How much do you live on per month?

beachie

Had to buy milk today so spent my £1.38 or so... bought two lots for £2 though so one safely in the freezer.

maganan

Hi lucy,

Fab thread been lurking for a while but only just decided to post, like Souk said I don't really fit! however although I'm the same age as you (a year younger than Kylie!) I have 4 children nearly grown up hence why I dont fit! I wasnt quite a teenage mum so don't fit there,and they're not wannabe young parents so dont fit there either, when I had them everyone else I knew were proper grown ups (30ish) so i definitely didnt fit there cos I'm still not a proper grown up now! Tried the being married, unfortunately I chose a control freak who well use your imagination............anyway left with nothing and spent ages surviving so get what ani says about not trusting. anyway i'm rambling now.......personally i think i'm better off in everyway being single, wish i wasnt in debt though feel i've let my children down (they don't see it that way I'm incredibly lucky) but I love music/gigs/festivals which isnt possible following LBM which nis a shame cos i've always felt able to do these things on my own but couldnt go into a pub alone, despite a responsible job i'm v shy. Also if im out people think i'm younger but at work people (i'm not close too) dont get me as i dont get that slagging men off/overtly flirting whole "loose women" thing...........sorry rambling again! thanks to the DMP and all the help here i'm finally remembering who i am and remembering how lucky i am to have what i have but would never dream of suggesting children is for everyone and feel very humbled by the successes of everyone here.

Spending after bills/debts £480 for food/kids stuff/pets/gym and managing................so far

Me as me loves killer heels, nice clothes, wine, good company etc. festivals, cider, bands, singing, girly dvds, cosmetics (but rarely wear make up), good books, running, the gym.................... i still don't fit but i'm learning to like me

thanks again lucy for the thread x

Lucy1010

maganan wrote: »

Hi lucy,


Spending after bills/debts £480 for food/kids stuff/pets/gym and managing................so far

Me as me loves killer heels, nice clothes, wine, good company etc. festivals, cider, bands, singing, girly dvds, cosmetics (but rarely wear make up), good books, running, the gym.................... i still don't fit but i'm learning to like me

thanks again lucy for the thread x

Maganan, you're a gem! Love what you had to say! I learn something new about people every single time I read this thread

By the way, to the chap (guessing you are a man) who wants to know how much single people budget for mortgage/bills.... £700 all in for me, it's over but that's what I budget) Hope that helps and don't think too much about saving up for future bills... you might forget to live a little

iwantahome

not a chap.

You are quite bad at this guessing the sex of people on the board aren't you? :rotfl:

Lucy1010

iwantahome wrote: »

not a chap.

You are quite bad at this guessing the sex of people on the board aren't you? :rotfl:

Evidently so...!

mildredalien

Hehe I would have guessed female from your comment about finding somewhere you feel safe to live My OH is flathunting right now and looked downright bemused when I was asking questions about crime rates and what the current tenants think about crime in the area!!

curlygirl1971

iwantahome wrote: »

Although I do not have bills as such because of living with my parents I am treating my pay as though I do have those bills that others have. This is very hard to do as i'm not sure how much per month living on my own will cost. Currently I am budgeting approx £1000 a month that is placed directly into deposit savings on payday and not touched at all. This way I will be used to that amount allocated to bills in the future (this is the theory). I do have some other bills such as mobile phone/gym etc, but not a lot.

How much do some of you singles have to allocate to bills per month? I know this can vary depending on location, but I may be able to get an idea of what my future monthly outgoings will be once I finally am able to start my life on my own. I will still put my £1000 per month away for savings regardless of any answers people come up with, but it would be nice to know what my situation will be like when I move.

Well done on making a difficult decsion / doing what had to be done (moving in with your parents) - you won't regret it in the long run

Don't know if this helps - I think there is probably a lot of variation by household / area etc. I live in a small victorian house in a town close to Manchester.

Council Tax 78.00 with single person discount, payable 10 months of year, my house is pretty naff though!
TMPP 35.23 Life/Sickness/Redundancy - I believe this is a low premium compared to new policies
Gas 39.00 House is not energy efficient, single wall construction, no thermostats
Electric 18.00 This has just gone up - with a bit of effort I can probably get it down again a bit
Water Rates 28.28 A meter is cheaper for some single people
TV License 13.00
BT 16.50 Just landline, there is cheaper but I don't want to tie myself in
House Insurance 23.33 Buildings & Contents, I pay yearly which is cheaper

It's useless giving you my mortgage amount - you are better having a ball-park figure for how much your new place is going to cost and going on a couple of bank websites and looking at some mortgage illustrations with interest rates for new customers to get a good idea of what you monthly repayment fig is going to be.

Some of these expenses aren't necessary ie. the redundancy protection - although you will need life insurance. Internet and Sky aren't included because work pays for one and I don't need the other.

These are bills - of course I have other expenses but they are individual to me (ie how much I spend on Social, Exercise, Clothes, Toiletries, Food, Fuel) so would be useless to quote for your purposes as you may want to spend more or less. I spend a fortune on petrol to get to work but you might not. I spend about £25 per week on food and household items for me and occasionally my BF but many MSE people that put some effort in get this figure lower.......I'm working on it!

One of the best things I did whilst living with my parents (and saving up for a house) was also start to put aside a 'Yearly Expenditure fund'. However i was lucky - when I was saving up 10+ years ago I didn't need to save up nearly as big a depost as is required nowadays.

I worked out how much annual costs such as Insurances, Car MOT/Tax, Xmas Pressies....would all be and I made sure that I had the amount in an account before I moved. Thereafter I put away a monthly amount to pay for these annual expenses (for the next year). This amount is adjusted as certain things become cheaper/expensive. As time went by (and I could afford it) I added different things to this category ie. Replacing my specs, Dentist, Holiday, new-used car fund.........so now I put away a chunk every month but then when I pay for one of these items I have the money in an account ready. One-off payments are often cheaper than paying monthly.

Don't get me wrong - there have been plenty of months when I either couldn't afford the payment at all, couldn't afford it all, or had to raid the account

Best of luck!

maganan

oh lucy for a horrible momment i thought you thought i was a man!.................with mention of heels was wondering what sort of bloke do you go fo!r;)

curlygirl1971

iwantahome wrote: »

I think my mortgage will be quite high as I want to live in a nicer area and so will have to take a hit with the cost of the property. I want to feel safe living on my own and being out near my home in the dark etc.

This is something I kinda regret. My area is not unsafe as such (the hoodies are hoodies mainly for effect) but it's near a very busy and large pub, I'm on a main road and many of the people around me are.........well I don't know how to describe them without sounding a complete snob. Infact I think my neighbours reputation actually protects me LOL. But it was what I could afford at the time and thats that and my immediate neighbours genuinely look out for one another.

Lucy1010

maganan wrote: »

oh lucy for a horrible momment i thought you thought i was a man!.................with mention of heels was wondering what sort of bloke do you go fo!r;)

:rotfl: Sorry I am rubbish, unless your name sounds girly I just assume you're a man!

April is looking horrific budget wise... 3 birthdays and Mothers day... Now will it be any cheaper to buy flowers on Fri rather than the weekend? I don't want to be cheap though, I love my Mum to bits.

What will you do?