The small charges that hide

Today's issue covers one thing: the small recurring charges on your statement, and why small is exactly the point.

Two kinds of money leak this way. The first is forgotten subscriptions: the trial that quietly became a monthly charge, the service you stopped using in 2023, the "membership" attached to something you bought once. The second is worse: when criminals get hold of a card number, they often test it first with a tiny charge, a few dollars or less, to see if anyone notices. Nobody calls the bank over $2.87. Which is exactly why it works.

The fix is a 20-minute checkup. Do it this week, then once a month:

1. Print or pull up your last full statement, and circle every recurring charge. Every one, no matter how small. For each circle, ask one question: would I sign up for this today? If not, it goes.

2. Cancel with the company, then verify on next month's statement. A cancellation only counts when the charge actually stops. Put a note on next month's calendar to check. If a company makes cancelling difficult, call the number on the back of your card and ask the bank to block that merchant.

3. Treat any charge you don't recognize, of any size, as a fire alarm. Call your card company the same day. Say the words "I don't recognize this charge." They will reverse it and send you a new card. That tiny test charge, caught early, is the difference between a nuisance and a drained account.

While you have the bank on the phone, ask them to turn on purchase alerts, a text or email for every charge. It turns this monthly checkup into something that runs by itself.

Next Tuesday: the Medicare call that isn't from Medicare.