Can I afford to move out?

Chel23

Good Evening,

I'm currently living in my parents house and I'm wanting to move out but, I'm really not sure if I can afford to. I don't want to move out and then end up moving back if I can't afford it like many of my friends have in the past. I would be moving out on my own as I'm single and the majority of my friends have already moved out with boyfriends or have children. Lots of my friends/work colleagues comment on how they wouldn't be able to afford to live on there own. I've looked at rent prices and can get something I'd like for cheapest £400-£500 a month (This is mainly one/two bed flats) and council tax is between £60-£90 a month with the single occupancy discount. How much would you say my salary would have to be to move out in this situation? I work full time but, I'm not going to disclose my salary, It'll be interesting to see what people say. To give you a bit more information: I would spend a max £100 a month on petrol. Any advice on this would be very welcomed

Cakeguts

Unless you have a job that means that you have to drive a lot I would suggest finding something closer to work and leaving the car at your parents house. If you rent a flat you have to consider where you are going to park a car.

Hutchch0920

For the best answer you need to give more information about your current outgoings. It's all well and good asking for advice on what your salary should be but you're going to get an incredible range of answers because everyone spends differently.

Better you have a think about how much you spend on clothes, cosmetics, going out, hobbies, gym, phone contract, car insurance etc and then plug in the answers you've got from the other questions you've asked on the board like how much you think you will spend on food and then ask about water/electric/gas rates.

Chel23

Cakeguts wrote: »

Unless you have a job that means that you have to drive a lot I would suggest finding something closer to work and leaving the car at your parents house. If you rent a flat you have to consider where you are going to park a car.

Sorry included in the 'something I like' is including a flat with parking.

pathtofreedom

Well how much is your car tax / car insurance?
If you use the soa calculator it will give you ideas for things you need to budget for. Things like contents insurance and buildings if you're thinking of buying, gas / eletric, landline, mobile, interenet, tv licence, hair cuts, clothes, birthday pressents, food, bog roll, shampoo, cleaning stuff, then any nights out, holidays, savings for new laptop, phone or anything else you like to buy...

If you do a budget and include things you're not paying for currently, try that for 3 months or something, and see if you could cover all the categories with money to spare or not.

mije1983

You really need to do a SOA. Work out what your bills would be and then for a couple of months before you move put that amount from your salary into a savings account. That will let you see if you can afford to move out, (and still have money left over, or run out halfway through the month) but still have the safety net of living at home.

The bonus then will be you'll have money to get things like furniture etc for your new place, plus have a bit of an emergency fund.

TeaLeaf

Shelter suggests about 1/3 of your income should be spent on housing. Any more and you risk struggling to cover other essential expenditure, especially if something unexpected and expensive happens.

glasgowdan

Work out how much you spend just now, add £900 (500 rent, bills, food) and if that's less than your wage then you can probably afford it.

TBagpuss

As others have said, the best thing you can do is to draw up a detailed list of your outgoings to work out whether you can afford it.

You may find that the first step is to move into a house share rather than going straight to a flat of your own.

You mention that many of your friends have already moved into their own accommodation - you might find that the bet thing to do is to talk to omeone whi has moved to a 1 or 2 bed flat and see whether they are willing to shre with you roughtly what their utility bills etc are. That would give you a starting point and you can then ad your costs for food, clothing entertainment, car insurance & servicing etc.

Once you have a rough idea, start to put money aside each month to put yourself in the psotion you would be in if you move out (i.e. work out how much more your housing, food & bills will cost each month in your own flat, deduct whatevcer you curently pay your family for board and lodgings, and pau the difference into a savings account. incue an amount of savings for emergencies) that way, you can get a feel for how much money you would have available each month for day to day expenses and for things such as clothes and entertainment, and can see whether it is practical, and you will also be building up savigns for a deposit or emergency fund.

In drawing up your list of likely outgoings, do try to over- rather than under- estimate if you don't have an exact figure.

Guest101

Chel23 wrote: »

Good Evening,

I'm currently living in my parents house and I'm wanting to move out but, I'm really not sure if I can afford to. I don't want to move out and then end up moving back if I can't afford it like many of my friends have in the past. I would be moving out on my own as I'm single and the majority of my friends have already moved out with boyfriends or have children. Lots of my friends/work colleagues comment on how they wouldn't be able to afford to live on there own. I've looked at rent prices and can get something I'd like for cheapest £400-£500 a month (This is mainly one/two bed flats) and council tax is between £60-£90 a month with the single occupancy discount. How much would you say my salary would have to be to move out in this situation? I work full time but, I'm not going to disclose my salary, It'll be interesting to see what people say. To give you a bit more information: I would spend a max £100 a month on petrol. Any advice on this would be very welcomed

A typical formula is 30x the month rent. So £15,000+


However you're lifestyle may dictate you require more, perhaps upto £20,000 (especially with £100 on petrol! + presumably insurance etc.)

suki1964

I was 22 when I moved out on my own back in 1986

A studio flat in London

Take home pay was £268 a month

Rent was £68 a month

On top of that I had council tax, common rates, water rates, gas and electricity and tv licence - around an extra £120 a month iirc

I then had fares to work, food, clothes, furniture,toiletries etc and then socialising money. Socialising money was important as living on your own can be very lonely

I soon had to take on two part time jobs in order to live

For four years I struggled,moreso when the HA moved me to a one bedroom flat with higher outgoings and further distance to travel to work.

You need to find out how much the basic utilities are going to cost you, the things that have to be paid to keep the roof over your head and your car on the road, then what you have left is what you live on. I think before I got part time jobs I had on average £15 a week to feed and clothe myself, pay fares, buy the bits and pieces I needed etc etc - no where near enough for a young person wanting to live a life, to have holidays, buy gifts for family for birthdays and Christmas , to be able to put into a collection at work without thinking bang goes my food budget this week....