The problem is invisible
Most teams don't overspend on expensive tools. They overspend on duplicate tools — three things that all do roughly the same job, all charging monthly.
The Audit Framework
Step 1: List every tool. Not from memory — pull your credit card statement. You'll find subscriptions you forgot about.
Step 2: Tag each tool with its primary job. Communication, project management, storage, etc. Duplicates become obvious immediately.
Step 3: Find the overlap. Does Slack replace Loom for 80% of use cases? Does Notion replace Confluence? Often yes.
7 Cuts That Don't Hurt
1. Switch from Zoom Pro to Google Meet — saves $15/mo per seat, nearly identical features for most teams
2. Replace Grammarly with Claude — better suggestions, broader use cases, same price range
3. Consolidate project management — pick Linear OR Asana OR Jira, not all three
4. Use Canva instead of Adobe Creative Cloud — covers 90% of marketing asset needs at 20% of the cost
5. Supabase over Firebase — free tier is more generous, and you own your data
6. Annual billing — switching to annual typically saves 25-30% across every tool
7. Audit seat count quarterly — most teams pay for 20% more seats than they use
The Number
Average saving for a 10-person team doing a serious audit: $800-1200/month. That's $10-14k/year back in the budget.