It can be boring to pay bills, especially for things like garbage collection that you use every day. Most garbage companies offer customers the choice between paying weekly or monthly. Which option you choose can impact your budget and cash flow. This article will talk about the pros and cons of paying your garbage bill once a week vs. once a month to help you decide which option is best for your budget.
How Garbage Bills Are Calculated
Before deciding on weekly or monthly billing cycles, it helps to understand how garbage collection rates are determined. Garbage bills are typically based on:
- Frequency of service: How often your trash is collected, such as weekly or biweekly.
- Number of bins: The size and number of trash and recycling bins you have.
- Weight: Some companies charge per pound of garbage collected. This is common for commercial clients.
- Extra services: Fees for bulky item pickup, yard waste collection, etc.
- Fuel surcharges: Garbage trucks use fuel driving to collect trash. Some companies pass on fuel cost increases.
Garbage rates also depend on your location. State and local taxes on waste collection account for 10-20% of your garbage bill in some areas.
Weekly Garbage Bill Pay
Paying your garbage bill weekly means you get a bill after each collection. So if your trash is picked up every Tuesday, you’d have 52 bills per year.
Pros of Weekly Billing
- Smaller payments are less impactful to your monthly budget rather than one large bill.
- You pay for only what you use. Weeks you produce less trash equals lower charges.
- Easier to budget each week rather than projecting costs monthly.
- Avoid getting hit with a huge bill if you forgot to pay the prior month.
Cons of Weekly Billing
- More time spent on managing bills each week.
- Possible convenience fees for paying bills weekly.
- Must stay on top of due dates to avoid late fees.
- Requires diligent financial tracking compared to monthly.
Overall, getting billed every week gives you more control over and knowledge of how much you pay for trash pickup. It can benefit lighter producers of trash.
Monthly Garbage Bill Pay
With monthly billing, you get one bill after your garbage service each month So if you have weekly pickup, the monthly bill covers about 4-5 weeks of service
Pros of Monthly Billing
- Convenient to just have one bill to pay per month.
- Allows for easier autopay set up.
- Can prepare for bill amount since it remains similar each month.
- Less time spent on managing bills.
Cons of Monthly Billing
- Big impact on monthly budget to get one large bill.
- Paying for weeks you may not have generated much trash.
- Requires estimating costs to budget properly.
- Must pay entire amount at once or risk high late fees.
Monthly billing simplifies paying bills but gives you less control over costs. It can suit predictable trash output.
Key Factors in Deciding Weekly vs Monthly Payments
When choosing how to pay your garbage bill, consider these key factors
- Cash flow – Weekly bills provide more control while monthly allows you to plan costs.
- Bill management – Weekly takes more diligence while monthly is simpler.
- Household size – Larger families or fluctuating occupancy favors weekly.
- Travel habits – Monthly works for regular travel since you pay whether away or not.
- Budget strategy – Weekly assists short-term planning while monthly helps annual budgeting.
- Past due risk – Weekly reduces large lump payments if you miss paying monthly.
Look at your unique financial situation to determine how to pay You can often change your garbage bill cycle if the initial option doesn’t suit your needs
Average Monthly Garbage Bill Costs
To budget properly, it helps to know average garbage collection costs. Here are the typical monthly bills for a single household:
- National average: $55
- Lowest 10 states: $40 (WY, IA) to $49 (ID, NE)
- Highest 10 states: $73 (VT) to $93 (HI)
Garbage bills range from $20 to $40 monthly for smaller households and $60 to $100 for larger families. Apartments or condos are cheaper ($30 to $60) since costs are split across multiple units.
Some ways to reduce your monthly garbage bill include:
- Reduce household waste
- Recycle properly
- Check for senior or low-income discounts
- Renegotiate rates for reduced service in lower-use months
- Research all providers for best pricing
The Verdict: Weekly vs Monthly Garbage Bill Pay
Go Weekly If You:
- Have fluctuating trash amounts week to week
- Prefer close control over what you pay
- Can diligently track due dates for smaller bills
Go Monthly If You:
- Produce consistent trash volumes every month
- Want bill payment simplicity
- Prefer single payment already fit into your budget
Whichever you choose, being prudent about your garbage bill spending enables you to maximize savings. Compare all your options to make an informed decision on the ideal garbage bill payment cycle for your household.
Monthly billing allows for increased communication between the utility and customer.
For most communities, the only communication between a utility and its customers comes in the form of the utility bill. As such, more frequent billing cycles allow for more regular communication and fewer surprises. This increased monitoring and reporting equips utilities and customers with the information to notice leaks sooner. Early leak detection benefits customers financially, so they are not paying for water they aren’t using and can more quickly discover leaks that could result in expensive damage to their home. Usage from these kinds of leaks can add up quickly and are a significant addition to a bill, especially if this accumulation occurs over several months.
From the utility perspective, there are also benefits to this increased communication. For example, if a utility is trying to conserve water or is concerned about supply and a customer has a leak, it is beneficial for the utility to help the customer recognize that issue earlier rather than later. The customer has a financial incentive to address the issue quickly, allowing the utility to quickly recapture the lost supply from the leak. Similarly, monthly billing allows utilities to recognize meter issues, such as broken or slow meters. This provides the utility the opportunity to address this lost revenue more quickly and regain the revenue stream.
Monthly billing allows customers to better manage their household budget and monitor their water usage.
Monthly billing helps customers establish a payment rhythm. Customers can estimate their monthly payment and build that amount into their budget versus having a larger expense come up a few times throughout the year. While a monthly bill of $50, a quarterly bill of $150, or a semiannual bill of $300 will all generate the same revenues for a utility, $50 is more affordable for a customer to pay at a given time. Many customers operate on a month-by-month basis when it comes to expenses, as most bills (think: cell phone, electricity, credit card, rent, etc.) come once a month, every month. As such, customers may not have the foresight to save a little each month for a larger quarterly or semiannual expense.
Girl Gives Garbage Man Cupcake Every Week Until Dad Follows Him And Sees Why
FAQ
Is it better to pay a bill weekly or monthly?
Is it better to pay bills monthly?
What are the advantages of quarterly billing?
Is it best to pay bills at the end of the month?
Why are garbage bills not included in the average utility bill?
Garbage bills were not included in our average utility costs due to a lack of reliable state-by-state estimates. The average phone bill ($166) is accounted for in the average utility bill for a U.S. household. Internet and cable costs were combined per the source.
Should variable garbage fees be financed?
While variable garbage fees in other cities follow the same basic structure – costs rise as the volume of refuse set out increases – many options exist for designing a new fee program. The main question for public officials is how much of solid waste operations should be financed by fee revenues.
How much does New York City spend on garbage collection?
New York City spends $1.5 billion annually, or about $500 per household, to pick up residential and public trash. This operation involves more than 2,000 garbage collection trucks and 5,900 sanitation workers.
Could a variable garbage fee reduce the burden on low-income residents?
In fact, because the City’s current method of funding solid waste operations is not tied to the volume of waste generated, a variable garbage fee might reduce the burden on low-income residents if they reduce their waste volume substantially.