Private Tenancy on a Budget

UnexpectedBaby

Hi,

I and my partner are viewing 3 properties tomorrow for private rent. We are currently expecting our first child in January, having only known for a month. Because of this, we are trying to put ourselves in the best financial position possible whilst I am on Maternity leave as we have very little time to save.

I am creating a budget and have my maternity payment schedule from work now so can realistically look at what we can afford in rent and amenities.

We do not currently live together, both with retrospective parents, so this is all new territory for us. Obviously, the estate agents have given us the rent cost, but is anyone able to offer some advice of the best questions we can ask to try and figure out what our monthly amenity outgoings will be?

TIA!

Cakeguts

Ask the two sets of parents. They must know how much they are paying in utilities and will be able to give you an idea. You can find out the council tax cost from the local council.

always_sunny

you could use sites like https://www.uswitch.com/ to get an idea - put your postcode and some info like how many people will live in the property, size and usual habit and you may get a 'deal' estimate with a provider.

Council tax band is online https://www.gov.uk/council-tax-bands

elverson

Think about:

Phone/broadband
TV licence
Costs of travelling to work
Food shopping - and do you need to travel to buy food or is it within walking distance?
Baby gear (second hand or free if required)

Will you need to buy furniture?

Child benefit - once the baby is born you should get £20.70/week.

Child tax credit - see here https://www.gov.uk/tax-credits-calculator

System

Work on:

£100 council tax
£12 TV license
£60 gas/electricity
£40 water
£20-£30 for phone/internet (can be done for less)
£120-£160 for food until you get better at food shopping and cooking.

In regards to baby, if money is tight there are absolutely tons of baby clothes which have hardly been used if used at all on Facebook groups for sale. You regularly see a bin liner of new or worn a couple of times clothes for a tenner on local sale groups. Do not spend much money on newborn or up to 6 months clothing. You'll find that relatives and friends will buy you more than you need. Don't waste too much money on toys in the first 6 months and again, look on Facebook local groups. Many new parents make the mistake of spending more money they can afford and will happily spend £30 on an outfit to find that it gets just one outing before baby is too big for it.

Make sure that you get Child Benefit, also apply for tax credits even if you are on maternity leave and your partner isn't working. You'll get at least child tax credit which could be worth over £3000 a year and in conjunction with child benefit will give you an additional £80+ a week income. You may qualify for working tax credits on top. Go to https://www.entitledto.co.uk, stick in the details as if you were living together and put in an average rent value for the properties you're looking at.

ST1991

We rented a 2 bed apartment, and our outgoings were roughly this per month for the two of us, so split in half

£620 rent
£129 council tax
£75 electric
£150 food (Aldi saved us a fortune)
£60 sky TV, phone and broadband (can be done alot cheaper!)
£40 water
£55 car insurances
£40 phone contracts
£12 TV Licence

Then think about commuting costs (bus, petrol) unless it is close enough to cycle.

Alternatively could you both move in to one family home? Perhaps not ideal, but you'd have someone else around for support in the first few weeks/months of new baby and could save more money to move out