Utilities setup — the hidden admin marathon after you get the keys

Ben, the Month of Meters is going straight into my vocabulary. And the previous owner coming along in person is the kind of shortcut nobody writes down anywhere.

Nobody told me bin collection in Ireland is something you choose and pay a company for. I waited a full week for the bins to be collected before a neighbour explained.

Elena, the bin subscription thing still baffles me, two years on.

Chiang Mai: electricity and water stay in the landlord's name, you pay them monthly. I only set up fibre. Took two days.

Reading this before our move to Spain, and it's both useful and slightly terrifying. We're renting for the first year and will be taking over the utilities from the previous tenants. Is it better to transfer the existing contracts or to start fresh ones in our own names?

Linda, we started fresh contracts in our own names, and I'd do it again for one reason: in Spain the bills became our proof of address. The town hall registration and the health centre both wanted a utility bill with our names on it, and a contract in someone else's name was no help. You'll need your local ID number and a bank account first, so sort those before the move.

The heating in our building here is a separate contract from the electricity, which I found out when the first bill arrived for something I thought was included in the rent.

Meter photos on day one. Every time.

Adding: set up direct debit for everything as soon as you can. We missed a payment in the chaos and the reminder letter was in a language I was still learning.