How much do you spend on bills?

Catty89

Hello:)

Me and my boyfriend moved out together in December to a 1 bedroom flat, we thought the price of our bills was fairly normal until i spoke to my friend who seems to pay much less in bills than us- was just wondering what the 'normal' sort of prices are for a 1 bed flat, We are trying to save for our mortgage deposit aswell and we are really struggling to save anything on top of bills.
Iv included what we spend on a 1 bed flat in Scotland.

Rent- 500pm
Elec/gas- 50 dd pm
council tax 110pm (over 10 months)
Food(inc. most toiletries) 200pm
Petrol 100pm
Car payments 150pm
Gym membership 50pm
Mobie phone x2- 70pm
Sky/broadband/landline- 60pm
Experian- 15pm
Bank charges x2- 30pm

These Payments come to roughly 1330 and we earn 2100.

Does anyone have any tips on saving money, even if its just a little as we have no savings,

thanks!!

SuzieSue

Catty89 wrote: »

Hello:)


Gym membership 50pm
Mobie phone x2- 70pm
Sky/broadband/landline- 60pm
Experian- 15pm
Bank charges x2- 30pm



thanks!!

I would say that all the above are too high or unnecessary. What are the Experian and bank charges for?
Could you get a cheaper tariff for your mobiles?
Do you use the gym regularly?

What do you do with the £770 excess income each month? How come you haven't got any savings?

J3OEF

Currently living with parents saving our deposit but at present it is...

Car 1 - £325 pm (ends in september) woohoo
Car 2 - £125 pm (2 years left)
Insurance for both - £94pm
Phones x 2 - £62pm
Sky/BB - £60pm
Credit Card - £135pm (ends in september) woohoo
Loan - £100pm - (ends in september) woohoo
Fags - £70pm
Petrol - £60pm
Rent - £300 pm

Total - £1331

When we are living together, it will be....

Car 1 - £125 pm (2 years left)
Insurance for both - £94pm
Phones x 2 - £62pm
Sky/BB - £60pm
Fags - £70pm
Petrol - £60pm
Mortgage - £500 - £650pm
TV Licence - £13pm
Gas/Elec - £100pm (estimate)
Food - £240pm
Council Tax - £95pm
Water - £35pm

Total - £1504

We earn approx £2259 pm between us

I was going to say the same as above, why pay experian £15pm and also, can you not reduce ur sky package/gym memberships or even negotiate a better deal on ur phones when contract is up?

jennifernil

What are the bank charges for? You need to get rid of those unless you are getting something you really need in return.

If serious about saving I would.....

ditch Experian
cut down the Sky package
renegotiate your mobile contracts
cut out the gym membership
try cutting your food spend
check if you can get a better deal on gas&elec, £50 sounds quite high for a 1 bed flat.

Are there things you have left out? Car insurace and servicing, road tax? Contents insurance?

If you have £700+ after bills you should be able to save quite a bit.

Beckyy

I agree with SuzieSue. Could you have freeview or freesat instead of Sky? It's extortionate!

What is the payment to experian for every month?

Are the bank charges for some kind of reward account?

savingmummy

Pop over to the debtfree forum and do a full SOA! http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

You can save so much each month by cutting back, swapping things and ditching/cutting down things that aren`t nessesary!
Your home bills seem fine to me, but its your luxuries that are the problem in comparison to your income!

rentergirl

£50 is much too dear. Call companies and and tell them you will leave asap unless they lower rates. Gym - well, great if use it, waste if you don't. What's experian? Bank charges - well, have a meeting and again try and leave.

dodger1

Catty89 wrote: »

Hello:)

Me and my boyfriend moved out together in December to a 1 bedroom flat, we thought the price of our bills was fairly normal until i spoke to my friend who seems to pay much less in bills than us- was just wondering what the 'normal' sort of prices are for a 1 bed flat, We are trying to save for our mortgage deposit aswell and we are really struggling to save anything on top of bills.
Iv included what we spend on a 1 bed flat in Scotland.

Rent- 500pm
Elec/gas- 50 dd pm
council tax 110pm (over 10 months)
Food(inc. most toiletries) 200pm
Petrol 100pm
Car payments 150pm
Gym membership 50pm
Mobie phone x2- 70pm
Sky/broadband/landline- 60pm
Experian- 15pm
Bank charges x2- 30pm

These Payments come to roughly 1330 and we earn 2100.

Does anyone have any tips on saving money, even if its just a little as we have no savings,

thanks!!

All seems fine apart from Experian and bank charges, no point in either. Gym is fine if you're actually using it three times a week minimum. It just depends on how serious you want a deposit for your own place. If you really are serious then you need to make sacrifices, stop sky, stop gym, (work out at home or just run on the streets).

That's probably a saving of about £125 per month, it's just down to you how much you are willing to sacrifice to save. What are you doing with the difference in your income and outgoings at the moment?

19lottie82

As the OP has said she is in Scotland, I'm presuming the "bank charges" are overdraft fees from the Bank of Scotland, who charge you £1 per day for an authorised overdraft.

wannabehermit

Similar to what other posters have said really.

Catty89 wrote: »

Rent- 500pm
Elec/gas- 50 dd pm - I take it that's for both not each?
council tax 110pm (over 10 months)
Food(inc. most toiletries) 200pm
Petrol 100pm
Car payments 150pm
Gym membership 50pm -Is this really needed? Can you use a council gym instead or could you do the same at home for free?
Mobie phone x2- 70pm - if they're not iphones how close are you to the end of the contract? I pay £12.75 a month for a decent smartphone
Sky/broadband/landline- 60pm - ditch the tv or reduce to basic package
Experian- 15pm -get rid of, not needed
Bank charges x2- 30pm -if this is charges for overdrafts then get them paid off asap, if monthly charge for insurances etc, check you can't get cheaper elsewhere

thanks!!

These are just the things that I would do tbh then you'll be able to save £1000 a month for your deposit. Good luck

pinkteapot

Could your friend have just been counting basic bills - rent, utilities, council tax?

People differ in what they count as "bills"...