Thoughts on budget? Potentially buying alone, how do you manage?

RWinter1993

Hi all, due to life circumstances im having to look at buying a property alone in the next 4-6months. Not ideal with the rate rises but life throws you curveballs. 

Having previously always lived with housemates/partners I've been trying to estimate my costs. I've based these over a 5 week month, any surplus I'm planning to add back into my savings. Can I get some opinions on my budget and feedback from anyone in a similar position, trying to work out how much mortgage I can afford without surviving off pot noodles!

Salary: £2130 take home a month 

£78 council tax (band B 25% discount)
£90 gas/electric (estimate)
£16 water (estimate)
£12 home insurance (estimate)
£37 internet (estimate)
£4.50 cat worming treatment
£10 mobile phone
£25 mandatory work fees
£8.17 mandatory work fees
£100 savings
£100 towards car mot/insurance
£10 presents/gifts
£200 food
£150 petrol
£18 haircut 
£500 fun money for meals out, cinema e.t.c (im dating at the moment which can become expensive)

**updated budget in comments**

=1358. If I round this to 1400 a month to be on the 'safe' side this potentially leaves me £730 a month for a mortgage, over-reaching or affordable?

Thoughts/opinions/questions very welcome! Thanks

kaMelo

If these are monthly amounts I'd suggest your gas/electric and water are optimistically low, possibly house insurance too. 

blue.peter

kaMelo said:

If these are monthly amounts I'd suggest your gas/electric and water are optimistically low, possibly house insurance too. 

Definitely agree regarding gas, electricity and water.

I'm a single man living in a three-bed semi, and I pay £55/month for water & sewerage and £280/month for gas and electricity. Having said that:

1. I'm retired, so I spend a lot more time at home than someone who's working; and
2. I'm well aware that my house ain't cheap to heat.

My home insurance (buildings and contents) is about £120/year. However, it was roughly double that when I lived in a flat and the building was insured through a communal policy.

 My internet costs me about £25/month, but that's for a new(ish) contract. ISPs practice dual pricing: that is, they penalise loyal customers. New customers get much better rates. Shop around, unless you're already contractually bound to your existing ISP.

 You might do a little better on mobile phone. I get mine for £7.50/month (Talkmobile).

[Deleted User]

£500 a month fun money dating or not is a bit over the top considering your monthly income. Surely dating these days means equal contributions from each side!

How large is your planned mortgage? Do you have an emergency fund? Are you paying into a pension?
Also agree your energy estimates are far too low. 

Band7

Do you already have furniture, furnishings and white goods?

What's your budget for clothes and shoes?

Could you take in a lodger? Or would they be in the way of your dating?

Altior

Council tax, and boiler service/insurance....

ColdIron

Council Tax?

RWinter1993

Thanks for the contributions so far, especially realising about the council tax, have edited to reflect that. 

I took the bills from what two friends are paying who live in 2 beds with their partners. Currently I pay £162 a month for council tax/water/gas/elec/internet but thats living in a 3 bed with two friends- one does shift work so home a lot. So I was hoping my total bills on my own would be a lot less than what we pay between us! 

Im paying into an NHS pension so thats okay. I also have a lot of stuff already from when I lived with an ex-partner so only essentials I would need are a fridge/freezer, sofa, and possibly a wardrobe depending on the property, I'm also happy to make do with second-hand 

Clothes/shoes would be coming out of the fun fund. I wear a uniform for work and tend to buy things from vinted if I need something. I agree 500 is a lot, perhaps im too used to having more disposable income than I should

RWinter1993

Also planned mortgage is possibly up to 140k (approx £672 a month repayment at 4.05% 5 year fixed). This was from a calculator today but I know this could change a bit with the rate rise announced

This would also mean I have no emergency fund left. I have about 3k put aside on top of my house budget for solicitors fees e.t.c. 

theoretica

Looking from the other side, with your income the most a bank might lend you on a 25 year mortgage would have a repayment of about 900 - which would eat into your fun money but some people would choose to do it.  I guess it matters what you think of the properties available at different prices.

Where in your career are you relative to likely payrises?  Would you be looking at a similar budget long term or one which gets easier over time?

MsPennyMinder

Yeah you'll manage fine as long as you learn to adjust your lifestyle to your budget once things settle. But expect things to be way more expensive when you live alone that planned. 

Also prioritise emergency funds over doing *all* the fun stuff you want. Even in the short term to build it up. Even allocating 100 of the500 fun money for when !!!!!! inevitable breaks. Because when it does, it will likely be a Saturday night and cost a fortune to fix. 

Did I want to spend 300 to fix a toilet? No. Did I require a functioning toliet? Unfortunately yes and so I had to pay up.