July 1st is the start of the financial year in Australia so this month and August is when you start to get your big bills like water, council rates, strata fees, insurance, etc. I’ll give you a break down of how much our bills are and the payment options available.

Council Rates
$978.00 if paid in 1 installments
$993.00 if paid in 2 installments (Cost of Option $15.00)
$1023.00 if paid in 4 installments (Cost of Option $45.00)

This will be the first year that I’ve chosen to pay it in 1 installment. We’ve had the money in the past to choose that option but I always played it safe. I’m pretty sure it was a psychological issue that kept me holding onto that money just in case we needed it even though we had enough in the bank. If I did choose to pay in 4 installments and put the extra money into an online savings account earning 4% I still wouldn’t be able to earn $45.44 so it would cost us more.

Strata Fees
$230.00 twice a year.

We live in a unit complex so therefore we have to pay these fees. I suppose it’s similar to condo association fees. It’s for general maintenance, pest inspection, and water usage for the common gardens in the complex.

Water Bill
$605.00 if paid in 1 installment
$609.00 if paid in 2 installments
$615.00 if paid in 4 installments.

Because the cost of the option was only $10 I decided to pay in four installments. I know I can earn more than $10 in interest with the extra money put in savings so it’s a win/win situation.

Electric Bill (billed for two months at a time)
$139.00

This bill has to be paid in full every two months. The amount obviously fluctuates based on our usage. The electric company gives a nice graph of your usage amount for the same period last year as well as your usage amount for the last two months. I always like to see how we compare to last year. This bill was quite a bit higher than last years (about $30). At first I was a bit shocked so I was trying to figure out why but then I realized this winter I’ve used the electric heater in the study quite a bit. In the past my frugal mind would have vowed to stop using the heater to cut down the costs but I’ve come to a point in my life and finances that I’m not going to sacrifice freezing my rear off for $30! Charlie’s grandparents on the other hand are way too frugal when it comes to heating! They never use their gas fire and just wear layers of clothes and blankets to stay warm. If you’re thinking it doesn’t get cold in Australia you would be wrong. It commonly gets down in the 30’s at night. They have plenty of money in the bank and are both in their 80’s so they would especially feel the cold. I don’t get it! They can’t take the money with them when they die!

Gas Bill (billed for a 90 day period)
$132.00

They also give you a nice graph showing your usage for the past year. We used more this period than for the same period last year. This would be for the same reason as above; heat! We have a gas fire that heats up our lounge area and we’ve used it quite liberally this winter. Like I said before, we have the money so there’s no sense being cold if you don’t have to be ;-)

Health Insurance
$81.00 which is paid monthly by direct debit

Car Insurance
$573.00 (This bill was paid in full in December…first time for doing that as well since we usually paid it monthly).

Contents Insurance
$207.00 (Paid in full in November).

Since I took over paying the bills around 7 years ago, we haven’t missed a payment. Tomorrow I will explain how I organize and pay my bills.