Under this category falls: internet, phones (cell and home), power, and water and trash. Each is a monthly bill except for the water and trash bill, which falls on the odd months of the year. We try to keep things simple, so you won't see cable or satellite. With four kids, I don't have time to watch TV anyway, so I don't miss it. We get movies from the library when we want to watch something, or our kids will occasionally watch pbskids.com.
Our phone bill is fairly low too, we got a no-frills service that I've been happy with. My husband is the only one with a cell phone for now, and he gets reimbursed for 80% of the bill each month from his company, since he uses it for work, though it is his personal phone. When he has to replace his phone, whatever is left from what his company pays for, and whatever accessories he needs also comes from the cell phone budget line.
We used to be on the averaged bill plan from our power company until I realized I could do that myself and be earning interest from our savings account in the spring and fall from the surplus money that would be needed during the winter and summer.
Our water bill includes water, sewer, and trash service. It is really high. I think that's why I chose saving water as our goal this month. We do use cloth diapers, which probably contributes some to the steep bill, but saves us money overall. We just do a lot of laundry in general, with four little ones who love to play outside! I've tried thinking I could reuse their clothes a time or two before having to wash them, but they really do get dirty.
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