Paying the bills. Not a very fun task… unless you color code and decorate when bills are due in your planner!
This post contains affiliate links.
- Money in, money out, reminders / tasks e.g. transfer money so you have enough in your account ready to pay the bill when it falls due
- Each type of bill – phone, internet, water
- Spending type – Bills, mortgage, discretionary spending
- Person responsible – e.g. if you keep track of your partner’s expenses, shared expenses, costs that need to be split among yourself and your roommates
There are a couple of ways to color code when bills are due:
This is the Plum Paper Planner. Read/ watch my haul here
- Cheap (Ihaven’t foundmuch difference between expensive and cheap highlighters – I use a combination of both)
- Quick
- Highlighters are readily available online and in retail stores
- Highlighter stands out out the page – makes very easy to find what you’re looking for
- If you highlight in the wrong color it takes more whiteout to erase, although you can get erasable highlighters (I shared my favorites in this post)
- Don’t come in as many colors as pens – highlighters usually come in yellow, green, pink, purple, orange and blue. Pens tend to come in colors like mint and red. While you can get highlighters in these colors (such as Midliners) they can get quite expensive
- Takes up more space than other color coding methods such as planner stickers
My favorite highlighters for color coding are Smiggle (super bright color!) and the Frixion erasable.
Related:Smiggle Stationery Haul (worth the cost?)
Alternatives to traditional highlighters are highlighter pencils, erasable highlighters, wax highlighters and zooms (twistable crayons).
Pens offer the biggest range of colors to choose from so if you want to color code bills and other things on the same monthly / weekly spread, pens are the best option
Related posts:Ultimate list of the best planner pen brands and how to choose colors for color coding
- Plenty of colors to choose from (the most of any color coding planner supply)
- Cheap
- Plenty of brands and styles to choose from e.g. fine tip, needle tip, medium tip, marker tip etc.
- Have to re-write the bills on every weekly / monthly spread which can be time consuming
- If you have big hand-writing it’ll take up a fair bit of space on the page
- If you make a mistake you’ll need to use whiteout although you can get frixion erasable pens
- Takes up more space than other color coding methods such as planner stickers
- The colors don’t stand out as much as highlighters or planner stickers – especially if you’re using pen to plan everything else for the week
My favorite pens for color coding are the Paper Mate Inkjoy Gel & the Frixion erasable pens.
There’s a reason planner stickers are so popular! It’s much quicker to just peel and stick than re-writing all the bills that are due each and every month. Since planner stickers come in endless different colors with all different icons you can find the exact icon to suit the bill e.g. phones, houses, cars etc. They’re great for breaking up text-heavy planner spreads and stand out so you won’t forget to pay the bills.
1.5 x 0.5″ (also know as quarter box size as approximately 4 will fit the vertical Erin Condren Life Planner) are ideal if you prefer to write the amount on the sticker itself, rather than just using an icon sticker to remind you.
Icon stickers are ideal for bills that have the same value each month (such as the phone bill).
Related:How to use functional icon planner stickers
Related:How to make your own custom Erin Condren (or any planner) header title section planner stickers (step by step video tutorial)
- Cheap
- Plenty of styles and colors to choose from (or make your own for endless color, size and icon possibilities!)
- Quick to DIY your own
- Quick to peel and stick
- Save a lot of space
- Save time when planning
- Planner stickers tend to be quite cheap but there are some Etsy shop that charge high prices so be sure to shop around
- Unless you make your own planner stickers you’re probably going to be overwhelmed by all the different colors and styles. If you want to use the exact same stickers you’ll need to be sureyou have enough if the shop goes on vacation or closes for a period of time
Tip: To save space, purchase 0.25″ mini icon stickers – more fits on a sticker sheet (so you get more stickers for a cheaper price), you don’t need to buy more stickers as frequently and it takes up less space in your planner.
Download my favorite resourcesfor making planner stickers
Rather than re-writing when bills are due each month, save time by using a sticky note. Sticky notes areinexpensive, come in plenty of colors to choose from, all different sizes and can be reused again and again.
My favorite are the Post it Note 3M (they’re a bit pricey than other brands but they’re super sticky)
Related:Monthly blog post planning using sticky notes (my 6 step process)
- Cheap
- Reusable
- Quick & easy
- Don’t need to re-write things each month
- Ideal if you’re short on space in your planner
- Come in a variety of sizes
- Sticky notes do lose their stickiness over time and your bill pay list may fall out
- If youwant to use a different color for each bill category e.g. your credit card, partner’s credit card, mortgage, car loan etc. post it notes tend to come in 6 colors: pink, purple, blue, green, orange and yellow (less colors to choose from than pens)
My favorite sticky notes for budgeting are the Post it Note 3M
Washi tape comes in plenty of colors and patterns! If you’re tired of writing the same bills out over and over again, set up a key at the front of your notebook that you can refer to as you plan. Instead of writing just stick a piece of washi tape to signify that bill is due. Washi tape can also be used for recurring appointments etc.
- Cheap
- Reusable
- Quick & easy
- Don’t need to re-write things each month
- Ideal if you’re short on space in your planner
- Come in a variety of sizes
- Most pens don’t write well on washi tape – the ink tends to just wipe off
Related:Best pens for writing on washi tape
Found this post helpful? Pin it!
- 6 Useful ways to efficiently plan your week using highlighters
- Why I plan my day using planner stickers (and why you should too!)
- Favorite color coding planner supplies for less than $5
- Best pens for writing on washi tape
