forgot to cancel

I often sign up for a new service just to try it. And more than once I forgot to cancel before the trial ended, so I ended up paying for something I did not even use. I tried setting reminders, but a reminder is one more thing to do, and I kept putting it off. Then I would forget about the subscription itself.

Then I noticed that every payment gives you one thing for sure: a receipt by email. So I made it possible to forward that email to my own Subs'n'Docs address. The name, the price and the next charge date are read from it, I check them, and the subscription is saved. I do it right when the email arrives, instead of postponing it. That small habit fixed most of my forgotten subscriptions.

Then came documents and deadlines

Some dates matter much more than a subscription: legal documents, permits, and reports that have to be handed in or renewed on time. For me these are the quarterly tax reports, which are tied to my permit to run a business and to my digital signature, and both of those have to be renewed as well. I needed a clear picture of all of it, and of which document depends on which. The same goes for personal papers: a visa that needs a valid passport, for example. A calendar did not help me. I forgot to add the event, the calendar on my phone belonged to a different mailbox than the one I use, and the standard reminders are hidden a bit too deep in the settings. So I built something that I hope is simpler and faster: one list, and a reminder that finds you by email, in Telegram or in your calendar.

Some of my friends moved to another country, and some of them moved together with their families. They had the same problem: keeping track of their own papers and their family's papers. That is how the idea came up to add your family members, or even a pet, so one person can keep an eye on everyone.

I never wanted to store anyone's cards, so Subs'n'Docs keeps only the last four digits, just enough to tell which card pays for what. There is also a report you can turn on: once a month it shows what will be charged next month. For me it answers a very practical question, how much money to leave on the card for online payments.

The last piece is the chat assistant. AI has become such a part of our lives that, if you already use a chat every day, it is simply convenient to ask it what you need to pay this month, or to tell it to add a new document or a subscription. So you can connect Claude or ChatGPT to your account. You decide whether it may only read or also add records, and it can never delete or cancel anything.

What I left out on purpose

I wanted it to be as safe as I could make it, so I kept it small. There is no connection to your bank or your mailbox, no scans of documents and no document numbers, only a name and a date. There are no passwords and no links to your other accounts: you sign in with a link that we send to your email, and it works once. That also means your mailbox is the key to your account, so please turn on two-step verification there. It is a good habit for everything that matters, not just for email.

The only outside services involved are the ones that do a job for you: an email service that sends the letters, Telegram if you connect it, Paddle if you buy Lifetime, and your AI assistant if you connect one. I don't sell data and there are no ads.

I would love to hear from you

Subs'n'Docs is made by one person, and it gets better when people tell me what is confusing or missing. If you have an idea, a question, or a story about a date you almost missed, write to me: support@subsndocs.com.

Evgenii Kim