How to Keep Track of Your Bills in the UK: A Simple System

The simplest way to keep track of your bills in the UK is one list. Every bill goes on it with its amount, the date it leaves your account and how often it repeats. You sort the list by date, mark your payday, and set a reminder before each bill. Once a week you look at what is coming out in the next seven days.

That is the whole system. The rest of this guide shows how to build the list in about twenty minutes, and how to keep it accurate without thinking about it.

Why bills get missed

Most people can name their rent and their phone bill. The trouble is everything else. In a normal UK month, money can leave your account in four different ways:

• Direct debits. A company takes the payment from your account, and the amount can change. Your energy supplier, council and phone network usually work this way.
• Standing orders. You tell your bank to send a fixed amount on a set date. Rent to a private landlord is often paid like this.
• Card payments that repeat. Streaming services, apps and gym memberships often charge your debit or credit card each month.
• Bills you pay by hand. Some bills arrive as a letter or an email and wait for you to pay them.

On top of that, some bills come once a year. A TV licence costs £180, and council tax is usually split into 10 monthly payments, which means two months of the year have none. When dates and amounts sit in four places, it is easy for one to slip.

Step 1: Find every bill

Start with your banking app or online banking. Most banks list your direct debits and standing orders in one place. At NatWest, for example, you open Payments, choose the account, then go to Regular payments and Direct debits. One thing to know: a new direct debit only appears once its first payment has been taken.

Then scroll back through two or three months of transactions. You are looking for:

• payments that repeat on a card, such as subscriptions
• anything you paid by bank transfer each month
• bills you pay once or twice a year

If you share bills with a partner or housemates, include your share and note who pays what.

Step 2: Write down four things for each bill

For every bill, write:

1. The name, for example “Council tax”.
2. The amount, or your best estimate if it changes.
3. The date it leaves your account. Use the day the money actually goes, which can differ from the date printed on a letter.
4. How often it repeats: weekly, monthly, every few months or yearly.

A finished list might look like this example:

Bill	Amount	Leaves on	Repeats
Rent	£650	1st	Monthly
Gas and electric	£85	5th	Monthly
Broadband	£27	10th	Monthly
Council tax	£120	15th	Monthly, 10 payments a year
Phone	£16	24th	Monthly
TV licence	£180	3 March	Yearly

Step 3: Sort by date and mark payday

Put the list in date order, from the 1st to the end of the month. Then draw a line where your payday falls.

Everything above the line has to be covered by money you already have. If a large bill lands a few days before payday, that is where the stress comes from. You can often move it: some providers, EE for one, let you pick a new direct debit date in their app. Our guide to direct debits shows how, and our guide to bills before payday shows how to put them in the right order.

Step 4: Set reminders before every bill

A reminder a few days before a bill is due gives you time to move money or ask for a new date. A second reminder on the day tells you to check it went through.

You can do this with your phone’s calendar: one repeating event per bill, with an alert three days before. Or you can use a bill tracker app. Billo, for example, reminds you 3 days before each bill and again on the day, and lets you stamp a bill paid when it has gone out. You add your bills by hand, so it never asks for your bank login.

Step 5: Check the list once a week

Pick a day, such as Sunday evening, and spend two minutes on the list:

• Which bills leave in the next seven days?
• Is the money there for them?
• Did last week’s bills go out at the amount you expected?

Tick each bill off as it is paid. If an amount changes, update the list straight away. Direct debits should warn you first: under the Direct Debit Guarantee, the company normally tells you 10 working days before the amount or date changes.

The UK bills most people need to list

Use this as a checklist when you build your list:

• Rent or mortgage
• Council tax
• Gas and electricity
• Water
• Broadband and home phone
• Mobile phone
• TV licence, if you watch live TV or use BBC iPlayer
• Car insurance, car tax and breakdown cover
• Contents or home insurance
• Subscriptions: streaming, music, apps, gym
• Loan, credit card or buy now pay later repayments
• Childcare, school costs or pet insurance

Keep it simple enough to last

The best system is the one you still use in three months. Keep the list in one place, keep the reminders automatic, and keep the weekly check short. When the list is right, you know every morning what is coming out and when, and late fees stop being a surprise.