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 and credit card 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 or licence plate renewal (rules and fees vary by province)
- Auto insurance, which is provided by a public insurer in some provinces and by private insurers in others
- Roadside assistance membership
- Driver’s licence renewal (every few years)
- Winter tires, changeovers and seasonal servicing (not a bill, but predictable)
Home
- Property tax (often paid in instalments through the year)
- Water and sewer bills, depending on your municipality
- Home or tenant insurance
- Condo fees or special assessments
- Furnace, heat pump or chimney servicing, and snow removal contracts
Health and family
- Dental or extended health coverage, if you pay for it yourself
- Life or disability insurance
- School fees, activity fees and camps
- Pet licence with your municipality
- Pet insurance
Subscriptions and memberships
- Annual streaming or shopping memberships
- Software, cloud storage and app subscriptions billed yearly
- Gym, club or sporting memberships
- Professional dues and licences
- Domain names and website hosting
Money and tax
- Tax preparation fees
- Income tax instalments, if you’re self-employed or have income without tax withheld
- Annual credit card fees
- Bank 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.
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