Smart Budgeting with Recurring Payments: How to Stay in Control

February 6, 2025

Recurring payments come with numerous benefits, but it’s important to keep track of what you are automatically spending and when. Read along as we give you tips and resources for keeping up with your recurring payments.

Common Examples of Recurring Payments

There are multiple expenses that are helpful to set up as recurring payments. These may include:

• Rent/mortgage payments
• Utility bills
• Streaming services
• Membership fees
• Loans

If you pay any of these on a monthly basis, you could benefit from setting up recurring payments. To learn more about the benefits, read our blog, “Why Recurring Payments Are Beneficial”.

5 Steps for Budgeting Your Recurring Payments

Since you aren’t physically paying a bill, you might catch yourself forgetting that money is automatically leaving your account when the bills are paid via recurring payments. To stay on top of your finances, we’re giving you five steps for budgeting your payments.

1. Identify Your Recurring Payments

First things first, you should make a list of all your recurring payments. This will help you know what you are spending and which payments you have.

You can then organize your payments into categories. For example, Netflix, Spotify, and Hulu would all go under the streaming services category. Reference the list above for more categories.

2. Cancel Any Unused Expenses

While listing all your expenses, you may find some that you don’t use. For example, maybe you’re paying for a streaming service that you haven’t used in a while. This is an unnecessary expense and can be cancelled, helping save more money for necessities.

3. Set a Monthly Budget

The next step is to set your budget. In doing so, write down your financial goals to help you create a budget. Be sure to set goals that are realistic and achievable.

It could be helpful to look at other areas of your spending, not just your recurring payments.

It might be helpful to determine which payments are the most important. For example, you might want to limit entertainment subscriptions to $30 a month or allocate $50 to fitness-related memberships.

4. Automate Wisely

Since recurring payments are automatic, ensure you have enough funds in your account to cover them. Consider setting alerts for upcoming charges or using a budgeting app to track your balances.

To learn more about having a successful budget, download our budgeting guide.

5. Review and Adjust Regularly

It will be helpful to review your payments and adjust your budget when needed. Your needs and wants might change over time, and you might find yourself not using certain subscriptions or memberships. If so, that would be a great time to adjust your budget and cancel anything you no longer use.

Budget with Ease

We hope you find success with budgeting your recurring payments. By tracking expenses, setting limits, and reviewing your payments regularly, you can ensure your automated payments align with your financial goals.