Paying bills is not something the deployed service member wants to worry about. There are some options that the service member can look at to make sure they do not fall behind on payments.
The first option is to call your bank and let them know that you will be deploying, as well as when you will be deploying. All of the military branches have banks that they associate with, and they are more than happy to work with the deploying service member. They will offer some choices in order to make sure that your bills stay up to date. For example, they might offer an automatic bill payment option that you can set up to pay whatever bills you would like until you return. This option works best for the service member who has no family in the immediate area that will be able to take care of the bills.
For those service members that do have family in the area, it seems obvious to have your spouse take care of the bills for you. One thing to remember here though is to make sure your spouse knows exactly what bills need to be paid and when. Otherwise you might be late, which in turn could put extra stress on a marriage that already has the burden of a deployment. It is also important to note that in some instances, your spouse will need to have account access in order to do some things. For example, if your spouse tries to lower the interest rate on a credit card, he or she will be denied access unless you list them on the account.
One last thing to consider here almost goes without saying. Since you will be deploying, there may be no need for the phone or cable. It is easy to disconnect and then hook it back up at a later date. If you do not, you could be opening up an entire can of worms for when you return. The bill collectors will not care—all they want is their money—even if you have been deployed to a hostile environment for the last year.
Before going on a deployment it is important that the service member ensures that they stay up to date on their bills. There are a limited amount of options to do so. Each service member needs to analyze which method will work best for their given circumstances. It is easier for you to make sure your bills are all taken care of before a deployment than it is to have to make up for it later on.