Budget: Bill Pay System With Free Customizable Printable

I have to write things down or I would lose my mind forget them. 

My bills are no exception. I write them down all in one place so I don't  have to keep track of individual paper bills or remember to check online the entire month.

They would constantly be late if I didn't keep track of them in my planner. I just wanted to share how I make sure my bills are always paid on time and how I know how much of my budget needs to go towards bills each month. I can also easily and quickly see if there is a difference in amounts due from month to month. This is especially helpful with utilities and cell phone bills since they can tend to fluctuate from month to month.

I created a spreadsheet on which I can track all my bills for the whole year. I print mine on one page and insert it into my planner. It could definitely be used on the computer if you prefer. 

Click on the picture below to go to the download.
Printing tips are at the end of this post!

When you download this spreadsheet you will notice that there are two blog trackers on one spreadsheet. I will explain why in the printing tips.

How I use this spreadsheet:

The left side of the spreadsheet is for all of your bills to be listed. I type mine in before printing. I don't have enough regular monthly bills to fill all the spots, but those spots can be used if I have something pop up during the year. (Car maintenance, tag renewal, doctors visit...)

You may want to go ahead and add those in if you already know the dates and amounts due for the bills that don't occur regularly.

Before the start of each month, I write in the due dates, amounts due, and any additional fees for every bill. I don't have to worry about forgetting a bill because they are already listed on the side.

Now that I know when my bills are going to completely empty my bank account need to be paid, I mark each due date in my monthly planner with a red star which reminds me to refer to the bill spreadsheet. I use some color-coding in my planner; red is for bills. I don't worry about rewriting the bill name or the amount due since it is already on my spreadsheet.

When I am doing my regular planning and I see a red star, I just flip to my bills page and make sure to pay that bill. Unfortunately, my finances don't allow me the luxury of paying all my bills once a month so I usually pay bills on a weekly basis unless I am able to pay ahead.  

It would most definitely be a luxury to only have to confront my bills once a month and I may throw a party when that day comes! Or, wouldn't it be nice to just set them all up on automatic payments so I would never ever have to think about them...what can I say, I'm a dreamer!

Printing tips:

Please keep in mind:
*Your printer settings may vary, so you might have to tweak the settings to make it perfect for you. 
* Computer monitor colors may vary.
* Printer output color will vary depending on device and inks used. 

First, make sure to 'select' just the portion you want printed as shown below. This is the same no matter what paper size you're printing. 

If you just want one copy of the bill tracker to track one year of bills, then only select all the cells for one of them. 

If you want both bill trackers to track two years of bills, then you would select all the cells for both trackers including the blank rows that are separating them.


A5 - 5.5" x 8.5"

I use an A5 planner which holds 5.5" x 8.5" pages, so these are the settings I use to print my page.
*These settings work if you want to print one or two bill trackers.

Settings:

• Print Selection: Only print the current selection
• Orientation: Portrait
• Paper size: Letter (8.5" x 11")
• Margin: Custom (shown below)
• Scaling: Fit All Columns on One Page  

If you only want one tracker:

If you want two trackers:

Custom Margin Settings:

*Same for one or two. 

• Top: 0.75
• Bottom: 0
• Left: 0
• Right: 0
• Center on page:
• Horizontally - Check
• Vertically - Leave blank

* I add a small margin at the top so that you can punch holes in the page to insert it into an A5 planner.

After printing, you would just cut the page in half  and hole punch in the margin so that it would fit in an A5 planner.


Letter - 8.5" x 11"

If you would rather print the bill tracker larger and keep it in a traditional binder these are the settings you will want to use.

Settings:

• Print Selection: Only print the current selection
• Orientation: Landscape
• Paper size: Letter (8.5" x 11")
• Margin: Custom (shown below)
• Scaling: Fit All Columns on One Page 
  

Custom Margin Settings:

• Top: 1
• Bottom: 0
• Left: 0
• Right: 0
• Center on page:
• Horizontally - Check
• Vertically - Leave blank 

* I add a margin at the top so that you can punch holes in the page to insert it into a binder.


Using this bill tracker saves me from a bunch of headaches each month when I'm having to budget and pay bills. I hope it does the same for you!