Moving out for the first time

AlexPrentice

Hi there,

Me and my partner are both 22 and we're moving out in the next few weeks to a rented property, I'm quite anxious for what to expect financially!

Our rent is £750 a month and together we earn net £1900-£2000 a month, ultimately, do you think we'll be comfortable?

Travel costs will be average, I'll be driving to work everyday (20 mile roundtrip or so) and she'll walk to hers, we'll have a basic cheap Virgin/Sky package and other than that, have no major expenditure after bills.

We do our own food shopping at the moment and spend about £100 a month, but that doesn't include things like bread, milk, domestic cleaning products, etc as those are bought by my parents so no sense in both of us getting them.

I'm having a read on the tenants guide to renting too, but any advice etc would be good.

Hugbubble

Council tax? Gas/ electricity? Water? Phone?

daisymay2008

gas and electric will depend on size of house etc, i pay £50 each per month (thats what I choose to pay)

also don't forget tv licence / BT line rental?? contents insurance?

caledonian_princess

You could do yourself a SOA (http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html) and take it from there. I found that it took a couple of months to settle down; I'd bought so I had legal fees but you will still have moving expenses, (even if it's only taking your friends out for a few beers to say thanks), the cost of starting a household from scratch (tea towels, dishcloths all sorts of stuff that you don't need to buy every month but will need to set up home); these will increase your expenditure in the first month. After that it will, hopefully, settle down and you can establish a proper budget.

AlexPrentice

Thanks for the tips people.

We've built up some savings to settle any start up costs so that should be ok, we've got a lot of things already but as you say, the little things will all add up.

Council Tax should be c.£1130.00 for the year so c.£113 for 10 months and then another £90? for utilities?

Licenses, line rental, content insurance we've acknowledged when totting things up so there should be no major surprises, the only challenge I think I'll have is car insurance, I'm a bit of an enthusiast and being 22 that doesn't come cheaply, perhaps I'll have to put it on the back burner for the time being.

jonny_power

I don't think you'll have major issues with that income and that rent, although I can't see you being able to save loads each month. We don't go crazy with our food shop and spend about £45 a week for two.

Jenniefour

You are starting out on your lives together as a couple in your rented home and how you manage money now will have impact for many years to come. My suggestion is that you make sure you continue saving regularly - not only for holidays, for example, but to put you in a good position when you start a family/move to a bigger property/buy a property/have an unexpected expensive emergency. And to take advantage of any offers from family about furniture and so so, especially if your home is unfurnished.

AlexPrentice

Jenniefour wrote: »

You are starting out on your lives together as a couple in your rented home and how you manage money now will have impact for many years to come. My suggestion is that you make sure you continue saving regularly - not only for holidays, for example, but to put you in a good position when you start a family/move to a bigger property/buy a property/have an unexpected expensive emergency. And to take advantage of any offers from family about furniture and so so, especially if your home is unfurnished.

The property is furnished but inevitably we'll want to put our own little touches on it so need to keep a budget for that, and I'm just happy to be able to have a little left over every month for now, then I'll start to think about where I can trim and save more.

jonny_power wrote: »

I don't think you'll have major issues with that income and that rent, although I can't see you being able to save loads each month. We don't go crazy with our food shop and spend about £45 a week for two.

As above, so long as I'm able to put away even a little bit every month, then any extra money that comes our way will be put into the pot too, obviously we both intend to up our wages in the near future (fingers crossed that should happen sooner rather than later) so hopefully I'll be looking upwards!

I've just done that calculator that was suggested and got given a surplus, I left out a few things like clothes, presents etc as they're not so essential and things that can be left if need be, but of course I take it all into account anyway.

I'll probably use this thread to keep up to date with how I'm doing compared to how I thought I'd go, and what I spend compared to what I thought I'd spend once we actually get a date.

Again, thanks for all the advice.

jonny_power

AlexPrentice wrote: »

The property is furnished but inevitably we'll want to put our own little touches on it so need to keep a budget for that, and I'm just happy to be able to have a little left over every month for now, then I'll start to think about where I can trim and save more.



As above, so long as I'm able to put away even a little bit every month, then any extra money that comes our way will be put into the pot too, obviously we both intend to up our wages in the near future (fingers crossed that should happen sooner rather than later) so hopefully I'll be looking upwards!

I've just done that calculator that was suggested and got given a surplus, I left out a few things like clothes, presents etc as they're not so essential and things that can be left if need be, but of course I take it all into account anyway.

I'll probably use this thread to keep up to date with how I'm doing compared to how I thought I'd go, and what I spend compared to what I thought I'd spend once we actually get a date.

Again, thanks for all the advice.

I wouldn't ignore the cost of presents and clothes. For presents just work out who you'll be buying for through the year and how much you'll spend and then just estimate a monthly amount. Then factor for christmas presents in December. These are easy to account for because you know the dates!

With clothes, it's a bit harder but I try to do clothes shopping in a big 'hit' every 3 months. So anything I need through the winter, spring, summer (and holiday) and autumn.

I'm lucky because my birthday is in October so if I want anything big like new jeans or suit or coat then I tend to use birthday money on them.
This is just how I do it, but I find it easier to budget that way rather than the temptation to just buy a jumper/t-shirt whenever I see one (i'm not a big shopper! but the missus is!:eek:)

AlexPrentice

jonny_power wrote: »

I wouldn't ignore the cost of presents and clothes. For presents just work out who you'll be buying for through the year and how much you'll spend and then just estimate a monthly amount. Then factor for christmas presents in December. These are easy to account for because you know the dates!

With clothes, it's a bit harder but I try to do clothes shopping in a big 'hit' every 3 months. So anything I need through the winter, spring, summer (and holiday) and autumn.

I'm lucky because my birthday is in October so if I want anything big like new jeans or suit or coat then I tend to use birthday money on them.
This is just how I do it, but I find it easier to budget that way rather than the temptation to just buy a jumper/t-shirt whenever I see one (i'm not a big shopper! but the missus is!:eek:)

Tell me about it, luckily she's more focused on moving out than buying clothes, (she already stocks a warehouse's worth of clothing anyway).

I'll have to have a think about it, I suppose we're fairly lucky because we're at the stage where we're not expected to buy gifts but anything is appreciated, though I like to give my niece/nephew & parents something nice.

As for clothes, I've generally got enough and don't intend on growing anymore, so it'll be more rarely as and when I need to replace.

broker

Our mortgage is £700pm and total to cover everything to do with the house including food etc is £1400pm so that should hopefully give you an idea.

I wouldn't say you would be "comfortable" adding any other unsecured debt payments, socializing, travel costs, general spends etc.

If I could turn the clock back I would have gone with something cheaper and had a better quality of life.

Just my experience