The Complete Household Bills List for Australians

Keeping track of household bills is harder than it sounds. Some expenses arrive every week. Others are monthly, quarterly or annual. Many Australians remember electricity, internet and insurance, but forget council rates, car registration, memberships and yearly subscriptions until they become due.

This household bills list for Australia can help you identify regular commitments, estimate their annual cost and work out how much to reserve from every pay. For a faster result, use the Annual Bills Calculator Australia after you build your list.

• Housing: rent, mortgage repayments, council rates, water rates, strata fees, home insurance, landlord insurance, security monitoring, pest control, pool servicing and garden maintenance.
• Utilities and communications: electricity, gas, water usage, internet, mobile phone, home phone, cloud storage, domain names, email hosting and software subscriptions.
• Transport: car loan repayments, car registration, CTP insurance, comprehensive or third-party insurance, roadside assistance, servicing, tyres, tolls, parking permits and public transport passes.
• Family: childcare, kindergarten, school fees, uniforms, excursions, sports registration, music lessons, swimming lessons, child support and family memberships.
• Health and insurance: private health insurance, dental plans, prescriptions, life insurance, income protection, trauma insurance, pet insurance and ambulance cover where applicable.
• Lifestyle and subscriptions: streaming, music, gym, gaming, news, meal delivery, professional memberships, club memberships, storage units and charity donations.
• Finance and administration: personal loans, credit card fees, bank account fees, buy now pay later repayments, accounting fees, tax preparation, licence renewals and registrations.

Monthly bills are usually easiest to remember because they appear frequently in your bank account. Common examples include rent or mortgage repayments, internet, mobile phones, health insurance, streaming services, gym memberships, loan repayments and childcare.

Even small monthly payments can become substantial annual costs. A $29 monthly subscription is $348 per year. A $79 monthly subscription is $948 per year. A $149 monthly service is $1,788 per year. Reviewing monthly bills as annual costs makes comparisons clearer.

Quarterly bills are among the easiest expenses to underestimate. Electricity, gas, water, council rates, strata levies, business activity statement payments, pest control and pool maintenance may only appear four times each year, but several can land in the same month.

Annual bills can be expensive because the full amount is often charged at once. Car registration, CTP insurance, home insurance, contents insurance, landlord insurance, roadside assistance, software licences, memberships, pet registration and professional registrations are common examples.

A yearly bill should still be treated as part of your regular budget. For example, a $1,300 annual insurance premium equals $50 per fortnight when divided across 26 pay cycles.

Not every expense has a predictable due date, but some irregular costs happen often enough that they should still be planned for. These include dental appointments, medical gap payments, prescriptions, car servicing, replacement tyres, appliance repairs, plumbing, electrical work, school excursions, pet treatment and home maintenance.

These expenses may be better tracked in a separate sinking fund rather than treated as fixed bills. A sinking fund is money gradually reserved for a known future expense.

• Council rates and water service charges
• Building, contents and landlord insurance
• Body corporate or strata fees
• Termite inspections and pest control
• Gutter cleaning, air-conditioning maintenance and smoke alarm servicing
• Pool servicing, garden maintenance and general repairs
• Appliance replacement and unexpected maintenance

Renters generally have fewer property-related expenses, but several recurring costs can still be missed. These may include rent, electricity, gas, water usage where charged, internet, mobile phone, contents insurance, moving costs, storage fees, parking permits, pet-related fees and streaming subscriptions.

Families can accumulate many smaller recurring commitments. Childcare, school fees, before-school and after-school care, sports registration, swimming lessons, music lessons, uniforms, excursions, school devices, software, family health insurance and holiday care programs can all create seasonal pressure.

Investment properties create a separate set of bills that should be tracked independently from personal household expenses. Keeping property expenses separated can make reviews, forecasting and record preparation easier.

• Mortgage repayments, loan fees and property management fees
• Council rates, water charges and strata levies
• Landlord insurance, building insurance and letting fees
• Repairs, maintenance, pest control, smoke alarm compliance and pool servicing
• Gardening, accounting fees and depreciation schedule costs

Fixed bills usually remain the same for a set period. Rent, loan repayments, internet plans, streaming services, gym memberships and insurance instalments often fit this category. Variable bills change depending on usage, pricing or circumstances, such as electricity, gas, water, mobile excess charges, medical expenses, repairs and fuel.

When planning variable bills, consider using an average based on previous statements and adding a buffer. That gives you a more realistic estimate than using only the smallest recent bill.

1. 1List every recurring expense.
2. 2Record the amount and payment frequency.
3. 3Convert every expense into an annual amount.
4. 4Add the annual amounts together.
5. 5Divide the total by your number of pay cycles.
6. 6Add a buffer for variable and forgotten expenses.

• Weekly: amount multiplied by 52
• Fortnightly: amount multiplied by 26
• Monthly: amount multiplied by 12
• Quarterly: amount multiplied by 4
• Half-yearly: amount multiplied by 2
• Yearly: amount multiplied by 1

A household might have $1,800 per year in electricity, $1,020 in internet, $1,440 in mobile phones, $2,280 in home insurance, $900 in car registration, $900 in streaming services and $2,480 in council rates. That is $10,820 per year before housing repayments, groceries, fuel, childcare or other household-specific costs.

Divided across 26 fortnights, $10,820 is approximately $416.15 per fortnight. This is why quarterly and annual bills should be included in payday planning even when they do not appear every month.

A useful starting point is the amount needed to cover your average bills between paydays. For additional protection, consider maintaining a buffer equal to at least one month of recurring bills. A larger buffer may be appropriate when income varies, utility costs fluctuate, annual bills are due close together or the household manages multiple properties.

Spreadsheets can be useful when creating an initial list of bills, but they rely on manual maintenance. Due dates become outdated, bills are entered with inconsistent frequencies, annual renewals are forgotten, documents are stored separately and property and personal expenses can become mixed.

Bill Sorted helps keep recurring expenses in one place, compare weekly, monthly and annual costs, track bills across households and properties, prepare for upcoming due dates, identify expensive periods, store supporting bill information and review changes over time.