First Time Bill Payers... how much does living cost?

JeffUK_2

Hi there,

My partner and I are planning to move into our first place together; we're trying to set out a budget for how much we can afford, but have little or no idea what our monthly expenditure's likely to be.

Can anyone help us list what the expenses will include, and maybe even give us some ballpark ranges for what we'd expect to pay.

ie., what the 'average' electricity, gas, home insurance, food bills etc. are likely to be and if there's anything else to add to the list that we've missed? I know it varies a lot, but even 'worst case' costs would really help us budget.

Thanks,

Jeff

skylight

How big is your new place going to be? Just the 2 of you? Kids??

Council Tax - you can get this accurately from your local council website
Food - you eat what you eat! But I would expect no more than £50pw for 2 people to include toiletries and pet food. Plan your meals - its much cheaper buying what you need than walking around the supermarket "fancying that".
Electric/Gas - for a small place around £60pm for both (not each)? Do not leave lights on, everything on standby or the hot waters emersion left on. But this depends on useage really and finding the best/cheapest supplier.
Home Insurance will depend entirely on your area you live in and level required. Go to confused.com and do some dummy quotes on address you know in the area you want to be in. But around £15-25 a month.
Pet insurance?? Get quotes
Car insurance?? These will probably change when you move to a different area as again they are based upon risk.
Phone Bills? - BT line rental is minimum £11pm plus any call deals you can get.
Broadband? - Get quotes, but realistically £10-20 if not part of a deal.
Sky TV? Not essential but could be a cost if you want it.
Life Insurances? Do you need these? If you have kids then definately - or you are paying a mortgage.
TV Licence? £12pm but the first 6 months is double that as you pay 6 months in advance on a new licence. Unless you buy it in one go.
In a flat? Maintenance/Service charges? Additional to mortgage or included in some rents (check your contract)
Water rates/Sewerage? These are usually 2 different charges and vary from company in your area. Contact them to find out.


Hope everything works out!

anniecave

house insurance varies a lot depending on where you live and also on type of property (flat, terraced house, detatched house etc). You could get a good idea by putting your details in on one of the comparison websites (like moneysupermarket.com) and seeing what comes out.

gas/electricity vary a lot, depending on whether you have efficient central heating, insulation etc, and how big a property you have.

As probably your worst case scenario for a small property, my friend and I flat share a two bedroom flat, there is no gas, but electic wall heaters and it's very badly insulated, and we are currently paying £110 per month for electric.

Water bill for us is £130 per year - not metered.

CLAPTON

Have a look at the tools at the top of this thread.... you will see a 'budget planner' which is very useful as it includes all the yearly and one offs that are so easy to forget about. You need to save each month for these otherwise you will just put on credit cards when the bills come in.

Good luck and avoid borrrowing money (especially for cars and holidays), save for what you want and discuss money with OH regularly.

JeffUK_2

thanks guys, gives me some numbers to play with; I don't have any real details yet as I'm trying to get all the figures together so we know what we're like to be able to afford.

Thanks for the pointer to the budget calculator too... I'll probably fill out a 'predicted budget' now and use that to work out what's left over for the house!

Thanks again.

Jeff