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Spending and paying bills

Keep track of spending and pay bills on time

Page reading time: 2 minutes

Find out how to keep track of your spending and pay your bills on time. This helps to ease money stress, so you're not living from pay to pay.

Bills and how to pay them

A 'bill' is what you pay for goods or a service you get. You will get a bill for services in your home like your phone, internet, water, electricity, and gas.

You will be sent a bill for each service you use, usually every month or every 3 months depending on the type of bill.

What information is on a bill

Your bill will show you the:

How to pay a bill

Your bill will tell you how you can pay it, such as:

Manage your bills

Pay by the due date

When you get a bill or credit statement, look for the 'due date'. This is when the bill, credit or loan repayment is due to be paid.

You could be charged a fee by the service provider if you pay a bill late.

Paying late could also affect your 'credit score' or 'credit rating'. This is what banks use to decide whether to give you credit or let you borrow money.

So it's best to pay on or before the due date.

Pay your bills in smaller amounts

You will find that some months you have more bills than others.

To manage this, contact your service providers, like electricity and gas, to ask about paying bills in smaller amounts ('instalments').

See if you can pay fortnightly or monthly, to avoid the shock of a large bill.

If you get a Centrelink payment, you can use their free Centrepay service to do this.

Keep your savings separate

Try setting up separate bank accounts for:

If you can, arrange a regular transfer of some of your pay to your savings account on pay day. This way, you’re saving without having to think about it.

The money you save can be an 'emergency fund'. This helps you pay for unexpected big bills, or look after you or your family if something happens.

Ask your employer, friend or family member if you need help to set this up.

Track your spending

Knowing where your money goes can help you spend less and save more.

To find out where your money is going day-to-day, try doing a 'spending diary'.

Make a note of everything you spend for one pay period or at least a week. This will only take a few minutes a day.

It's not about judging yourself, it’s about getting to know your daily money habits.

You can do this on your own, or together with a friend, partner or your family.

Get help if you need it

There is free help available, if you need it: