How To Budget For Bills

As a utility management service, we want to help serve residents in the long-term, especially those who are paying utility bills for the first time! 

One way you can be best prepared for utility bills is to intentionally budget for them. 

There are many systems for budgeting, from using the old-school physical "envelope system" to the phone apps that track expenses through your credit card! However you are budgeting, there are a few things to consider with utility bills: 

• If your bill is much lower than what you expected, don't go out spending all that remains at your favorite coffee shop! A bill might be lower in the spring and fall seasons, but could be much higher once winter or summer comes around. 
• So, plan to budget for the average bill amount for your residence, factoring in the higher summer and winter months. 
• Remember to always anticipate a bill from each utility provider for each month. If your gas provider is behind in sending this month's bill, anticipate budgeting it for the next month's billing cycle! You don't want to be surprised with two month's bills just because you didn't realize it had not been received yet. 

Pick a method of budgeting that best fits you! You will probably find that knowing how much you have spent or have saved will allow you to be more financially free in the long run. 

Some recommendations -- 

• Goodbudget
• Mint
• YNAB
• Creating a Budget