Let’s not pretend we’re always prepared for our rego bill when it comes every six to twelve months.
It’s almost always an unwelcome surprise. Wasn’t it just yesterday that we paid this? No, unfortunately it wasn’t. So how can we be better prepared for our vehicle registration? Today, we’re going to break it down for you.
Sure we all know in Australia that every vehicle is required by law to be registered. This essentially means your car is roadworthy and that it’s legally yours. But in addition to that we also need to pay for Compulsory Third Party (CTP) Insurance, where our premiums (at least in QLD) depend on the type of vehicle you’re driving and who exactly is going to be driving it. It’s not rocket science, but it’s important to understand what we’re paying for.
So now we know what we’re paying for, how can we remember to pay our rego without getting caught out?
- Create a separate bills account where you can set aside funds for any unexpected bills.
- Set a reminder on your phone. This is such an easy thing to do that has the ability to make a really big difference. Did you just get your ‘surprise’ rego bill? Go ahead and remind yourself on your phone the month before the next one is due. Yes, we said a full month. The more notice you have the better off you’ll be when the time comes.
- Create a virtual piggy bank. We’re now ‘tapping and going’ basically everywhere from the coffee shop to the department stores, which means we rarely have change left in our pockets at the end of the day. Instead of letting your change go to waste, go ahead and log in to your bank account every day and transfer whatever ‘change’ is left to your bills account. This will round your account total to a whole number and have little to no impact, but it will have a surprising impact on your bills account balance over time!
- Once the reminder goes off on your phone, cut back. Well, first you should check what you’ve managed to save in your sub-account – if there’s enough, great, if no, it’s time to cut back! Every time you thought about ordering take away; cook dinner and transfer that money you would have spent into your bills account. Every time you pick up a new item to purchase, put it down and transfer that money instead. Just until you have the necessary total!
- Keep this new habit going. Once you’ve successfully paid off your registration, be sure to keep up your new positive habit. Soon you’ll forget the days of surprise rego bills and start feeling prepared!
Looking for other great ideas to save money? You might be interested in reading our recent blog post, Saving Money Without The Stress.