what can i afford to rent?

tylerjames

hi everyone just trying to get an idea of what i can afford to rent in my town, i'm currently at parents but looking to get my own place.

after tax i earn approx £1400 each month, the only contract i have is a mobile phone @ £19/month, i don't drive and get a lift to work for £10/week.

i don't really spend much else at the moment although when i move out i will have the usual, food, clothes, going out, bills etc.

i have been looking on rightmove and in my town it looks like studios start range from approx £500-700, 1 bedrooms £700-850 and 2 bedrooms £850-1000.

so what would you advise that i set as my budget? it's hard as this town is pretty expensive, ideally i'd share with a mate to keep costs down but i have no options like that at the moment so will have to go it alone for now.

cheers for any advice !!

Tixy

I'd say absolutely no more than 50% of your income on rent.

How much your bills and other costs will be varies a lot from person to person depending on lifestyle but you need to start trying to estimate these and make sure you've included all outgoings that you are likely to need.

This is a fairly good starting list of outgoings to read through and consider how much each might cost.

Rent
Council tax
Electricity
Gas
Water rates
Telephone (land line)
Mobile phone
TV Licence
Satellite/Cable TV
Internet Services
Groceries etc
Clothing
Other travel
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc)
Contents insurance
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)
Haircuts
Entertainment
Holiday
Emergency fund

tylerjames

Thanks for that list I am going to work through it and estimate the figures will be.

I was thinking the same, absolutely no more than 50% my net income.

I have 3 options it seems:

1. stay at parents free rent just pay towards food, but i feel too old for this, as a 31 year old i need my own space and people my age around. plus i don't like being so far out of town.

2. an option just come up is to rent a room at a friends house for £350 inc bills, not the nicest area, but close to train station and living with nice people nearer my age!

3. what I'm thinking of here, renting my own place for £600-700 a month plus bills on top, in good location, everything i want, just costs more.

michelle2008

Could you live with your friend first? Not sure if you have lived alone before - but it might be best to take a gradual approach!! And it's cheaper - other people to share bills and socialise with!

tylerjames

ok figures for renting:
700 Rent
100 Council tax
20 Electricity
20 Gas
20 Water rates
12 Telephone (land line)
19 Mobile phone
0 TV Licence
0 Satellite/Cable TV
8 Internet Services
80 Groceries etc
20 Clothing
0 Other travel
20 Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc)
0 Contents insurance
20 Presents (birthday, christmas etc)
0 Haircuts
20 Entertainment
0 Holiday
0 Emergency fund

comes out about 1060 and thats being tight, some figures could be higher, so i'm only left with 300 or so a month.


renting room off mate = 350 + 180 = 530.. so thats half the cost.

plus the social side to it... not much of a decision here really?

19lottie82

Groceries, can you really live on £20 a week? This includes 3 meals a day, cleaning products and any other super market based expenses. Plus £20 each for gas and electric seems quite optimistic, as does entertainment. Do you never go to the pub, cinema or order a take away?

19lottie82

I live alone and my DD for gas and electric is £65 a month which averages out about right over summer and winter. Groceries About £50 a week which includes packed lunch and any extra household items.
Oh and you need SOMETHING for an emergency fund. £0 is not realistic

BitterAndTwisted

Take the room at a friend's house. That rent including bills means you have a finite amount to budget for each month. It also means you should be able to save up if you're determined to live on your own later just by putting away in savings the difference between that cost and your estimate for living on your own. It could work out like a test-drive. Plus, never underestimate the benefit of the social-life when living with other like-minded people. It's a no-brainer to me.

mynameisclare

19lottie82 wrote: »

Groceries, can you really live on £20 a week?

I average about that, and not through particuarly trying. I just don't buy supermarket own brands and I cook everything from scratch instead of buying ready meals. I am vegetarian though, so it would be a bit more expensive if you're buying meat.

debrag

19lottie82 wrote: »

Groceries, can you really live on £20 a week? This includes 3 meals a day, cleaning products and any other super market based expenses. Plus £20 each for gas and electric seems quite optimistic, as does entertainment. Do you never go to the pub, cinema or order a take away?

entertainment doesn't really need to be in that list as the OP would have £300 left after anything else I'd think it would come out of this unless they plan to save £300 a month.