Leaving home for the 1st time!

StevieG1988

Me and my fiancee are moving in just after the new year. Neither of us have lived away from parent before (well she did but only for 3 months). We are going to a furbished house in Swansea. Im a little worried about much everything is going to cost. Am I way of the mark?

The way I've worked it out is like this (per month):

Rent: £500 - We arent really looking to pay over this.

Electricity, gas and water: £100 approx

Council Tax: £80

TV License: £12

Shopping: £200

Obviously theres the option of a phone, internet and digital TV but I havent included them.

Aso how much would I we have to pay the estate agents for an admin fee and deposit. I've been advised to rent privately to leave out the admin costs.

Any help would be apprecaited.

Thanks

anniecave

you can find out the council tax band for a property by going to the VOA website and putting in the address... you can then go to the council website and see how much actually the council tax will be

gas and elec depends on the following:

is heating electric or gas (electric heating is normally more expensive than gas)
is the property well insulated?
is it detached /semi or terraced? detatched tend to cost more to heat than terraced
the bigger the property (more bedrooms) the more expensive to heat

for a small house or flat with gas central heating your estimates for gas/electric & water shouldn't be too far out

to get ideas for bills cost ask both your and her parents how much they pay

bristol_pilot

Your estimates seem about right, maybe a little low. The council tax seems very low - you'll need to check that.

I agree that you should rent privately from a landlord. You will still need a month's rent as a deposit but will not get ripped off for a 'credit check' and your landlord will not have to hand over 15% of your rent in fees, which tends to mean that rents from a private landlord are lower.

There is nothing in your budget for transport - unless you are going to walk everywhere, that can be another big cost.

And going out / socialising - is that included in 'shopping'?

Good luck!

StevieG1988

In response to you both, I've checked the council tax with my parents and my friends who have recently moved out and they've said around £75-£90.

Basically I get paid just less than £900 a month and I've already accounted for petrol. The way I see it is that I should have around £250+ to myself every month after stuff like pension, car insurance and any other little bits and bobs.

I've asked my parent and basically my Mam told me she wasnt sure how much my bills would be as she runs a house of four adults, so her bills are always going to be higher.

markharding557

i would suggest your estimate for gas.electric and water of £100 is a bit low unless you are going to be low users if you want heating on a lot it will be more and you may find companys like to take more than they need on dd