Can anyone help me plan a budget for moving out?

Jay83

Ive looked at a couple of soa to get some rough ideas and figures, basically I would like to move out next year and i want to get a rough ideas of how much i will need to pay out and if i can afford it. Currently with parents so no idea if my figures are exactly right. I live in the outer areas of london. Can anyone look over these figures and see if i am missing anything or where i am going wrong please?

Rent 400
Council Tax 120
Electricity 50
Gas 50
Water 30
Telephone 20
Mobile 10
Tv Licence 15
Cable 30
Internet 20
Groceries/going out 200
Other Travel 140
Medical 20
Emergency 100
Total 1205

jason1231972

Jay83 wrote: »

Ive looked at a couple of soa to get some rough ideas and figures, basically I would like to move out next year and i want to get a rough ideas of how much i will need to pay out and if i can afford it. Currently with parents so no idea if my figures are exactly right. I live in the outer areas of london. Can anyone look over these figures and see if i am missing anything or where i am going wrong please?

Rent 400
Council Tax 120
Electricity 50
Gas 50
Water 30
Telephone 20
Mobile 10
Tv Licence 15
Cable 30
Internet 20
Groceries/going out 200
Other Travel 140
Medical 20
Emergency 100
Total 1205

Assuming your rent and council tax figures are correct, these seem realistic figures. Rent seems low for that region, but it depends on the type of property you'll be renting, and if you know it's £400, then fair enough!

Re: concil tax - if you are due to live alone, have you accounted for the 25% discount?

Re: gas/electric - looks realistic, but may be too high if you're a single person who works (i.e. out of the house a lot), and/or if you're only going to rent a small property with few rooms to heat and illuminate! Nevertheless, it never hurts to over-budget!

Re: TV licence - it may be more - between £20-30 - for the first 6 months, due to the way in which it needs to be paid. After that, it settles down to £12-13 per month.

Re: Medical?? Unless you have some kind of private cover to pay for, £20.00 per month is a lot. Even if you factor 2 x dentist trips and 1 x opticians (if applicable) per year. But again, it's good to be prepared, since buying new glasses and such can be a minor shock to the system!

Re: Telephone, internet & cable services - £70 combined is quite a lot, but depends on what package you're looking for. I pay £33 with Virgin - 10mb broadband, basic landline package, and very basic TV (might not be sufficient for what you want, in the TV dept., though).

Re: Water - the precise amount will depend on whether you have a meter. If so, about right. If not, it depends on the 'rateable value' or the property, which you can find out from the supplier fairly easily.

All in all, your budget seems fair and realistic. Good to see you have a £100pcm emergency plan.

The only other thing I can think of would be contents insurance, the cost of which could be easily absorbed into the above budget.

(Plus, there's the upfront costs associated with moving in, such as a deposit, and the costs of buying furniture and decorating, if applicable).

PazDeLaHuertaFan

Jay83 wrote: »

Ive looked at a couple of soa to get some rough ideas and figures, basically I would like to move out next year and i want to get a rough ideas of how much i will need to pay out and if i can afford it. Currently with parents so no idea if my figures are exactly right. I live in the outer areas of london. Can anyone look over these figures and see if i am missing anything or where i am going wrong please?

Rent 400
Council Tax 120
Electricity 50
Gas 50
Water 30
Telephone 20
Mobile 10
Tv Licence 15
Cable 30
Internet 20
Groceries/going out 200
Other Travel 140
Medical 20
Emergency 100
Total 1205

£200 for groceries and going out seems a bit low.

What about extra's like clothes and haircuts, birthdays, christmas etc?

Jay83

Thank you both for your replies. To be honest I estimated all the figures, even rent but this can be the budget i would aim to look for a place. Council tax and went by others figures, i saw alot of people wrote less than £120 so hoped it be enough to cover it.

Didnt allow a budget for bdays, xmas because i figure this can come out of the groceries/going out fund. and tv package i would want to be main part of entertainment fulfillment.

I never realised before it would cost so much to live by myself but as i said before i dont plan to do any of this yet, i just wanted a realistic budget to work towards so i know what to expect. thanks again.

PazDeLaHuertaFan

Yes, it's expensive to live alone.

I wouldn't take christmas costs etc out of your groceries budget, it always costs more than you expect.

Good luck!

jason1231972

Jay83 wrote: »

Thank you both for your replies. To be honest I estimated all the figures, even rent but this can be the budget i would aim to look for a place. Council tax and went by others figures, i saw alot of people wrote less than £120 so hoped it be enough to cover it.

Didnt allow a budget for bdays, xmas because i figure this can come out of the groceries/going out fund. and tv package i would want to be main part of entertainment fulfillment.

I never realised before it would cost so much to live by myself but as i said before i dont plan to do any of this yet, i just wanted a realistic budget to work towards so i know what to expect. thanks again.

You can get an idea of rent by scouting property rental sites for a property in your desired area that you like.

You should be able to pin down your council tax exactly by visiting the website of the council that you'd fall under. There's different rates for different 'bands', but you can find your band by searching 'council tax band' on Direct.gov and entering a full or partial postcode. Whatever figure you get, knock 25% off if you intend to live alone.