Play · debt & hard months

Bill Triage

Updated 2026-07-31 · Concept: pay by consequence, not by volume

Some months there is not enough. When that happens the phone decides the order for most people: whoever calls most, gets paid. That is exactly backwards. This orders the same bills by what non-payment actually costs you, and shows where your shortfall lands when you pay in that order. Put in your own numbers; nothing is stored or sent anywhere.

Money available this month ($)

Bills total

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Shortfall

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Tier 1 · Keep the family safe

Food, shelter, heat, and the means to earn. These are paid first, in full, every time.

Bill	Amount	This month
Food Nothing else on this page matters if people are not eating.	Food amount in dollars	n/a
Rent or mortgage Losing housing costs far more than missing it saves. Talk to the landlord or the servicer before the due date: most have hardship options they do not advertise.	Rent or mortgage amount in dollars	n/a
Heat, power, water Reconnection fees and safety. Ask about arrears plans; regulated utilities usually have them.	Heat, power, water amount in dollars	n/a
Getting to work Protect the income first. A car payment belongs in tier 1 if the job depends on the car.	Getting to work amount in dollars	n/a

Tier 2 · Stop things getting worse

Obligations whose non-payment escalates beyond money: cover that lapses, court orders, tax powers.

Bill	Amount	This month
Insurance premiums A lapse turns one bad event into a permanent one.	Insurance premiums amount in dollars	n/a
Child support or alimony Court-ordered. Non-payment escalates faster and further than commercial debt does.	Child support or alimony amount in dollars	n/a
Tax arrears Tax authorities have collection powers commercial lenders do not, and the interest rarely stops.	Tax arrears amount in dollars	n/a

Tier 3 · Protect assets you need

Secured debt, where losing the asset would cost you more than the payment does.

Bill	Amount	This month
Secured loans They can take the asset. Rank these by what losing the asset would actually cost you.	Secured loans amount in dollars	n/a

Tier 4 · Negotiate

Unsecured debt. It hurts your credit and it weighs on the conscience, and it is also where you have the most room to negotiate. Call before you default, not after.

Bill	Amount	This month
Credit cards Painful and expensive, but unsecured. It damages your credit; it does not take your house or your heat.	Credit cards amount in dollars	n/a
Medical bills Almost always negotiable, frequently reducible, often interest-free. Ask for an itemised bill and a charity-care application.	Medical bills amount in dollars	n/a

General guidance, not legal or credit advice, and the tiers are judgment calls you may need to re-rank for your household: a car payment moves to tier 1 when the job depends on the car. A non-profit credit counselor (the NFCC lists member agencies) can help, often free or at low cost; never pay an upfront fee for debt help, and never borrow to pay a bill in tier 4.

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.

Proverbs 3:27

KJV. Paying what you owe when you can is a matter of righteousness, not merely of credit scores, and the qualifier is doing real work: 'when it is in the power of thine hand.' A month where the money genuinely is not there is not the sin this proverb has in view. Ordering the payments honestly, telling the creditors early, and refusing to pretend are what integrity looks like when the total will not stretch.

One more thing, and it matters more than the table. Deuteronomy 15:7-11 commands an open hand toward those in hardship, and Galatians 6:2 tells the church to carry each other's burdens. If you are the one short this month, asking your church for help is not a failure of faith. It is the mechanism Scripture actually prescribes. And if you are not the one short, someone near you is. Go deeper: getting out of debt · surviving real months · Snowball vs. Avalanche →

The allocation needs JavaScript; the order does not, and the order is the lesson. Pay tier 1 in full first (food, housing, heat, and the means to earn), then tier 2 (anything whose non-payment escalates beyond money), then tier 3 (secured debt on assets you need), and let the shortfall land in tier 4, on unsecured debt, where you have the most room to negotiate and the least to lose immediately.

Worked example: the amounts listed above come to $3,110. With $2,600 available, tier 1 ($2,380) and tier 2 ($180) are paid in full, $40 reaches the credit card, and the whole $510 shortfall sits in tier 4, on the card and the medical bill. Call both before the due date. With $1,900 available instead, tier 1 alone cannot be met: that is not a triage problem but a shortfall in essentials, and the next call is to your church, a non-profit credit counselor (nfcc.org lists them), or a local assistance program.