Young, stupid and renting first time!

Lettuce91

In one word... HELP! :cool:

I'm trying to save up to move out and rent for the first time, (my credit is bad, i'd never get a mortgage :eek:)

Does anyone have any tips for saving and first time renters leaving home for the first time.
I will be renting on my own and have been planning for the last 6 months going to view flats and things like that. Over the last few months ive also been buying wee things like bed linen and glasses, things that i know i'll need to buy when i eventually move out.
Anywaaaaay..... i'd like some tips on how to save and what, if anything i should be looking out for as a first time renter.
I try my best to save but like any young person i do love going out and buying clothes and things like that :T.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

moromir

With all due respect.. you need to adjust your expectations slightly and reprioritise if moving out is what you want most.

Stop with the clothes and frivoulous purchases - you'll have to when you have rent to pay so you might as well start training yourself now.

No first time renter needs brand new linen and glasses - don't you have linen at home you can take with you?

Glasses and kitchenware / furniture = Freecycle!

G_M

First, do a budget:

Total savings now; total savings in (3?) months; total monthly income.
Estimated: rent; gas, electricity, phone, water, council tax, food, etc etc
See some of the budgets people do on the debtfree forum like this one. Include everything.

Compare your income/savings against your expected outgoings.

Then put some more aside for: deposit (uo to 2 months rent?); one month rent in advance; moving in costs; contingency.

As for buying stuff: use all the forums here for moneysaving tips, use charity shops, house clearnce companies, freecycle, ebay.

Stop shopping at high street stores etc.

hazyjo

colettef09 wrote: »

I try my best to save but like any young person i do love going out and buying clothes and things like that :T.

Think you'll find that's not exclusive to young people! It's about discipline and control. If you can't exercise that, you shouldn't be renting yet. I suggest you address your spending issues first.

Not preaching - I LOVE spending money - and can do it bloody well lol. But if I wanted something badly enough, I'd make sacrifices. If you're spending money now on a property you're not even in yet (and is only fictional), trust me, you'll be a whole lot worse once you're in. You'll see things you just have to have and 'can't live without'.

Try working out a budget of what you'd be spending if you were renting - all hypothetical (budget planner available on MSE). Live on it for six months and see how you get on. Absolutely no excuses or cheating - it's very easy to think that something doesn't count if you're putting it on credit card or using a debit card. No drawing out random amounts of cash when it suits. Stick tightly to that budget. Spend what you'd be allowing yourself to spend, and the rest of the money that would be going on 'household expenses/rent, etc', put it into a savings account or give it to a parent to keep for you if you think you'll be tempted to access it.

Draw out cash each week if it helps. If you have say £50 left to spend after all expenses, live on that. Some weeks you'll want to spend £20, others you might want to spend £80. It's about making that money last over a month or so - save what you don't spend, even if it's not going in a savings pot but goes towards a more expensive week. Don't feel you have to spend every penny of that £50.

Trust me, it's harder than it seems. It's very easy to rack up debt when you're not very good with money.

It seems you're a natural 'home-maker'. Just think to yourself you have an awful lot of years left to acquire all you need. You really don't need everything at the beginning. I was similar and bought a lot of 'stuff' - needless to say I hate most of it now yet begrudge getting rid of stuff that I once paid for. Just be patient and you can furnish and fill a property over many years. Your tastes will change and most things you won't need for years yet, if at all.

If you really can't resist - avoid shopping. I'm a sucker for shops, but have taken to not going out at lunchtimes round the shops - and I've saved myself a fortune. It 'hurts' for a while, thinking of all you're missing, but, as my mum said (that got me thinking...), if you never bought any new clothes for the next 5 years, you'd not run out.

Be patient. Good luck.

Jx

welshy_2002

Setup a transfer for the amount you want to save, each month, going out of your account on payday. If it's not at hand, you will be less likely to spend it

edinburgher

Try working out a budget of what you'd be spending if you were renting - all hypothetical (budget planner available on MSE). Live on it for six months and see how you get on. Absolutely no excuses or cheating - it's very easy to think that something doesn't count if you're putting it on credit card or using a debit card. No drawing out random amounts of cash when it suits. Stick tightly to that budget. Spend what you'd be allowing yourself to spend, and the rest of the money that would be going on 'household expenses/rent, etc', put it into a savings account or give it to a parent to keep for you if you think you'll be tempted to access it.

These tips are top notch. I've been renting for 10 years now and it took me 5 to get over the 'young and stupid' phase! The rule of thumb (as with all things) is that if you don't have it, don't spend it.

That said, I'm not sure I agree with using your parents to hold money. If you still need your hand held, you should probably stay at home for a bit. There's no shame to staying at home for as long as you need to get your savings up and running etc., as long as you're paying your parents some rent/generally trying to make life easy for them.

One thing I'd recommend would be setting up an ISA or Regular Saver account now if you haven't done so already, the savings habit is a very important one to start.

Also, on the stuff front, stop buying! My fiancee and I still find little things we 'need' after sharing a house for 4 years - sometime you need to step back and consider whether there's an actual need, or whether you just want the moon on a stick Family members will love buying you the odd bit for the house, as it lets them support you and buy you birthday gifts etc. that you actually need.

Not saying you're a compulsive shopper or anything, but you might like to try the 30 day rule. Basically, if you want to buy something (say a nice pair of jeans or a CD), try waiting for 30 days and see if you still feel the same. Helps prevent buyer's remorse

Enterprise_1701C

Like a lot of other people have been saying, at the start of the month remove money from your account (possibly the equivalent of the monthly rent you expect to pay) and put it in a savings account. I would suggest you do NOT have access to this account, hand any access like cards or account passwords etc to someone you trust. If you are living at home hand it over to your mum or dad (I have my daughter's credit card locked away at her request). You will have to learn to live without this amount of cash so get used to it now while you have a safety net.

If you want to buy things for the new flat go around car boot sales - there's plenty of stuff around that people bought and did not like. If you need things like a kettle or iron then the value ranges from supermarkets are perfectly good. If you want something better then you can save up slowly.

When we first moved into this house EVERYTHING we had was second hand. We had mismatched furniture, a fridge that came with another house my OH owned when he was single, the freezer was from an aunt, can't recall where the iron and kettle came from but they were not new, we lived with a bright orange paint spattered carpet for years while we saved up. But it was all OURS and not on HP or anything like that.

It can be done, my daughter is as bad as you most of the time, but she is saving for a car at the moment so each month on the day she gets paid she pays us her (nominal at the moment) rent and puts £500 into her saving account, then lives on what she has left. If she runs out of money she simply does not spend any money, even to the extent of walking to work. If she can exercise this sort of steel will power, then believe me so can you!

PasturesNew

My two tips are:
- whatever the rent you're looking at, remove that and another £200 (representing council tax and utilities) from your account on the 1st of the month. Put it into a separate savings account. If you EVER touch this, it means that if you'd been renting you'd be in trouble.
- rent a studio flat, not a 1-bed, not a 2-bed, a studio flat. Rent this for the first 2 years while you adjust to the horrendous cost of living alone.

Neil_in_Bristol

Taking the tips from PasturesNew and Jane Blackford a little further, when I started sorting out my finances, the best thing I did was to open another current account so I had one for spending and one for bills.

Every month, I'd transfer enough into the "bills" account to cover rent, electricity, gas, phone, council tax, TV licence etc. That way, I knew how much I had left to spend on clothes, nights out etc. without being left unable to pay the bills!

You'll get the hang of it in no time. Although it seems daunting having to cut down at first, after a while you'll feel happier knowing that you can afford what you're buying, rather than worrying that you've overspent.

hazyjo

Neil_in_Bristol wrote: »

Taking the tips from PasturesNew and Jane Blackford a little further, when I started sorting out my finances, the best thing I did was to open another current account so I had one for spending and one for bills.

I second that - it's what I've always done (and will continue to do so). Set up a dd to pay a set amount from one a/c to the other, and get all your bills paid by dd too from the 'household' a/c. Makes life so much easier.

Jx

aintshesweet

If you want to ease the transition try looking for private lets (they usually have much lower deposits and often don't charge admin fees). Lots of places also include council tax and water in the bill, and the odd place (look hard for them!) include all bills except landline/internet/tv license.
It's an easy way to start living independently.
Don't agree to anything until you read contracts thoroughly. If an agency gives you grief while you're just looking, you probably don't want to do business with them. Check places thoroughly before signing contracts. Go and see lots of places so you get a feel for what's available in the area. Seeing some manky places helped us be able to compare and see the reality of what was available on our budget!
Save for first month's rent, deposit, and admin fees. Decide how much you can afford based on rent + council tax + water + eletricity + gas + landline + internet + travelling costs if you commute to work + food at a bare minimum.

I personally saved £1K excluding the deposit/first month's rent. I found I had loads and loads left over simply because we got a whole bunch of second hand furniture for free from my relative's (it was sitting in the loft!) and got given various house warming gifts that were useful and practical. We just livened the place up with lots of plants, we didn't spend a lot on decor. We got some really cheap bits from Ikea (a few side tables and a coffee table we have the TV on). We have the TV we've always had and a 6 year old laptop...

Some things you'll get over time (bits to put things in in the bathroom for example, or units for the kitchen if you're that way inclined). One of the first things you want to invest in is a good hoover. Other appliances you'll want to get ASAP are a toaster, kettle, and microwave. Buy new and you'll have a guarantee with them, just keep the receipts. Some things are not worth getting second hand.

If you want things to be super easy to get started try and find a furnished flat. I didn't want a furnished flat, but we did have white goods included so that saved us having to buy a washing machine, cooker, and fridge and freezer which all helps. Otherwise you'll have to budget for those, too.

Learn to cook before you leave and work out what kind of bits you need to get to get a kitchen set started.