Subscription Consolidation + Books/Email/Finance Plan, 2026-06-08¶
Goal: pare down recurring subscriptions, replace paid SaaS with forge-hosted or natural-language-managed equivalents, keep every needed capability, add AI/coordinator visibility. Drafted from Justin's 2026-06-08 subscription dump.
Current spend (monthly)¶
| Subscription | Cost | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Rocket Money | $6.00 | personal finance tracker |
| QuickBooks Sip (Simple Start, 1yr 50% off) | $20.25 | books |
| QuickBooks Nova | $20.25 | books |
| QuickBooks JustinWieb | $20.25 | books |
| QuickBooks Gus Outdoor Co (Ledger) | $10.66 | books |
| Google Workspace, gusoutdoor.co | $25.20 | |
| Google Workspace, gusthebass.com | $17.91 | |
| Google Workspace, JustinWieb | $8.95 | |
| Google Workspace, ShopNovaDesign | $8.95 | |
| Google Workspace, SipNServe | $8.95 | |
| Discord Nitro | $10.81 | personal |
| Mailchimp (sipnserve) | $28.25 | marketing |
| Nabu Casa (HA Cloud, Alexa) | $6.93 | home |
| Gusto (payroll) | $50.00 | payroll |
| TOTAL | $243.36/mo | ~$2,920/yr |
Line-by-line plan¶
Google Workspace: $69.96 -> ~$8.95-17.90/mo (save ~$52-61)¶
All 5 domains already on Google MX. Collapse to ONE Workspace account; other domains become free secondary domains, addresses become free aliases, shared boxes become free Google Groups. - Keep ONE paid seat (the consolidated hub). - gusoutdoor.co + gusthebass.com both shared with brother; Justin manages in/outbound for both. If Justin runs them via aliases + send-as on the hub, brother needs no seat -> 1 seat total ($8.95). If brother needs his own login, add 1 seat ($17.90). - shopnovadesign.com (Nova, winding down) -> free alias. - sipnservesociety.com -> offload to Krystal (Cloudflare Email Routing to her, or alias on her account) or cut if dead. - MIGRATION RISK: a domain lives on only one Workspace account. Must export/migrate each standalone account's existing mail (Google Data Migration tool) BEFORE removing the domain and canceling that seat. MX/DNS unchanged (still Google). - gusoutdoor.co $25.20 and gusthebass $17.91 are above base -> likely extra seats or higher tier; confirm seat counts.
QuickBooks (all 4): $71.41 -> $0 (save $71.41)¶
Replace with self-hosted ERPNext (already running on CT 104, 5 companies seeded; active migration project, Justin starting ~2026-06-09). Manage via natural language. Books for 2024/part-2025 are far off -> restructure + reconcile in ERPNext FIRST, validate, THEN cancel each QuickBooks subscription. Do not cancel before cutover is verified. Nova winding down but still has Amazon + TikTok orders -> ERPNext must ingest those order streams.
Mailchimp (sipnserve): $28.25 -> $0-near-0 (save ~$28)¶
sipnserve winding down / moving to Krystal. Options: (a) cut entirely, (b) downgrade to Mailchimp free (<=500 contacts), (c) self-host Listmonk on the fleet ($0) if list stays active. Export the audience list before any downgrade/cancel.
Rocket Money: $6 -> $0-1.50 (save ~$6, but main goal is the capability)¶
Build a forge-native read-only recurring-charge dashboard: aggregate personal + business transactions, detect recurring/price-hikes, surface a dashboard + let coordinator bot / Claude answer questions. NO account interaction (no cancel/negotiate). Data source options: SimpleFIN Bridge (read-only, ~$1.50/mo, privacy-friendly), Actual Budget self-hosted (free, bank sync via SimpleFIN/GoCardless), or periodic CSV/OFX statement import ($0). Separate forge build, feature-plan it.
Gusto: $50 -> $0-50 (save up to $50, NEEDS REVIEW)¶
Depends on whether real W2 payroll runs. If owner-only (distributions, not payroll) -> likely cuttable. If 1099 contractors only -> Gusto contractor-only tier is far cheaper than $50. If actual employees -> keep. DO NOT cut blindly (tax/compliance). Decision pending headcount answer.
Discord Nitro: $10.81 -> keep / $2.99 (save up to ~$8)¶
Discretionary personal. Downgrade to Nitro Basic if the full tier isn't needed. Justin's call.
Nabu Casa: $6.93 -> keep (recommend)¶
Cheap, funds HA, gives Alexa + remote. Self-host alternative exists (Cloudflare tunnel + manual Alexa skill) but not worth the fiddle for $6.93. Keep.
Target spend¶
| Scenario | Monthly | Annual | Savings/yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current | $243.36 | $2,920 | - |
| Aggressive (1 GW seat, cut Gusto if no payroll, cut Mailchimp, Nitro Basic, self-build Rocket) | ~$20 | ~$245 | ~$2,675 |
| Conservative (2 GW seats, keep Gusto + full Nitro, cut Mailchimp + QB) | ~$86 | ~$1,030 | ~$1,890 |
Blocking questions¶
- GW: how many seats/users on the gusoutdoor.co and gusthebass.com accounts? (explains the $25.20 / $17.91)
- Gusto: any W2 employees or only 1099 contractors / owner draws?
- sipnserve: still active (and moving to Krystal) or fully dead?
- Brother: does he need his own Workspace login, or is Justin managing all in/outbound from the hub?
Sequencing (safe order)¶
- ERPNext books cutover (in progress) -> cancel QuickBooks after validation.
- Email consolidation (migrate mail -> fold domains -> drop extra GW seats).
- Mailchimp export -> cut/downgrade/self-host.
- Rocket Money replacement build (forge dashboard + bot).
- Gusto + Nitro decisions (quick, once headcount confirmed).
[Claude Code, 2026-06-08]