Renting Alone, Can I Afford It?

2p_machine

Firstly I'm sorry if you see these threads pop up quite often, I just need some good advice.
A little about me.
I'm 22, I work for the Council as a Gardener. I'm living at home with my mother and sister and want to find a place of my own to rent.
I have read up on the average cost of bills for a one bedroom flat and calculated everything against my earnings to see how i would stand.
Here's where I am:

rent £525

tv liscence £13

water £15

electricity and gas £70

Council tax £60

food £100

Mobile £33

Gym £30

Bank charge £10

Car £80

Football £5

I earn £1102 a month so this would leave me £161. (If my average bill calculations are correct).

I also currently have £2000 saved towards moving out but really want £3000.

Do you think being left with £161 a month is enough to get by on? (I know things don't always work out and somethings bound to happen too).

Think that's everything.

Any advice is welcome.

Thanks.

BitterAndTwisted

£160 a month is a bit tight. And I don't believe your food bill of £100 a month is realistic. Have you had to feed yourself and run a home on your own before? Is the £80 a month for the car including money set side for servicing, plus you'll need money set aside for repairs, tax and whatnot.
You've included absolutely nothing for entertainment, holidays, days out, Christmas, clothing, not even a haircut.

Have you investigated the SOA on the Debt-Free part of the forum? I think that would be helpful to you in order to prepare a more realistic budget

2p_machine

Right, yeah I agree the food budget is probably a bit optomistic, and no I haven't.
The £80 would be towards petrol and repairs. However i am in walking/ riding distance from work. Insurance and tax have been paid off this month for a year.
I know i didn't budget for entertainment, i was just listing the essentials and what i pay at the moment ie, Bank Charge. But it is a very valid point. Plus with food bill maybe being double what I originally budgeted, it wouldn't leave me much at all.
Going alone is so expensive. Might just have to hold out until i find someone to move out with.

Thanks for your input, much appreciated.

flutterbyuk25

I would have said £100 is plenty enough for food. I budget £60 per month for food/cleaning stuff/toilettries, and eat very well, most meals homecooked etc, although I'm veggie so no meat/fish in there. It's an art, planning etc, but perfectly do-able.

Look on the Old style board for inspiration.

Where I live water is £24/month, and council tax is £74/mth, so you may want to check those with the correct people for where you live to be sure.

Do you not have any friends to rent with? It would be cheaper, and have some company

BitterAndTwisted

Some people can live on £60 a month for their shopping, but if you've no experience and and no finely-honed skills I'd say it was not possible,

I agree about the sharing: that's what most young people do when they first leave home. To expect to be able to afford a half-decent lifestyle on such a modest income while living alone is frankly not realistic. Where I live that's the preserve of folks who have got themselves up the promotion-ladder who are in their late 20s/early 30s. Even at that age, many here are not able to afford to not live in a flat or house-share unless they're coupled up.

PasturesNew

You can do it mathematically, but at your age you need to be having more of a life and spending more money recklessly on trips to the seaside at 2am on Saturdays with your mates .... with a full English at a transport cafe on your way back.

atarisrocks

why dont you houseshare most are around £300-400 bills included and then save the rest of the money

Viberduo

That is a lot of money for someone your age, £100 is not only doable but on the upper part of a middle budget range.

£161 a month for just luxuries is a good amount, had you that much to cover utilities it would be little but people on benefits get about £51 a week your age to cover council tax, food, electric etc and manage it.

For food as long as you dont eat expensive take aways every night and things like coffees at work can easily be that, I can live off about £20 and thats processed food, even less if you cook yourself

Utilities is a tough one, depends on how cold you feel, how much heat is needed to warm the flat etc, I had a massive flat and it cost about £25 a week to warm in winter if the heating was on 24/7 for an entire week(that was a one off to make sure pipes didnt freeze)but the flat was double the size(and ceilings double the height) of most young peoples flat but was single glazed, in my smaller double glazed flat I can spend a few quid a week in winter heating it.

I know people who can spend £2 a week on electric and others who spend £20 for 1 person(I spend about £6 and that runs pc for about 8-10 hours a day, lets me cook and have a long shower)

^!£$&

My advice would be to find somewhere to share. I rent alone and spend most of my income on bills, rent utilities etc... I have very little cash left over and I earn more than you! I'm moving into a flat share very soon to hopefully halve my bills and continue saving for my own place.

P.S I spend 80-90 a month on food and it's possible with some planning and scouting for offers.

kBHX

+1 on the house share. You could easily find places with fixed rent i.e. inclusive of bills etc. It'll be easier to budget and is the much cheaper option. I house shared for years whilst I saved a large enough deposit for my first home.

barbarawright

Do you really only spend £80 a month on your car? Seriously? If so, do you actually need it? And how will you pay for the insurance next year - as a local authority worker, you presumably know that your salary is unlikely to go up though your expenses undoubtedly will. I would say your budget just isn't manageable if you want to have any sort of life. Why not keep a spending diary so you can work out what you spend on entertainment and clothes etc over a couple of months. I'd be mightily surprised if it's less than £160 a month