Can I afford to live?

EmilySmith19921

I have just bought my own house, on my own. Yay!
However now, I am starting to panic. Can I afford to live? I earn £21,000 a year, and my mortgage will be around £260 a month. As I'm on my own, I have no other help or income.
I also pay out 200 a month for my car and insurance.
I estimated 800 a month but that figure appears to be growing the more I think about it! Have I made a mistake?

[Deleted User]

Depending on your budget, either yes or no.

There's often more to people's expenditure than a mortgage and a car.

grumbler

EmilySmith19921 wrote: »

...
I also pay out 200 a month for my car and insurance.

What 'insurance'? House? Car? Why monthly?
I don't remember ever paying more than ~£100 p.a. for the house one. Usually it's virtually free after the cashback.

Placitasgirl

It's time to set out your budget - in any form to suit you, whether it be on a spreadsheet, in a notebook or using and app, which will be a huge help now that you're a homeowner.

There is a template in the Debt Free Wannabee forum for a Statement of Affairs which you might find useful. This should Include all income, then list all of your monthly outgoings. Don't forget to include food, toiletries, cleaning stuff, buildings and contents insurance, council tax, travel (work/socially), parking, gas and electricity, TV Licence, TV Package if you have one, mobile phone etc. Also factor in monies for haircuts, prescriptions, dentist visits and an emergency fund which is really important to have, and costs such as your MOT and car insurance. Don't forget gym membership, hobbies, social events and monies for birthday gifts and lunches at work if you don't make them at home.

It can be scary looking at such a long list of commitments, but it can also help you to identify areas where you might be able to save yourself some money, such as switching your suppliers for gas, electricity, broadband, landline, reviewing your mobile and TV packages, There's a wealth of information on the money saving boards here, as well as on the Debt Free Wannabee board which I'm sure will be a huge help.

Wishing you every happiness in your new home and in the challenge of juggling in monies in and monies out!

Grumpyoldmoo

Have you thought about getting yourself a Monday-Friday lodger? You can now earn £7500 per annum tax free doing this. At least then you will still have your weekends to yourself

~Beanie~

Of course you can - I do.

Whether you can afford to live and keep the lifestyle you have become accustomed to is a different matter!

Why is your car/insurance so expensive? If it's on finance, can you sell the car and get a cheaper one? Don 't forget you will get 25% discount on your council tax. You don't need Sky /Virgin TV, just a freeview box or Now TV box will do. I don't know what your social life is like but if yo uare ised to going out every week, try it every other week or eevry month.

It can definately be done. I earn similar to you now, my mortgage is a similar amount and I have owned my house for nearly 15 years and was earning less when I bought it. It was a bit of a shock at first though, I ended up going and getting a second job as I couldn't budget and was forever running out of money, thank goodness that is all in the past now though!

EmilySmith19921

Sorry I should have been more clear-I pay 200 in total a month for my car (PCP) including insurance.

EmilySmith19921

My car is on PCP so I don't have then option to sell! I do need it for work. I think it is going to be a case of being frugal, at least until I have a better idea of how much I will be paying out a month. Right nownim estimating!

ColdIron

EmilySmith19921 wrote: »

Sorry I should have been more clear-I pay 200 in total a month for my car (PCP) including insurance.

What about food, electricity, gas, council tax, water, clothes, holidays, broadband, TV, phone, contents insurance, TV license, home improvements, entertainment and so on?

EmilySmith19921

Grumpyoldmoo wrote: »

Have you thought about getting yourself a Monday-Friday lodger? You can now earn £7500 per annum tax free doing this. At least then you will still have your weekends to yourself

Placitasgirl wrote: »

It's time to set out your budget - in any form to suit you, whether it be on a spreadsheet, in a notebook or using and app, which will be a huge help now that you're a homeowner.

There is a template in the Debt Free Wannabee forum for a Statement of Affairs which you might find useful. This should Include all income, then list all of your monthly outgoings. Don't forget to include food, toiletries, cleaning stuff, buildings and contents insurance, council tax, travel (work/socially), parking, gas and electricity, TV Licence, TV Package if you have one, mobile phone etc. Also factor in monies for haircuts, prescriptions, dentist visits and an emergency fund which is really important to have, and costs such as your MOT and car insurance. Don't forget gym membership, hobbies, social events and monies for birthday gifts and lunches at work if you don't make them at home.

It can be scary looking at such a long list of commitments, but it can also help you to identify areas where you might be able to save yourself some money, such as switching your suppliers for gas, electricity, broadband, landline, reviewing your mobile and TV packages, There's a wealth of information on the money saving boards here, as well as on the Debt Free Wannabee board which I'm sure will be a huge help.

Wishing you every happiness in your new home and in the challenge of juggling in monies in and monies out!

Thankyou for this, I will look into it. I'm in no huge rush to move out and into it so I can take my time to be sure!

EmilySmith19921

ColdIron wrote: »

What about food, electricity, gas, council tax, water, clothes, holidays, broadband, TV, phone, contents insurance, TV license, home improvements, entertainment and so on?

Overall I have budgeted 800, purely for CT, all bills, mortgage, house insurance and car. I've taken this estimate rrom friends, family and my partner who live in the area and think I should be paying around that. I have researched the CT, insurance and water prices for the area I have bought in (my partner owns a house just round the corner).