Every January I list every tool I pay for. This year the list started at forty-one. It ended at nine.

The nine

  1. Publishing and newsletter, in one place.
  2. A password manager.
  3. Accounting that talks to my bank.
  4. Cloud storage with version history.
  5. A calendar link people can book.
  6. A domain registrar I never think about.
  7. One design tool.
  8. One notes app.
  9. Backups of the backups.

How I cut the rest

The test was simple: if a tool disappeared tomorrow, would I notice within a week? Most didn't pass. They were solving problems I had once, for a launch that already happened.

✳
Rule of thumb: a tool should save one hour a month for every five dollars it costs.

What it costs

About 140 dollars a month, down from 610. The newsletter didn't notice. Neither did readers.