Monthly bills are easy to remember because they come around so often. It’s the once-a-year ones that catch people out. Use this checklist to find every annual (and quarterly) bill in your household, then put each one on your calendar.
Tip: open your bank statements for the past 12 months and search for each item below. If you paid it once in the last year, it’s probably coming again.
Car and transport
- Vehicle registration (annual, or in shorter terms in some states)
- CTP insurance (bought separately as a green slip in NSW; included with rego in most other states)
- Comprehensive or third-party car insurance
- Roadside assistance membership
- Driver’s licence renewal (every few years)
- Car service and tyres (not a bill, but predictable)
Home
- Council rates (often paid in quarterly instalments or as a yearly amount)
- Water bills (usually quarterly)
- Home and contents or renters insurance
- Strata levies (often quarterly)
- Smoke alarm, pest or gutter servicing
Health and family
- Private health insurance (if you pay annually)
- Ambulance cover (depending on your state)
- Life or income protection insurance
- School fees and levies (often termly)
- Pet registration and pet insurance
Subscriptions and memberships
- Annual streaming or shopping memberships
- Software, cloud storage and app subscriptions billed yearly
- Gym, club or sporting memberships
- Professional memberships and licences
- Domain names and website hosting
Money and tax
- Tax agent fees
- Annual credit card fees
- Bank or account-keeping fees charged yearly
What to do with your list
- Add each bill to a calendar with its usual due date and amount.
- Set a reminder a few weeks early for the big ones, so you have time to compare prices before they renew.
- Divide the yearly total by 12 and set that amount aside each month, so the bills are already covered when they arrive.
More on this in 6 mistakes people make with annual bills and our guide to keeping track of bills.
Let smartCent remember for you
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