The household bills checklist: who remembers what
· 6 min read
Here is the list. It is grouped by how often each thing happens rather than by type, because that is what decides how easy it is to forget. Anything on the yearly list is the stuff households get caught by, and everything here needs a name next to it.
Every month, and mostly on their own
- Rent or mortgage.
- Electricity and gas, or the monthly direct debit that estimates them.
- Water, where it is billed monthly.
- Internet and mobile.
- Any loan or car payment.
- Subscriptions. All of them, including the ones inside an app store.
- Whatever you move to savings, if it is a standing order.
Every few months, which is why they surprise you
- Water, where it is quarterly.
- Energy statements and meter readings.
- Anything you pay per term or per season.
Once a year, and these are the ones that hurt
- Home and contents insurance.
- Car insurance, road tax, the annual service, the MOT or its equivalent.
- Travel insurance, breakdown cover, professional memberships.
- The annual subscriptions. Storage, password managers, domains, anything bought once in a hurry.
- Anything that auto-renews at a price that is not the price you signed up at.
Anything on the yearly list needs a date written next to it, not just an amount. An amount tells you what you thought it cost. A date tells you when to look.
The column most households leave off
Who owns it. Not who pays it, who owns it: who notices when it changes, who deals with it when it goes wrong, who would spot it missing. Without that column the list is a description of work rather than a division of it.
Fill it in with real names and expect it to look lopsided the first time. That is the useful part.
How to divide it without a fight
- Divide by area rather than by count. Utilities is one area even though it is four rows.
- Let people pick. Somebody who already understands the energy tariff should keep it.
- Leave the total to both of you. Individual areas can have one owner; the question of whether the month works cannot.
About fifteen things, once
Your month, before it happens.
Rent, the bills, the subscriptions and what everyone earns. Type it once and the ones that repeat come back on their own, with the date each one lands.