Words (Core Vocabulary)
- budget / spending plan / categories
- zero-based budgeting / envelope method / sinking fund
- fixed vs. variable expenses
- subscription / free trial / auto-renew / billing cycle
- recurring charge / pre-authorized payment
- cancellation window / cutoff date / prorated refund
- statement descriptor (how a charge appears on your bill)
- overage / usage cap (data, storage)
- reminder / alert / tracker / spreadsheet
Phrases (Plan → monitor → cancel/resolve)
Planning
- I’m setting a monthly budget—could you help categorize groceries, transit, and dining?
- Let’s create sinking funds for car service and annual fees.
Monitoring
- Could you flag any recurring charges over $20?
- Please set reminders three days before subscription renewals.
Cancelling & refunds
- I’d like to cancel before the trial ends—is there a cutoff time?
- Could you confirm the cancellation and send an email?
- Is a prorated refund available mid-cycle?
Surprise charges
- I don’t recognize this recurring charge—what’s the statement descriptor?
- Please stop future payments and confirm in writing.
Contextual Examples (Natural, everyday)
- Setup: Budget $300 for groceries, $120 for transit, $100 for eating out—alerts at 80% spend.
- Trial: My trial ends Friday—I’d like to cancel today and get confirmation.
- Charge: This app renewed—can we request a prorated refund and disable auto-renew?
Collocations & Phrases (bold the key words)
Budgeting
- set a monthly cap
- track categories
- review spending trends
- fund a sinking fund
- build an emergency fund
Subscriptions
- start/stop auto-renew
- confirm cancellation
- request a prorated refund
- update billing info
Controls & alerts
- enable spend alerts
- audit recurring charges
- freeze pre-authorized payments
- export statements
Canadian Cultural Context (How to sound natural & polite)
- App-store and streaming auto-renewals are common; cancel from the account/app and save confirmations.
- Some services offer prorated refunds, others don’t—ask politely and document chats/emails.
- Watch for foreign transaction fees on international subscriptions.
Extra Mini-Patterns (plug-and-play)
- Cancel: “Please cancel auto-renew effective today and email confirmation.”
- Audit: “Could you list all recurring charges over $10/month on my last two statements?”
- Refund: “Since I cancelled mid-cycle, is a prorated refund available?”