Moving out for the first time, with a friend. Split the bills?

mannequin

Hi,

Me and one of my best friends are starting to view some houses to move into, and I have a small quesry about paying the bills. I`m trying to think of a fair way to pay them.

Instead of putting all the bills in one persons name, would it be better for me to pay some and my friend pay others so they work out roughly the same, such as:

Monthly bills-

ME

council tax - £83
water - £26

Total = £109

Friend

Gas + Elec £72
Tv licence £12
Broadband £16
Contents insurance £15

Total - £115

This way the bills will be fairly even and one can always make up the difference to the other at the end of each month. Is this the best idea, or does anyone else know of a system that works more effectively? Also, how accurate are my monthly bill estimates?

Also, do LL/LA allow us to pay rent separately or do they always take the full amount off one person?

Cheers

toadyfrog

not sure if its the best advice but why not open an account where you both pay in the same amount monthy and all the bills and rent will come out of that.

quintwins

i agree with setting up an account you both pay into, and pay a set amount each month (add all you bills up then add a little extra incase something breaks or for a buffer for extra elec/gas in winter)

System

I've always done it with each person taking a bill in their name

casualwalks

Having a shared account will mean that you are linked as financial associates on your credit report. Beware, and be sure to ask for a notice of dissociation with the credit rating agencies once you no longer hold any joint accounts.

G_M

Whatever arrangement you reach, agree to have a regular (monthly?) meeting to review household bills. And things like shopping bills too for communal items (loo paper etc).
a) Check that the bills really ARE being paid - there have been cases here of people finding when they moved out after a year that their 'friend' had in fact not been paying the council tax, went abroad, leaving the other person with the bill to pay for a year.
b) If one of you always ends up buying the washing up liquid, light bulbs, etc you can balance the books between you monthly.

Keep a book recording who pays what. If you get billed for phone calls and one of you always uses the phone, that needs recording too.

It's amazing how easily a friendship can break down if resentment builds up because one person takes stuff for granted and the other always picks up the bills/cleaning work etc, so talk it all through, not just at the start but regularly too.

mannequin

Thanks for your responses. I don`t think having a linked account would be ideal. I don`t like the idea of someone else, even a best friend, potentially ruining my creidit score.

How accurate am I on the bill estimates for a 3 bed semi with just the two of us living there?

Jowo_2

Download the budget planner on the free tools section as then you can do a complete budget for all your income and expenses.

I wonder if you are being optimistic about the council tax - I've never lived in a property where it's less than £100 per month but the local council website will give you an idea of some of the mid range bandings.

Again, I wonder if you've been a bit optimistic about the gas/electric - I pay £77 pcm for a 2 bedroom flat but this is something that will vary wildly due to consumption pattern, tariff and insulation of the property. I think you've missed the landline for the phone unless you are specifying an internet dongle that doesn't require a landline.

CIS

If your joint tenants then all your names will go on the council tax and you'll all be equally liable. How you pay it is then between yourselves but if it isn't paid then the council can come after all of you.

KiKi

mannequin wrote: »

Thanks for your responses. I don`t think having a linked account would be ideal. I don`t like the idea of someone else, even a best friend, potentially ruining my creidit score.

How accurate am I on the bill estimates for a 3 bed semi with just the two of us living there?

I reckon you're high on G&E unless you use a lot. I live in a 2-bed (just me, though) and I spend £31 a month on both. But that shouldn't double with two of you there.

I think your water bill will be higher (mine's £17 a month, and I'm FRUGAL...3 minute showers, and using the washing machine once every other week).

You're low on Broadband - don't forget that for BB you need a phone line or cable, and you haven't budgeted for these separately. Unless you get one of those cashback, one of the lowest BB is O2 if you have an O2 mobile - and that's £17 alone, inc landline. So I'd put BB and landline / cable up to £25 for now.

Don't forget that unless you've specifically asked to pay the council tax bill over 12 months, it will be over 10 months, so you'll be much better off for Feb and March!

I think this is a good way to do it - but I would ALWAYS even out the bills at the end of the month, not just waive the discrepancies, as that's the sort of thing that festers when you houseshare - even if you're only £5 better off each month bill wise than your friend, that's £60 a year.

You also might want to think about shared house things, like cleaning materials, washing up liquid, toilet roll etc - someone buys them then splits the bill with the other?

HTH - enjoy your new house!
KiKi