[Shavenraver]

In my flatshare, bill payments have fallen to my responsibility, but I don't want to be a hard arse every month.

Instead I prefer to tally up how many months I have not collected on a bill (seeing as they're fixed £'s every month) and collect every 3 or 4 months.

But months flyby and I loose track, so my question is...

How can I have a repeated task that DOESN'T need completion before the task is duplicated/repeated?

Or is there another way of thinking about this?

Thanks

[whpalmer4]

Enter a bunch of copies of the same task, with appropriate start and due dates. Then future actions (at least in the timeframe for which you made entries) do not rely on the completion of previous ones. Put in a reminder action to repopulate before you run out.

[Brian]

Alternatively, make a single action with the "Start again 1 month later" repeat type.

When you collect, check the item off. OmniFocus will make a new item for next month. From then on, you'll be able to look at the database and see that you haven't collected from them for any months since whatever date is attached to the existing item in your database.

[Shavenraver]

Originally Posted by Brian

Alternatively, make a single action with the "Start again 1 month later" repeat type.

When you collect, check the item off. OmniFocus will make a new item for next month. From then on, you'll be able to look at the database and see that you haven't collected from them for any months since whatever date is attached to the existing item in your database.

I had hoped to do this, but the issue is that the action will not repeat until it has been checked off

Running multiple 'copies' of the action with future dates is probably the safest option, but not particularly elegant in my eyes.... .... particularly as i have 2 house mates to collect from. Twice the work :(

Thanks

[Ken Case]

Originally Posted by Shavenraver

I had hoped to do this, but the issue is that the action will not repeat until it has been checked off

Paying rent is exactly the scenario we had in mind for the "Repeat every 1 month" repeat setting (as opposed to using "Start again" or "Due again", which is a better choice for something like a haircut). You'll get an additional "repeat every" task for each month that was missed (even if it's in the past), and you can just check off each one until all the tasks are current again. (You can also get ahead of the rent by completing a few extra tasks for future months.)

Hope this helps!

[Christian]

While this is a useful feature I recommend using a spreadsheet (can be a free one like open office) for this. You will likely get a better oversight, long term, over your bill situation.

As I see it, OF is great to remind you to pay bills and hence save you from debt and the related extra charges. It was not designed to keep track of two flat mates who individually pay bills to you on different dates each 3-3 months (that's what, 5 bills a month?). A simple spreadsheet would give you a one-glance oversight of what you paid and what your flat mates owe you.

It is also a safer way to do it. Imagine accidentally checking off one of the bill reminders for your flat mates. Can easily happen in a rush. That will cost you.