Average household bills! PLEASE HELP!

Immy96

Hi, im trying to get a rough idea of what me and my partner could pay in household bills? We will be first time buyers hoping to pay a mortgage on average £700 ish a month, would a joint amount of £1600 be enough to pay for average household bills? - Just want to get a rough estimate on basic utility bills and other outgoings that come with owning your house for the first time! Thank you!

Immy96

Forgot to state the £1600 would include the mortgage amount

SG27

Depends how big the house is. I would say it would be a bit tight.

Here is some rough amounts for a 2 bed house.

Council tax: £130
Gas and electric: £70
Water: £25
Home insurance: £15
Food: £250
Tv,broadband: £40
Life insurance £15

I may I have missed some...

Plus you then have car insurance, petrol/other travel costs, clothes, haircuts, home maintenance.

micky2phones

Hi, plus mobile phone/s, birthdays, xmas, holidays, any children that my come planned or not, lunch or coffee going to/at work.

Im sure theres more

kazwookie

Depends on how many lights you leave on
How often you have the heating / hot water on
How often you run the WM / DW etc

overlyconcerend

There are really too many variables to give a good answer.

Council tax will be easy for you to find out. Go to your councils website and look at the bands and the band for your new house should be on the details from the estate agent.

Think about the home you live in now and think if it's going to be twice the space to heat. Then think about what you're going to have in it and how you're going to use it - you already know how you live and therefore should have good idea of how much gas and electric you use. Take the annual usage amounts from your current utility bills, adjust them for how you think you will live differently in your new house and put them in a price comparison site to see the tariffs available at your new postcode. Worst case scenario, add half again given you're moving in Winter and won't have any overpayment built up.

Internet, TV and phone - use the broadband unbundled tool here to put in your postcode and see the deals.

Water rates - look at your new water companies rates to find the standing charge then look at how much water you use now. Unless the new house has a swimming pool you'll use much the same.

I live alone in a two bed detached bungalow with poor insulation:
Mortgage = £575
Council tax = £81 (single person discount, 10 months)
Gas/electric = £51 (duel fuel fixed)
Internet/phone = £9.99 (sky deal)
Water = £15 (meter)
Total = £722

Washing machine is on once a week. Showers a couple of times a week. Since November 1st GSH for a couple of hours a day but if I'm out of the house all day I might not so only for half the week.

I know people who live in similar houses that pay twice as much (£200 gas and washing machine on twice a day + tumble dryer) it's not a one size fits all situation.

Nebulous2

Different people have different expectations, usually based on what they are used to. If you are both moving out of wealthy households that spend a lot of money you may be in for a shock. If you're coming from homes where money has been tight you may find yourself better off than you're used to.

Expenses can be controlled. Use price comparison sites, cashback sites, shop around, switch suppliers, buy food on special offers or discounted as it's close to it's date.

Marvel1

I live alone and take home less and cope fine, you should be ok.

As in terms of countil tax, TV licence as its split 50/50.

[Deleted User]

Consider though ……. if you're sailing this close to the wind, that from day 1 you could have completely unexpected expenses suddenly coming at you from varying directions …….


Boiler trouble, leaking in bathroom/kitchen, any number of minor things ….


Car not passing MOT, road traffic accident …..


Would you have emergency funds to cover more than 1 of these at once ?


If the answer's "no", save up a few thou and have that banked away as a Reserves/Emergency sum because without it several of the above scenarios could, well, happen in quick succession and your calculations/projections will fly out the window at such speed you'll be haemorrhaging money for a month or more.


Tough words but oh-so-true :eek:

moneyistooshorttomention

micky2phones wrote: »

any children that my come planned or not,

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: scratch out - calendar still says it's 2018 - era of Pill and legal abortion.:rotfl:

OWN BILLS per month (single person):
Health insurance £10.25
water £19
fuel (electric and gas) £71
Council tax (75% of the Council Tax bill) £94 !!!! (spread over 12 months of the year)
Broadband/phone approx £37
Insurance 1/12 of £257 pa
Gas service 1/12 of £85 pa
TV licence 1/12 of £145.50 pa

This is for a two bedroom/one bathroom/one kitchen detached bungalow with reasonable insulation - and I'm retired and living in an area with weather that's somewhat worse than my own area (so heating is on more and there are times that I've decided to go out - but weather means I stay in instead). If I want the heating on - then I have it on (refuse to be cold to save money). If I were in Scotland, for instance, or the North of England then I'd bargain on spending a lot more on heating.

I do "shop around" a bit/comparison sites for all possible bills.

Those bills would be pretty much identical for a couple to pay between them :cool::mad: - except for paying 1/3 as much again on Council Tax.

NB; I do agree with having emergency funds if one possibly can (particularly as a home-owner). Sh*t happens and poor quality tradespeople (ie having to pay another one to put right the work of the first one!) happens.

Lioness_Twinkletoes

SG27 wrote: »

Depends how big the house is. I would say it would be a bit tight.

Here is some rough amounts for a 2 bed house.

Council tax: £130
Gas and electric: £70
Water: £25
Home insurance: £15
Food: £250
Tv,broadband: £40
Life insurance £15

I may I have missed some...

Plus you then have car insurance, petrol/other travel costs, clothes, haircuts, home maintenance.

I wish....2 bed house here

C/Tax £158 per month (10 months)
Gas/Elec £98 per month
Water £29 per month
TV/Broadband £70 per month (admittedly an indulgence)
Home Contents £15 per month
Food...well lets just say it's higher than that :-)