Can I afford to live comfortably

hassalld

Hi

I am a new poster to these forums so hello everyone.

I am on the brink of entering into a mortgage with repayments of circa £850 over 30 yrs Question is can I afford this comfortably

I earn approx £37k per annum before deductions and will have the ususal bills ontop


Question is am I over reaching my budgets.

Thank you

LilacPixie

define the usual bills? Single, couple or family? have a car?

Raggs_2

Usually around 30-40% of real income is about right, but it depends on the person, if you spend 500 a month on food, you might struggle, if you live on 50 a month and walk to work, then probably not.

jozbo

as others have said, it completely depends. i earn 13k and pay £500 per month for rent and bills. i can afford this but have to live fairly frugally. i personally wouldnt want to be tied into a mortgage in those proportions - but you'd have quite a bit of leeway.
question is, what happens when interest rate rises. check you can still afford at 6%

fimonkey

When I was growing up (70's/80's) my parents told me 1/3rd of income on rent/mortgage. 1/3 on bills and essentials (food/petrol etc). 1/3rd to play with (holidays/eating out etc) and save. ... Reckon that still applies in today's day and age?

hassalld

I have a gf who is a registered carer for 7 yr disabled son with Income support we are also candiates for tax credits. Her income I am not 100% sure on the figures.

However I wanted to ensure that should I be required to pay my own way 100% I can do so comportably

---

I have the below amount to circa £300 pm for Gas, Electric, Insurance, water, Tv, Sky, Mobile, Gym, Online film subs

I would need to factor in Council tax also.

I currently have no car but have circa £4k in savings and will possibly purchase next year

Thanks

puddy

it sounds a lot to me, but maybe thats just me. what is your take home and do you already pay into a pension or would that be a separate bill (or not at all)

is the 850 on a fixed rate and if so, what is the rate

if its on varible, i would be worried because in 5 or so years time (aparently) the rates will rise and then fixed rates will become v expensive to get into and their respective rates will rise also

children get older and his health needs may become more severe

cars dont just cost the actual car, they cost, petrol, tax, servicing, insurance and breakdown cover

hassalld

£850 is on a fixed rate at 4.95%. My take home is in the region of £2300 per month. I pay £66 into a pension

On the car front. yeah this all things that we need to consider. to be fair there is the chance we qualify for a higher rate mobility which means we get a car so would just have cost of petrol. but we can't guarantee this will be approved

Raggs_2

I'd say it's affordable myself. Especially with the income support etc from your wife.

sinbad182

That sounds fine. Will shortly be taking on a similar mortgage myself. I'll be paying 880 a month, on a 39000 wage. Even with a pessimistic rounding up of bills (I added 20-50 quid to everything to make a worst case scenario budget) I'd still have 200 a week to play with. The main issue for me will be the fact I pay little rent at the moment, so have got used to splashing the cash. Will have to reign it in a bit!

PasturesNew

+£2300 takehome
-£850 mortgage
-£250 bills (that's being VERY extravagent)
====
£1200 in your pocket.

That is more than many people start off with, before paying rent/mortgage/bills. £1200/month is the take-home salary of somebody on £18k.