Utility bills for a 3-bed terraced house - Budgeting help.

Sammie_UK1

Hi all..

My husband and I are looking to buy our first home. The house we really like is a lot more than we intended to spend and so I need to make sure I can afford the bills now that the mortgage will be higher than we originally planned it to be.

Please could those living in a 3-bed house share how much their utility bills come to?..

I work 9-5pm and my Husband works roughly 9-7pm so we wouldn't be in the house that often.

We've always lived with family so we've no idea how much usage/consumption of energy etc is normal for an average couple..

Thanks in advance!!..

doolallygal

Hi,

We're just looking to move out of our 3 bed home into our new (to us) 4 bed (eeps!) these are our (rough) figures:

Per month

Gas - £40
Electric - £40
Water - £56 (on a meter, my dh seems to live in the shower :mad:)
Buildings and contents: £20 (I pay annually)
Life insurance - £69
Council Tax - £101 (just reduced the band thanks to martin :money:)
TV licence - £12
Tv, phone and broadband £38

Mortgage - well depends on your deal and cost...

Hope that helps

Sammie_UK1

Thanks Doolally..

Gosh, I completely forgot to budget for B&C insurance and my other insurances (Life, Accident Cover, Redundancy etc).

Okey, I just found out my CT banding (www.mycounciltax.org.uk) which is A and is £905 per year. I think you pay over 10 months so that's £90 per month.
The house we like is on a ratable value so annual water bills are fixed at around £250 per year, so that £20 p/m.

So with the other bills it comes out at around £400 per month (excluding the mortgage).

I think that's do-able for us considering we spend £200 in nursery fees and I get £0 help with childcare..

Sammie_UK1

Oh, and good luck with the move and the new house Doolally!

doolallygal

Well that's why I thought I'd put those on there - as they are too easily forgotten.

Thanks for the good luck - and good luck for you guys too - I hope you find your dream home.

We're lucky with childcare as my dh works shifts and my wonderful mil has changed her shift pattern to work every weekend so that she can have little one for the other days as I work full time.

We are very lucky and I love her to bits :j

Doollallygal

Sammie_UK1

Ohhhh.. also. Food! How much are your grocery bills. At the moment we shop for 8 (4 adults, 4 kids) of us on a monthly basis that comes to around £300-400!

Sammie_UK1

I work full-time too with one little one and another on the way. My mum has her 3 days and to give my mum a break, my daughter does 2 afternoons at nursery a week.

Your MIL must be an angel in disguise, bless her!

elsien

I'm on my own in a 3 bed mid terrace (one of the larger old victorian ones.) I do shift work so my hours vary but at the moment I'm paying £22 pm electric (no expensive tumble driers) and £55 per month for gas. I have a gas cooker and gas central heating, but no double glazing so it's a bit draughty. And I do like to be warm - thermostat down to 16 when I'm out and at night, but 20 ish when I'm watching tv in the evening and not using lots of energy.

ReadingTim

- what sort of property is it?
- how well is it insulated?
- what is the heating source?
- how old (and therefore generally efficient) is the heating system?
- is the water metered?

- when you're cold do you turn the heating up or put another jumper on?
- do you turn lights off when you're not using them?
- do you leave appliances on standby or turn them off at the plug?
- do you shop around for the best deals, or stick to the one you've got?
- do you talk on a landline phone a lot?

All of these things (and many more) will determine how high your bills might be. You could ask the vendors how might their bills are, which may help with the first 5 questions, but there's a lot of behavioural stuff (ie the remaining questions) which no-one can really help with....

RedFraggle

Unless it's a new build, ask the vendor what their bills are. I have been asked before when selling and have always been happy to show the potential purchaser. Obviously it depends on your own usage but it might be useful. Also consider the EPC and the actual versus potential rating and that there are things you can do to bring the bills down such as improving the loft insulation and central heating controls.

Sammie_UK1

elsien wrote: »

I'm on my own in a 3 bed mid terrace (one of the larger old victorian ones.) I do shift work so my hours vary but at the moment I'm paying £22 pm electric (no expensive tumble driers) and £55 per month for gas. I have a gas cooker and gas central heating, but no double glazing so it's a bit draughty. And I do like to be warm - thermostat down to 16 when I'm out and at night, but 20 ish when I'm watching tv in the evening and not using lots of energy.

Thanks Elsien!..

I'll be using a gas cooker too, so maybe I should budget more for gas than electricity.

ReadingTim wrote: »

- what sort of property is it?
- how well is it insulated?
- what is the heating source?
- how old (and therefore generally efficient) is the heating system?
- is the water metered?

- when you're cold do you turn the heating up or put another jumper on?
- do you turn lights off when you're not using them?
- do you leave appliances on standby or turn them off at the plug?
- do you shop around for the best deals, or stick to the one you've got?
- do you talk on a landline phone a lot?

All of these things (and many more) will determine how high your bills might be. You could ask the vendors how might their bills are, which may help with the first 5 questions, but there's a lot of behavioural stuff (ie the remaining questions) which no-one can really help with....

- Victorian
- Insulated
- GCH
- Recently refurbed
- Nope, RV..

In my house, i'm probs more enviro friendly than anyone else. I hate wastage. I'd much rather put on a jumper/socks/blanket than to turn up the heating. I hate leaving chargers plugged in and the TV on standby.

RedFraggle wrote: »

Unless it's a new build, ask the vendor what their bills are. I have been asked before when selling and have always been happy to show the potential purchaser. Obviously it depends on your own usage but it might be useful. Also consider the EPC and the actual versus potential rating and that there are things you can do to bring the bills down such as improving the loft insulation and central heating controls.

There's no EPC as this house was put on the market after the HIP's were axed.


Thanks all for your replies!